The Two Towers: Serious Concerns With The Stew Scene

[Mithadan]

Jackson's portrayal of the Rohirrim and Edoras always struck me as far more rustic than what was written in LoTR. Perhaps an overemphasis upon Saruman's diatribe against Rohan after Theoden rejected his "offer" from Orthanc?

[Alassë Estel]

Yes, it does seem that Rohan was represented in the films as being far more primitive than depicted in Tolkien's works. Especially the great, golden hall of Meduseld (rather underwhelming in the films). I imagine Saruman's speech of insults stuck with the film-makers more than even they realized, so that it influenced the picture of Rohan in their own minds and as a result, also the films.

[Snowdog]

Yes, the 'I'm royalty-so-I-can't-cook' terrible stew trope. They really made Éowyn out to be such a dingbat blonde in that scene. I mean, screwed up stew and she didn't even know how bad it was? That whole scene was 'cheese'. But then again, it was a P.J. Walsh & Co. fanfic so that's how they wanted to present it.

Maybe a possible reason the stew was so bad was because of zero seasoning and the Warg-Meat in it?

[Alassë Estel]

Originally Posted by Snowdog

Maybe a possible reason the stew was so bad was because of zero seasoning and the Warg-Meat in it?

We can only wonder...

It is now one of the great mysteries of Middle Earth; What happened to the Entwives? Are there female orcs? And what made that stew so terrible!?

[Snowdog]

Originally Posted by Alassë Estel

We can only wonder...

It is now one of the great mysteries of Middle Earth; What happened to the Entwives? Are there female orcs? And what made that stew so terrible!?

That said, I did find this today. It doesn't look half-bad. I suppose being on the trail would require certain shortcuts though...

[William Cloud Hicklin]

Originally Posted by Snowdog

Yes, the 'I'm royalty-so-I-can't-cook' terrible stew trope. They really made Éowyn out to be such a dingbat blonde in that scene. I mean, screwed up stew and she didn't even know how bad it was? That whole scene was 'cheese'. But then again, it was a P.J. Walsh & Co. fanfic so that's how they wanted to present it.

Maybe a possible reason the stew was so bad was because of zero seasoning and the Warg-Meat in it?

Indeed. Tolkien would have known, as PJ plainly didn't, was that one of the principal responsibilities of the lady of a great house was supervising the kitchens, and looking over the cooks' shoulders. Indeed, they were even sometimes buried with their bunch of keys, as almost a badge of office. Nor should we forget that the word lady itself descends from OE hlafdiga, "loaf-giver."