We are looking to build a more comprehensive database of riddles. Please contact us if you are willing to share historical turn files with this information. You will be credited for your contributions.
Riddles are used in MEPBM to obtain artifacts. Answer correctly, and the artifact is yours! Not all artifacts require your character to answer a riddle, however. Some artifacts are instead guarded by Spirits & Wights.
As riddles span multiple Modules, we are listing all known riddles here. The recommended use of the riddles information on this site is via the search feature at top center of this page (or the magnifying glass icon if you are on a mobile device) and enter keywords from the riddle.
All riddles listed below are alphabetized. If the first line of the riddle begins with 'The', the riddle will be included in the T section below (unlike the organization of books or articles where the article (grammar) is not used in alphabetizing).
When you look up the answer to a riddle, we encourage you to learn a bit about the lore behind the riddle and the associated answer. Some notes about the lore and a link over to the article on the Tolkien Gateway site are included with each riddle.
¶ A
- A box without hinges, key or lid...
- A Dwarven kingdom was there it is said...
- A futile attempt to resettle a dread land...
- A gentle being made mad by ancient power...
- A lesser of the west...
- A man he was, an advisor clever and mean...
- A man it was that gave dwelling places to these...
- A marker they were meant to be...
- A name is what I want to hear...
- A Noldor of the first...
- A northern border was it...
- A numenorean was his to bear...
- A person of learning he was...
- A poem it is of ghostly haunts...
- A prince was he...
- A scene of evil carnage and fury...
- A song set in stone...
- A true friend and implacable enemy was he...
- A windy place they say...
- Abhorred, cruel, and Captain he was known...
- Above a gate...
- Air of Gold...
- Alive without breath...
- Also known as...
- An emblem of white's clear call...
- An unpleasant tongue...
- As leader of the White Council...
- As red he was known...
- At first it was the second and more to the west...
- At the end of the jewels there came a war...
- At the gate of the tower were two that had three...
¶ B
- Ba -> Bo _> B0 -> Br -> Br -> Bo ->...
- Beauty and renown it was the best...
- Before the extinguishing of the light...
- Before the inland sea that now is there...
- Before the red flame flew from the north...
- Before the river and the trees...
- Beleriand...
- Between Isen & the white, hunters by trade...
- Beyond the Merlock Mountains...
- Black as night...
- Black wolf's head...
- Born of the second in the first...
- Bred by Evil to slay...
- By rock wall it was rung...
¶ C
¶ D
- d r o u k n n a l t a o h n i...
- Deadly beasts of Haradrim war...
- Deathless in name...
- Destiny & Pride reared their noble heads...
- Developed to be a bearer of sound...
- Devised in the second but died out there as well...
- Drawn to a stranger, a girdle-breaker...
¶ E
- Ever so sharp...
- Evil Marker...
¶ F
- Far to the East of a land long gone...
- Fire from fire, in the 16th of the 2nd...
- Fleet was he when he did fly...
- Fools fear...
- From Brandy to the tower...
- From out of the war of Great Jewels...
- From the outer dark into the world was she called...
- From the south they were...
¶ G
- Glowing with blood both morn and night...
- Great and noble was he, Wolf slayer was he...
- Greedy and cruel with dwarven hoard...
¶ H
- Hard and fierce these warriors be...
- Her bark is silent and not heard at all...
- He was grey to most...
- High king he was to those in exile...
- Hobbit Murderer
- Home to both sea and land...
- Honored by his Elven name...
- Hunters they were...
- Huntsman, rider, bearer; One of seven...
¶ I
- I am a window, I am a lamp...
- I am never quite what I appear to be...
- In aura of blue light...
- In battle so grim a knight he was not...
- In Dark secrecy they were made...
- In Elvish, the one comprised three...
- In Gondor it is said that it is free...
- In tale his deed was of the heroic meter...
- In the beginning was light brought...
- In the first was a race terrible to see...
- In the second before the third...
- in the second house...
- In the west it was said this way...
- In this rent was found the fire that forged the band...
- It is of the most ancient form...
- It is said that from a dying golden tree...
- It cannot be seen, cannot be felt...
- It points south from the inner side of high ground...
- It was an age of deed and tale...
- Its air is sultry, dark and sweet...
- Its making was known to only one...
¶ K
¶ L
- Large from the first, they were bred that way...
- Last of the old is she...
- Last of the royal...
- Linked and yet linked again...
- Lord, brother, friend...
- Lore, skill, but light on reason...
- Lore master and singer of old...
¶ M
¶ N
¶ O
- Of a father slain was he, Orc Slayer, Ring freer...
- Of greed and ire, consumed by fire...
- Of its many names, one was great...
- Of the ancient, the most...
- Of the Dwarven line of D...
- Of them they were one of three...
- On both sides of a celebrant...
- On high he was among the Noldor...
- On the east of the easternmost Middle...
- One of not many...
- One of the great power, a veritable demon of fire...
- One apart was I known...
- One ring to rule them all...
- Only the Straight Road reaches here...
- Orome's hunting ground....
- Out of dark mirkwood he was said to come...
- Over not land is his power to be...
¶ R
- Rebel maiden most royal...
- Remarkable wonders that gleamed so bright...
- Round its tower was kept a watch...
¶ S
- Second only to he that was first...
- Second son, king, and high king as well...
- Silmaril cutter maker...
- Sindarin...
- Skilled in trade their wine flowed free...
- Slayer of the joint Eleven King...
- Snow-white starlight blooms...
- Stone of white...
¶ T
- Tenth by the first...
- That which was for the head...
- The eldest of all...
- The first found them where...
- The first of the Black enemy in the Elder days...
- The Great Deceiver...
- The greatest of the first though not the largest in war...
- The greatest of the wing...
- The hero of the longest poem of Men...
- The hero of the third...
- The house of the ancient light...
- The king listened to what he did say...
- The last High one of the second of the three...
- The mouth spews forth - some say for leagues forty...
- The secret shadow, the messenger of the dark...
- The war of the third...
- The west of the middle...
- There stood in the sheer wall of rock...
- These house ancient light...
- They say it was part of a man...
- They say that this was protected by a fence...
- They were of a type called by a high-elven name...
- Thirty White horses on a red hill...
- This secret was while fishing made...
- This thing all things devours...
- Those of the second brought it here...
- Three dragons by name are known...
- To many it was simply fate...
- To some it is fate...
- Tree lover...
¶ V
¶ W
- Water made from rare and set with white...
- West of one and south of another...
- When the elder race...
- Wise they were or were said to be...
The content in the Riddles section is from numerous sources, including player contributions and from The Middle-earth PBM Guide by Middle-earth Games.