Games in Middle-earth

[Skyspire]

More a fluff question than anything else, but in canon, does Tolkien mention any games played in Middle-earth, such as chess, dice games or nine men's morris?

[Majestic]

I'm pretty sure they do riddle games.

[Glorelendil]

“Pippin looked at him: tall and proud and noble, as all the men that he had yet seen in that land; and with a glitter in his eye as he thought of the battle. ‘Alas! my own hand feels as light as a feather,’ he thought, but he said nothing. ‘A pawn did Gandalf say? Perhaps; but on the wrong chessboard.”

And of course there's....
“Legolas and I played a game that I won only by a single orc. ”

[Skyspire]

Ah, yes, I forgot about riddles

Thanks for the references Elfcrusher.

[shipwreck]

And golf!

[Glorelendil]

And golf!

Oh good call.

I've been wanting to play a Hobbit Wanderer whose reason for adventuring is to find and play Middle Earth's finest links.

[poosticks7]

And golf!

Oh good call.

I've been wanting to play a Hobbit Wanderer whose reason for adventuring is to find and play Middle Earth's finest links.

Using goblin heads I assume.

[Otaku-sempai]

More a fluff question than anything else, but in canon, does Tolkien mention any games played in Middle-earth, such as chess, dice games or nine men's morris?

From The Hobbit, Chapter 8 - Flies and Spiders:

Bilbo was a pretty fair shot with a stone, and it did not take him long to find a nice smooth egg-shaped one that fitted his hand cosily. As a boy he used to practise throwing stones at things, until rabbits and squirrels, and even birds, got out of his way as quick as lightning if they saw him stoop; and even grown-up he had still spent a deal of his time at quoits, dart-throwing, shooting at the wand, bowls, ninepins and other quiet games of the aiming and throwing sort...

I would add archery and ring toss to the list. Golf and the riddle game have already been brought up.

[Rich H]

More a fluff question than anything else, but in canon, does Tolkien mention any games played in Middle-earth, such as chess, dice games or nine men's morris?

Not canon, as far as I'm aware, but without doubt cricket is a hobbit game through and through: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/795 ... ricket.pdf

As Bilbo says, "Golf, it just ruins a good walk".

[Glorelendil]

I also imagine them playing fantasy role-playing games in which they have to navigate mazes in 100-story towers made of glass while avoiding talkative coworkers and trying to unlock the secrets of wondrous machines that make exact copies of scrolls.

"I'll spend my Fellowship Phase doing the Replace Toner Cartridge undertaking."