Quiz: Is It a 'Lord of the Rings' Character or an IKEA Product?

At first, the legendary fantasy series The Lord of the Rings and the Swedish furniture store IKEA may not appear to have much in common, unless you count IKEA’s TOLKNING line, which has no connection to J. R. R. Tolkien and instead takes its title from the Swedish word for “interpretation.” 

However, for years, fans have noted how easy it is to confuse the evocative names of Tolkien’s characters with the names of IKEA furniture. Test your knowledge of Middle-earth and assembly-required home goods in the quiz below.

How did you do? Is it time for a Lord of the Rings marathon and a journey to find a new kitchen table, or are you an expert in both high fantasy and DIY furniture-making? If you didn’t do so well, never fear; there are some logical reasons why the inhabitants of these two realms may be difficult to tell apart.

How IKEA furniture gets named

All the furniture in IKEA follows a highly specific naming method established by its founder, Ingvar Kamprad. Since he was dyslexic and struggled with remembering numbers, Kamprad began using Swedish names for his products. Today, all IKEA furniture is given Swedish names, and different products are assigned different categories. 

Sofas, for example, are all given the names of Swedish places, and bookshelves are given men’s names. Bathroom items are named after bodies of water, and rugs are named after Danish locations. Special attention is paid to make sure that the names are not offensive or trademarked in any way. According to the store’s website, IKEA names around 2,000 to 3,000 products per year.

How Tolkien came up with the names of his Lord of the Rings Characters

J. R. R. Tolkien published the first book set in Middle-earth, The Hobbit, in 1937, six years before IKEA was founded. Tolkien borrowed many of the names in The Hobbit from the Old Norse poem Völuspá, including Gandalf and many of the dwarves’ names, such as Thorin and Bifur. 

His naming system grew more complex by the time The Fellowship of the Ring was published in 1954. Tolkien himself published several essays about how he named his characters, in which he explained that many of his names came from invented etymologies and were based on sounds that he felt matched their personalities. He also borrowed names for the Rohirrim, such as Éomer and Éowyn, from Old English.

Why IKEA Furniture Names and Tolkien Character Names Sound So Similar

Naturally, some characters from The Lord of the Rings’ names sound similar to IKEA products because modern Swedish evolved directly from Old Norse, and many of Tolkien’s earliest Middle-earth characters have Old Norse names. Tolkien also drew heavily from Nordic mythology, and the word Middle-earth itself is a direct translation of the Old Norse Miðgarðr (Midgard), which is the realm of mortals in Norse mythology. 

So, all that explains why you’d be forgiven for confusing that IKEA shelf you’ve been struggling to assemble with the latest character in The Rings of Power. Best of luck finding that one lost screw to rule them all!