As the casual
LOTR reader knows,
lembas was the waybread given by Galadriel to the Fellowship. Tolkien said it was not a "food concentrate", and that "no analysis in any laboratory would discover chemical properties of
lembas that made it superior to other cakes of wheat-meal" (
Letters # 210).
Nevertheless, it was invaluable to Frodo and Sam.
Quote:
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The lembas had a virtue without which they would long ago have lain down to die....this waybread of the Elves....fed the will, and it gave strength to endure, and to master sinew and limb beyond the measure of mortal kind.
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ROTK Mount Doom
When Frodo and Sam were joined by Gollum, they offered him lembas. Gollum tried a bite, but spit it out. Frodo's reaction was this:
Quote:
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I think this food would do you good, if you would try. But perhaps you can't even try, not yet anyway.
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TTT The Passage of the Marshes
Being a Ring-bearer talking to a former Ring-bearer, I think Frodo might have had some sort of insight there. If Gollum
had been able to choke down some lembas, what would the effect have been?