What was Lembas made of?

[Illuvatar]

What was Lembas made of? I would think that it was made of the fruit of the mallorn tree, but does anyone else have some ideas?

 

[Balin]

It's Elven bread....so would it involve Elven flour?

 

[Tar-Elenion]

It was made of a special corn originally brought forth by Yavanna. The 'golden ears' were gathered by hand without use of metal blades, and only handled by the Elven-women called 'Yavinildi' (maidens of Yavanna) who made it into lembas. The giving of lembas was allowed only to the chief Elven-woman of 'any people great or small'.

 

[Lantarion]

Wow now that I did not know! Which HoME is that in?
Very interesting, indeed..

 

[Balin]

I presume that the lembas are made from corn flour then?

 

[Inderjit S]

HoME 12; Dangweth Pengoloð ;Of Lembas-Lantarion

I presume that the lembas are made from corn flour then

No they were made out of a special corn.

 

[Illuvatar]

But then where was the cotn grown? I don't recall there being any fields or crops in Lorien. Come to think of it, what did the elves eat?

 

[Lantarion]

Well there had to have been some form of crop-tending even in the forest-kingdom of Lothlórien.. They couldn't just eat nuts and berries all the time!

I presume Elves ate the same foods Men did, maybe more refined and more expertly prepared.. But I'm sure Dangweth Pengoloð or some other all-informative part of one of the HoME will provide us with an even more precise answer! (Thank you by the way Inder)

 

[Illuvatar]

I guess the power of Galadriel's ring also had something to do with it. Either that or they just traded.

 

[Tar-Elenion]

According to the essay the corn could be grown in "any season, save in frost", but would not "thrive in the shadowof planrs of Middle-earth", "needing only sunlight to ripen" and was grown by the Eldar in "gaurded lands and sunlit glades".

Elves ate breads, meats, fruits etc. just like most people, there was no 'special diet' for them as a whole (although it should perhaps be noted that Lembas was very special and only used at need, it would not be part of a regular diet, so to speak).

And now, for some reason, I have a hankering for some good cornbread and butter...

 

[Illuvatar]

O.K. Thanks. That answered my question pretty thouroughly.