Pipe-weed

A plant of the Middle Earth as described in J.R.R. Tolkien’s ‘The Lord of the Rings’, Pipe-Weed, was particularly grown and enjoyed by the hobbits. It was introduced to them by Tobold Hornblower.

History

The plant is believed to have grown in Numenor and carried to Middle Earth by Numenoreans in the Second Age. It grew as a wild herb in Gondor and was famous for its aromatic blossoms. The people in Gondor called it westmansweed referring to its origins. It was in the Third Age that Tobold Hornblower brought it in the Shire. Though it was not grown natively, the Hobbits were the first people to smoke it. Eventually, Pipe-Weed turned into a big industry in the region. Old Toby, Longbottom Leaf and Southern Star are some of the names for Pipe-Weed, a few Hobbit strains of the plant. The Hobbits had taught smoking pipe-weed to Gandalf the Wizard who was frequently spotted blowing out huge fumes of smoke. Saruman criticized him in the beginning for this but later started smoking himself. After Isengard was destroyed, Pipe-Weed could be found in stores but the Hobbits could not realize that it was the consequence of Saruman’s trade with the Shire.

Inspiration

As described in Tolkien’s ‘The Lord of the Rings’, the Hobbits had a strange habit of inhaling through wood and clay pipes, the smoke of burning leaves of some herb that they called leaf or pipe-weed. He further clarifies that it was a variety of tobacco. Whether it was some kind of psychoactive herb is not clear [1].

Adaptations

The Lord of the Rings Online depicts the power of pipe-weed as the smoke coming out of it transforms into a ship. Peter Jackson’s ‘The Hobbit’ describes numerous instances of hitting pipes and discussing the effects of the herb.​