Meat eaters and vegetarians

[Melilot Brandybuck]

I am re-reading LOTR after not having read it for a few years.... this has got to be my 10th?.... 12th? re-read. Everytime I read it I find new things I had missed on previous reads, it's one of the things I love about the books. So I'll probably have lots of observations / questions, if you guys can bear it!

I notice that the elves did not eat meat. Also Tom Bombadil did not serve meat at his table, nor did Beorn in The Hobbit. However, Men ate meat as did the hobbits. Is there a significance in this?

I remember that Beorn was an animal lover who had animals serving within his household, so I can understand that he would be vegetarian. The elves appear to exist on a diet of various breads and fruits, and I guess they also received nutrition from magic waters. Tom B ate bread and cheese.

Men ate meat, as is mentioned in Theoden's kingdom. The hobbits did too. Is Tolkein suggesting that only lowly mortals would "dirty" themselves with the blood of animals, while higher beings did not? However, in The Hobbit, the elves of Mirkwood were hunting deer. What was the purpose? Just the thrill of the chase?

[Lalwendë]

It seems that Beren was also a vegetarian:

Thereafter for four years more Beren wandered still upon Dorthonion, a solitary outlaw; but he became the friend of birds and beasts, and they aided him, and did not betray him, and from that time forth he ate no flesh nor slew any living thing that was not in the service of Morgoth.

That Tolkien needs to make mention of this suggests that Men generally did eat meat. Maybe it is a mortal diet as Dwarves also seem to eat meat. If the Elves in Mirkwood were hunting just for fun then this might seem a little out of place, as surely they would appreciate that if an animal was to be killed then it ought to be for a purpose other than fun. I would think that even if they did not eat meat, then they must have used animals for their own purposes as they do have bows, and if I am not wrong, then bowstrings are usually made of gut?

[Mithalwen]

Originally Posted by Lalwendë

I am not wrong, then bowstrings are usually made of gut?

Legolas's Lorien bow is strung with elf hair... which would surely have been stronger than "catgut" ( in fact sheep's gut) which tends to snap after a while under pressure. Flax is another possibility

http://www.primitiveways.com/bowstring.html

[Mithalwen]

THis has been discussed elsewhere. Elves did eat meat else they would not have hunted I am sure - and you may recall that Elrond provided fur lined clothes for the fellowship, which would have been an odd thing to do if they were vegetarian. There is no indication that Legolas refused the ham cooked by Merry and Pippin at Isengard and since it is made clear he doesn't smoke, I am sure vegetarianism would have been mentioned!

The fact is, meat unless dried like billtong, is not practical for travellers to carry with them and it takes time from the journey if you have to hunt or fish for it. I thought it was ludicrous that in FOTR that the few cooking scenes were of sausages at weathertop/caradhras ... botulism would have saved the Nazgul and Saruman a lot of work .

Meat was a luxury until recently - originally in steak and oyster pie the oysters were there to bulk out the precious steak and ,in France , servants had it written into their contracts that they could not be given salmon more than twice a week. What we regard as luxury items (at least pre-fish farming), were staples pre pollution. Meat production requires a stable, agricultural community and since Rohan and the Shire are in this category it is no surprise that meat features more in their diets. For Hunter-Gatherers the food supply would be more erratic. But in general none of the communities had the luxury to choose their diets. As long as it was fit for consumption it probably got consumed.

I do wonder actually about Elvish food production especially in Lorien . Mirkwood traded with the lake men and I suppose Rivendell must have had some agrigulture though I doubt the deep valley provided much suitable land - but I imagine that Rivendell was a faily small community compared to the other Elvish settlements.