Athelas in fanfiction

[Greenleaf2024]

So.... I read a lot of fanfiction. And it seems that a lot of fanfic writers take the opinion that Athelas would be powerful in the hands of elves, whether they are healers or not, and anyone who happens to be a king (Thranduil, for example), would find this plant very useful. Is this true? Or is it only useful to the king of Gondor?

 

[Squint-eyed Southerner]

In the legendarium, athelas was brought to Middle-earth by the Numenoreans, and used by them alone, as far as I know. The earlier Lay of Leithian has Huan and Luthien using it to heal Beren, but of course that was unpublished during Tolkien's lifetime, so we don't know if he'd have revised his views on the plant.

 

[Greenleaf2024]

That's kinda what I thought. I always hated the part in the Hobbit movie when Tauriel used it to heal Kili. I didn't think it was realistic but wanted to be sure.

 

[Eldacar]

My guess would be that it's one of these Peter Jackson Misunderstandings. Elrond is described as a healer and Aragorn is only hastily treating Frodo's wound with Athelas. A bit as if one would be a doctor and the other a paramedic with little experience. Easy to think that the elves would do a better job in general with the plant, considering the way they are portrayed in the movies when compared to men.

 

[Greenleaf2024]

I have also heard people say that elves have to be either warriors or healers, not both. So then I wondered how that works for Tauriel. 😅 But in the books it seems pretty clear that Elladan and Elrohir are healers AND warriors, so who knows??!!

 

[Halasían]

As a Ranger of the North (Movie fans likely have never heard of them) I can attest to the healing properties of Athelas. As the prophecy that Ioreth speaks of in the Houses of Healing in Minas Tirith, "The hands of the king are the hands of a healer, and so shall the rightful king be known.”, the full healing properties of Athelas can only be brought out by a (Numenorean?) king. That said, it can be useful to the commoner. I have at times set flame to the dried budding flowers of Athelas in my pipe, sometimes mixed with Longbottom Leaf...

 

[Maedhros_Nelyafinwë]

I have also heard people say that elves have to be either warriors or healers, not both.

According to Laws and Customs Amongst the Eldar, which is from the History of Middle-Earth:

"And the Eldar deemed that the dealing of death, even when lawful or under necessity, diminished the power of healing..."

Also, Tolkien talks a bit about Elven gender roles here, saying how male and female Elves are very similar in their abilities, but tend to be naturally inclined towards different things:

"For instance, the arts of healing, and all that touches on care of the body, are among all the Eldar most practiced by the nissi (female Elves); whereas it was the elven-men who bore arms at need."

So generally healers are female Elves, but there are some exceptions:

"On the other hand many elven-men were great healers and skilled in the lore of living bodies, though such men abstained from hunting, and went not to war until the last need."

So, I don't think it's a hard rule that you can't be a warrior and practice healing, but the Elves did believe taking a life diminished the power of healing.

In my fanfic, which features a healer as a main character, I embellish this a bit by having a sort of code or vow that healers have to follow, swearing to do no harm to anyone. It doesn't mean a warrior wouldn't be able to stitch up a wounded peer on the battlefield, but for those whose profession is healing, they want to maximize their healing power, so they don't hunt or get into fights. (Even though my healer OC Aranya would certainly love to punch certain people in the face sometimes! 😂)

 

[Greenleaf2024]

According to Laws and Customs Amongst the Eldar, which is from the History of Middle-Earth:



Also, Tolkien talks a bit about Elven gender roles here, saying how male and female Elves are very similar in their abilities, but tend to be naturally inclined towards different things:



So generally healers are female Elves, but there are some exceptions:



So, I don't think it's a hard rule that you can't be a warrior and practice healing, but the Elves did believe taking a life diminished the power of healing.

In my fanfic, which features a healer as a main character, I embellish this a bit by having a sort of code or vow that healers have to follow, swearing to do no harm to anyone. It doesn't mean a warrior wouldn't be able to stitch up a wounded peer on the battlefield, but for those whose profession is healing, they want to maximize their healing power, so they don't hunt or get into fights. (Even though my healer OC Aranya would certainly love to punch certain people in the face sometimes! 😂)

Yeah that's what I thought!!! 👍🏼

 

[Ent]

Ah, Ent loves a discussion like this one.
It moves through all the realms of Tolkien-dom.
Which texts do we personally hold as "canon" thus settled Tolkienian thought?
What license is given to the realm of 'fanfiction' to generate its own manipulations of what Tolkien wrote or alluded to?
etc. etc. etc.

Athelas and the healers... a subject Ent isn't sure is checked out of The Great Halls of Speculation as frequently as others.

Ent wonders if it's even still in its place, and locatable, and so to verify, pushes it to @Klaatu and

 

[Greenleaf2024]

I find it to be a very interesting subject and would love to know more about it.

 

[Ent]

I find it to be a very interesting subject and would love to know more about it.

Indeed it is. And well worth much pondering.

Ent knows it used to be logged into the floor, hallway, room, aisle, and shelf right between speculations about The Watcher in the Water, and which hand and finger the Rings of Power were worn on by the various wearers - two subjects of interest Ent had pondered at some length, and so took note of its location.

But since the original Halls burned down and have been rebuilt bigger, better, stronger, the mess of re-locating and re-cataloging all the speculations has been turned over to @Klaatu as the newly assigned Interim Custodian of the Halls until some other bold soul (idiot?) steps forward to assume the role permanently.

Some speculations seem to be missing now, meaning they can appear to be entirely new subjects for discussion. (Which really doesn't matter, because most speculations come around again with a certain regularity for re-hashing anyway...so anything lost will present itself for new entry eventually anyway.)

 

[Greenleaf2024]

Indeed it is. And well worth much pondering.

Ent knows it used to be logged into the floor, hallway, room, aisle, and shelf right between speculations about The Watcher in the Water, and which hand and finger the Rings of Power were worn on by the various wearers - two subjects of interest Ent had pondered at some length, and so took note of its location.

But since the original Halls burned down and have been rebuilt bigger, better, stronger, the mess of re-locating and re-cataloging all the speculations has been turned over to @Klaatu as the newly assigned Interim Custodian of the Halls until some other bold soul (idiot?) steps forward to assume the role permanently.

Some speculations seem to be missing now, meaning they can appear to be entirely new subjects for discussion. (Which really doesn't matter, because most speculations come around again with a certain regularity for re-hashing anyway...so anything lost will present itself for new entry eventually anyway.)

So does that mean I am allowed to ask about it without too many eye rolls and laughs?😆

 

[Greenleaf2024]

What license is given to the realm of 'fanfiction' to generate its own manipulations of what Tolkien wrote or alluded to?
etc. etc. etc.

😂 Never really thought about this one before. I think it's because there are so many things we don't know about Tolkien's world, and so we try to fill in the gaps, and then we end up twisting something along the way. Or, for that matter, we don't like something as he portrayed it, so we sssssneakily change it because.... it's fanfiction!! I'm speaking from experience. I think we maybe get so focused on writing a 'good' story that we end up with Tolkien's characters in a strange, nightmarish world of our own. And we don't even call it a crossover. Yikes. 🤣🤣

There is some sarcasm there, in case you can't tell.
The whole Athelas/healers thing is one of my biggest intrigues. Fanfiction doesn't help.😅

 

[Klaatu]

Indeed it is. And well worth much pondering.

Ent knows it used to be logged into the floor, hallway, room, aisle, and shelf right between speculations about The Watcher in the Water, and which hand and finger the Rings of Power were worn on by the various wearers - two subjects of interest Ent had pondered at some length, and so took note of its location.

But since the original Halls burned down and have been rebuilt bigger, better, stronger, the mess of re-locating and re-cataloging all the speculations has been turned over to @Klaatu as the newly assigned Interim Custodian of the Halls until some other bold soul (idiot?) steps forward to assume the role permanently.

Some speculations seem to be missing now, meaning they can appear to be entirely new subjects for discussion. (Which really doesn't matter, because most speculations come around again with a certain regularity for re-hashing anyway...so anything lost will present itself for new entry eventually anyway.)

Apologies for the delay, I've been sleepy