Elvish food

[Willow]

What did the elves eat? I know they a) drank wine (Hobbit and TTT) b) cooked over woodfires (Hobbit) and c) had feasts (FOTR). But what did they actually eat? Rivendell, for instance: I can't see a population that large being fed solely by the spoils of the hunt, but neither can I see them growing crops. There wouldn't be room in the mountain valley, either. BUT, Rivendell once withstood a siege of good length, meaning they had some source of food nearby. This is irrelevant, but I can't see the elves cooking, either. Any thoughts?

[the mortal elf]

Well, Lembas is a given, but other than that, I'm not coming up with much. It's an interesting question, though. I can't see the elves growing crops either, but they could've done the 'hunting and gathering' trip. You know, wild berries, etc. To make Lembas I assume they would have had to cook, even if it was on a minimal scale.

[Voralphion]

In the Hobbit I think it says that the elves of Mirkwood got a lot of their food from trade with the men of Laketown.
As to farming, I think I have seen somewhere that their were some elves who did farm. Also, the elves I think only used Lembas as a food source when they were travelling, not as general day to day food.

[Eladar]

From The Peoples of Middle-earth, Of Lembas

The Eldar grew it in guarded lands and sunlit glades; and they gathered its great golden ears, each one, by hand, and set no balde of metal to it. The white haulm was drawn from the earth in like mnner, and woven into corn-leeps for the storing of the grain; no worm or gnawing best would touch that gleaming straw, and rot and mould and other evils of Middle-earth did not assail it.

We know that they did raise the corn used to make Lembas. I don't know why farming would be considered something Elves would not do.

[ September 14, 2003: Message edited by: Eladar ]

[Gorwingel]

I think if I recall correctly that Gildor and the Elves gave the hobbits some kind of really good tasting bread, so they made bread. But other than that, I don't know. I would think of the elves eating very light things, that are simply prepared. But then additionally I just can't imagine a group of elves sitting down to salad, or meat. But they did have archers (with really good aim), so that must have meant they hunted a little bit. I can just imagine them being very delicate eaters.

[samrohan]

You seem to have a very romanticized idea of elves. They might be a special and gifted race but they nonetheless have to eat and sleep like others and they would have had to grow crops, raise animals and so on like other races.

In the case of Rivendell, I am sure that trade was a very important means of gathering food for the inhabitants. During the siege they must have done what other people have done during sieges, which is starve. However Tolkien probably overlooked this issue. The guy was good but certainly not faultless.

[FingolfintheBold]

Elves also loved fresh fruit, as did ME's other inhaditants.I can certainly imagine orchards for growing apples and other fruits. They hunted quite a bit, and although hunting probably wasnt enough to sustain the whole populaion of Rivendell, elves in Mirkwood and Lorien certainly had a great abundance of wild game. Elven hunting parties are discribed in the Hobbit.

[lindil]

but they nonetheless have to eat and sleep like others

as for sleep, they did NOT need it, as Legolas makes plain in the great race after the Uruks in TTT.

As for food, I imagine what we see from Gildor's company to rather representative [mostly vegetarian and rather light].

I am sure both Rivendell and Lorien grew what they could, anjd also while we never hear of trading with Hobbits [for Rivendell] the remant of the Dunedain lived c. 150 miles down the Bruinen from Imladris and may well have been their primary source of agricultural imports.

I imagine meat-eating was [as was common in many older cultures] primarily associated with feasting for the elves.

I can imagine then eating salads myself.

btw the 'corn' of lembas [cited in the Lembas fragment from HoM-E12] is generally considerred to be an archaic way of saying grain.

So if they grew grain for Gildor's bread and for Lembas it is hard to imagine Lorien Rivendell did not have a large and considerable agricultuarl spread somewhere.

I imagine most families would tend to have familiel gardens as opposed to giant mordor/archer-daniels-midland style corporate farming having one mono-crop for miles.

Also back to livestock, another reason the elves may have eaten far less meat than the average 'westerner' today is that you have to feed livestock many pounds of grain or many more acres of food that you would get by eating the grain/acreage directly.