Food made by the Elves has traits that cannot be found in Men’s victuals: usually it possesses especially refreshing or invigorating qualities. When the Fellowship was leaving Lothlórien, the Elves brought a lot of gifts to them, including some food:


(Fellowship of the Ring, p. 485)

Gimli quickly loved the taste of the cake and ate the whole of it, which was a bad idea. For the bread that the Elves had brought to the company was lembas — the thing given by Galadriel “to serve when all else fails” (ibid.).


Originally lembas came from Yavanna from a special kind of corn that she grew in Aman. The Eldar first received in from Oromë at the beginning of their journey from Middle-earth to the Undying Lands, and later they learnt to make it themselves. The Eldar grew the corn for lembas on closed glades: it grew swiftly, in any season and did not need much sun, but was susceptible to the winds from the North at the time of Morgoth’s abode there. Its ears were gathered by hand, while the stalks were used to make baskets to keep the grain in. Only Elvish women could make lembas and those who knew the secret recipe were called Yavannildi.

Keeping and giving lembas to those needing it was exclusively a queen’s prerogative, and very rarely was this waybread given to mortals. The first queen to give lembas to a Man was Melian, from whom Galadriel must have learnt to make it, as she gave some lembas to Beleg so that he could share it with Túrin. It was wrapped in silver leaves and the threads that bound the leaves were sealed with the Queen’s seal in the form of a flower of Telperion:


(The Silmarillion, p. 240)

The reason for that was not greed or reluctance to share anything Elvish with mortals, but mere caution.  There was not too much lembas at the Elves’ disposal, and they were commanded to keep it in their power. Moreover, the waybread was believed to be able to transfer part of its strength, gained from Aman, to those who consumed it. So mortals could not eat it because they soon grew weary of their mortality and began to wish to live among the Elves. It was only with those mortals whom they loved and who were in great need did the Elves share their special bread. Even by the Elves lembas could be used very sparingly and eaten only at need in small portions when there was no other food and when one needed power and energy urgently.

Another quality of lembas was its ability to raise one’s spirits. This is implied in the Quenya name of the bread — coimas, meaning “life-bread” and hinting at both — lembas’s ability to enhance physical power as well as morale.  It seems that Frodo and Sam would not have made it to the Cracks of Doom at all had it not been for the virtuous power of lembas which kept on providing them with physical and, most importantly, spiritual strength to carry on with their journey when desperation was closing in:


(Return of the King, p. 252)

Merry noticed this property of the waybread, too, saying that lembas did “put heart into you” (Two Towers, p. 65). Gollum, on the contrary, was nearly choked to death by a bite of lembas as, possessing the virtue of Aman, the waybread did not go well with his twisted and corrupted nature.

Being able to heal and invigorate, mend body and soul, lembas became indispensable for those characters who had to undergo hard journeys in horrible conditions, under immense pressure and with a tremendous weight of responsibility on their shoulders. Thus it can be said that the role that these small but precious cakes played in the success of their respective quests was indeed vital.

Works consulted:


Featured image – Creative Common Licence found at Pixabay.

14 thoughts on “A bite of energy.

  1. I am fascinated by your reference to the caution that the Elves exercised in giving their waybread to mortals. I did not know this (or had forgotten!) and it clearly points to Lembas as a “bread of heaven”. Frodo is weary of his mortal life after the journey to Mount Doom. I had thought that the sole reason for this was the influence of the Ring but perhaps Lembas played its part as well.

    1. I’m sure lembas did play a part in Frodo’s feeling weary. Probably the effect was prominent because of the burden of the Ring, as Sam wasn’t really affected by the bread, as far as I remember: he wasn’t that weary of his mortality.

  2. A great post Olga, with all the events that happen and occur throughout these stories it is so easy to overlook the importance of Lembas and the role it has played and especially in the most important quest of them all.

    I’m looking forward to further combing through your treasure troves of hard work and effort and thank you for sharing it!

    1. Thank you, Josh! Indeed, it seems but a small thing, a piece of bread. However, its importance is huge. I don’t think Frodo and Sam would have made it to the Cracks of Doom, had it not been for lembas.
      Thank you for reading! Enjoy your visits to Middle-earth Reflections!

      1. I’m with you there, in fact I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t have made it. It’s one of those things I’d love to try if I could have a day trip to Middle-earth haha.

        I will indeed enjoy my visits here!

  3. In Volume I of Chris Tolkien’s collected volumes, The Lost Tales, Lindo,Vaire and all the elves fill their cups at the end of a meal. Lindo says this to Eriol “Now this which we put into our cups is Limpe, the drink of the Eldar both young and old, and drinking our hearts keep youth and our mouths grow full of song, but this drink I may not administer: Turinqui only may give it to those not of the Eldar race, and those that drink must dwell always with the Eldar of the Island until such time as they fare forth to find the lost families of the kindred.” It would seem that this is the creative predecessor of the effect lembas bread has upon those who eat it.

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