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Drink in Middle-earth
Throughout Tolkien's books we can see that the people in
Middle-earth love their various drinks and beverages. Drink is vital
for survival, especially when you are on small errands like stealing
a trinket from underneath a sleeping dragon or getting rid of one �
just a small trinket, the least potent of all, which �the Lord
Sauron desires as token of your friendship�. But besides that drinks
are an essential part of parties and make a good living for the
owners of taverns, inns, shops and the like.
It must be mentioned that there are drinks that have special powers
like healing draughts which are good for you; some restore not only
the body but the spirit as, for example, Miruvor, the cordial of
Rivendell. Other drinks are less wholesome, such as the water of the
river Esgalduin that runs through Mirkwood which puts the drinker in
a deep sleep as seen when the unlucky dwarf, Bombur, fell into it.
What are the drinks in Middle-earth that we know about?
Dwarves of course pride themselves on making the best beer, but
besides them Hobbits and Men have taken to producing some good
brews. The best beer in the East Farthing can be found in the Golden
Perch in Stock, but good brew is to be had at the Prancing Pony in
Bree where Hobbits and Men live side by side. Wine is grown in
Breeland � Bilbo and Frodo had a good stock of Old Winyards which
had been gifted to Bilbo by the Master of Brandyhall. Frodo takes
care that none of this falls into the hands of the
Sackville-Bagginses as he leaves Hobbiton.
Hobbits are also fond of tea. We can see Bilbo inviting Gandalf for
tea the first time they meet each other even if hasty and a
superficial formula of politeness on saying goodbye.
Amongst the Rohirrim, we see �owyn giving a ceremonial drink as a
token of well wishing and good luck for his dangerous journey on the
Paths of the Dead � unfortunately the book never mentions what kind
of drink that is. I assume it is probably mead or cider based on the
fact that Professor Tolkien modeled the Rohirrim after the Saxon
people inhabiting England in the early Middle Ages.
Elves prefer wine above everything. Thranduil has an extensive wine
cellar with many sorts of wines for various occasions and
recipients. He had a specially appointed butler responsible for the
storage and provision of the wine to their destination whether
within the Elven Halls or in preparation for sale to the people of
Laketown with whom they traded. The gardens of Dorwinion are
mentioned as the place of origin of a special vintage which is only
meant for the King's table and to be consumed only in small amounts
at a time.
Last but not least there is one more people in Middle-earth with a
special kind of drink that must be mentioned � the Ents. They do not
eat as we know it but they only consume draughts with various
purposes and effects. Some are meant to be nourishment, some are
refreshment. We see examples of both on the morning that Treebeard
wakes up Merry and Pippin after they meet for the first time. At
their arrival they get a refreshing draught and the next morning
they get a nourishing draught. We see the special effects on both
Hobbits as they grow several inches after their consumption. Also an
effect on hair is mentioned as Merry says to Aragorn in Isengard he
would have liked to see Gandalf's beard growing and curling after
having one of these draughts. The party of Rohirrim and the Three
Hunters (Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli) plus Gandalf are provided water
of the Isen at their arrival in Isengard by the ents, although they
had already been given wine and beer by Merry and Pippin at the
entrance.
Unfortunately the books never mention what kind of drinks were
offered to young children and teenagers who were not supposed to be
drinking alcohol � in fact an age restriction for alcohol (or
smoking for that matter )is never mentioned in any of the books. It
is a fairly safe assumption though that there are various fruit
juices like apple or orange juices or perhaps strawberry and grape
juice in the Shire as well as child-friendly cocktails based on
those.
References:
The Hobbit � Chapters: "An Unexpected Party", "Flies and
Spiders", "Barrels out of Bond"
Lord of the Rings � Chapters: "Three is Company", "The
Council of Elrond", "The Ring Goes South", "Treebeard", "Flotsam and
Jetsam", "The Passing of the Grey Company"
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