These two persons were very much alike and all dressed in black clothes. Their occupations were alike, but one of them, who was taller, had tint of 'finality' to his. Name both.

That would be the Inspector and the Driver, in Leaf by Niggle. The latter was responsible for the transportation to Niggle's final destination, ending his mortal life.

yes, your answer is correct :)

Who was Alf's "prentice"?

Master Harper was

Correct, HI, and nice to see you breathing life into this and other dormant threads! By the way, congratulations on joining the ranks of those who are welcome in Aragorn's court!

Ah, thank you :) Indeed, it tickles my vanity to have that additional bright square. Good for me to have it, bad to be vain about it.

Back to the matter at hand, though:

Who she was to wake up at three AM to be, in the long run, dissapointed about it not only because of lack of sleep but due to lost of wonderful opportunity?

Is it Fíriel? I'm not sure I quite understand the question, but that is the only "she" who is mentioned in connection with three o'clock, as far as I could find it.

She was. Word 'wonderful' applied as the journey with elves as it would bring her wonder for sure, not to imply she in any way may have stopped the earth from catching her feet. The ground is yours, m'lady :)

Tolkien very amusingly describes the smell of a spell in one of his stories - what is it like?

Granted, the spell did not smell of Christmasy spices; still, does anyone want to attempt an answer at this season?

I guess no one is going to attempt to answer that question, so here's a new one:

Who was not the duke's nephew, though he had the same name?

I'm reviving this question in hopes that a minor works fan will answer it or at least ask for a clue to show interest... If not, I may have to ask a really easy question to get it moving again!

Both questions are very curious, and I would venture so far in showing interest as to aks for the answer to the former, and a clue to the latter :)

The latter comes from a poetic minor work - clue enough?

The former comes from Roverandom: I found that very amusing!

Smell of a spell - Ah, I must have remembered that!

As for the nephews - I may recall two dukes in 'minor works' - Beorhtnoth (duke of Essex), and Dodinel de Sauvage (same as Doddinaual de Sauage) duke of Clarence.

Or, to be truly honest, I may recall one duke (that is, Beorhtnoth) and I've looked up another one ;)

I can recall no nephews, though. And haven't found any, besides Gawain himself, who is not duke's nephew, but King's nephew. Also several other noble knights, equally Arthur's nephews.

But should I recall nephews at all? I should not, obviously - point being, the chap was not a nephew?

um... I certainly feel like another hint here :)

Beorhtnoth is the right place to look. The mix-up concerns two persons of the same name.

nephews, in-laws and others...
 

Wulfmær, son of Wulfstan of Essex (Eastsaxon lad, eh?)

Not Wulfmær, Beorhtnoth's sister son of Essex (is he not an Eastsaxon lad as well?)

That's correct, HI! Pray puzzle us with a new question.

Who (two) exchanged axe blows with an interval of an year?

I'm puzzled by this question, HI, trying to remember where in a minor work axe blows are exchanged. It must be in one of JRRT's translations, which I haven't read yet. Can you drop a hint, please?

hint
 

One of the two was quite peculiar in aspect of reaction in onlooker's visual brain cells caused by the stimulus the light refracted by the eyes of onlooker's brought to said cells, caused, in its turn, by particular way the light reflected off said person.

I'm not quite sure what exactly I did say, myself, though :D

Well, before I start searching seriously, I'm just going to hazard a guess here - were the two Sir Gawain and the Green Knight?

But of course they were! You may proceed, my lady :)

Of which two components does 'News of the World' mostly consist, according to one of Tolkien's works?

Found it at last!
 

Murders and football matches, mostly (Roverandom)

...late is better than never
 

Precisely, HI! (And it's still true today, sadly.) Go for a new one!

Which person of noble and ancient descent was called, quite unexpectedly to both of the participants of the conversation, 'horny old vermint' on one occassion?

The dragon Chrysophylax was called "you horny old varmint" by Farmer Giles of Ham.

Of course, madam :) Pray proceed

Which word does Tolkien use to express the opposite of eucatastrophe?

Dramatic antithesis.
 

'Tragedy'

Very close, Squatter, and true, but there is a specific word for which I'm looking.

Getting rusty
 

'Tragedy' is a specific word. Clearly I was right and you've just forgotten the answer. I shall appeal. :smokin:

Alternatively, you must be looking for dyscatastrophe.

That's the one I was looking for! It's such an interesting word, and used so seldom, which is why it appeals to me! Carry on, Squatter.

Words, words
 

I think Tolkien invented dyscatastrophe too. It certainly isn't in the OED.

Which character encountered by the hero in Roverandom is a Viking?

Can you give a clue, Squatter? I can only find 'Niord', whom Rover doesn't actually encounter, or the 'Red Worm', of whom the mer-dog tells, but who is also not encountered by the title hero.

Clue
 

With pleasure.

The clue is in the back-story. What is the element with which we most associate Vikings?

water

I'll be searching for the answer.


edit: the sea-serpent, perhaps? (from Midgard)

Not quite there yet
 

But the sea-serpent isn't the Midgard Serpent. He's only partially based on Loki's serpentine offspring. Bear in mind that the Red Worm is a ship and not a character. Does that help?