.jpg?q=50&fit=contain&w=1140&h=&dpr=1.5)
Throughout the history of Middle Earth, there have been many great battles won and lost, by all of the races across the lands. These battles could go on for months or years at a time, and so the various peoples had to come up with a way of sustaining themselves when there wasn’t time for rest and recuperation.
One race in particular who developed some interesting ways to rejuvenate themselves and survive the long hard fights of their immortality were the elves. For a start, elves are able to enter a dream realm that enables them to ‘sleep’ within their minds whilst their bodies are awake and walking around. They also developed Lembas, a secret waybread that gives strength to its consumer. It is famed that a single bite can sustain a full-grown man, and it does in fact get the fellowship through some very difficult times.
The eight members who survive the Mines of Moria, and make their way blindfolded into Lothlorien, are given this rare and precious gift of the immortal food, and there are many times across their quest to destroy the ring of power that they might have died or starved without it. But the elves hidden strength didn’t only come in the form of the Lembas cakes, it also came in a rare and potent drink known by the name of Miruvor.
This particular clear liquid is given to the companions by Elrond in Rivendell, in order to renew them and strengthen their tired bones when they are in dire need. Like the Lothlorien Lembas, the secrets of Miruval are never revealed to outsiders, but it is thought that it may be made from the honey of flowers from the Undying Lands. There are some difficult choices that must be made along the quest, one of which is deciding upon what path to take in order to keep the ring away from the kingdoms of men. When the fellowship decides to try to cross the Mountains of Caradhras, they are met by a cruel and bitter cold. Gandalf gives them each a sip of Miruvor to prevent them from freezing to death and to stay the frostbite from setting into their limbs. The magic cordial is put in the lament to Gandalf when the elves sing of his greatness and his wisdom.
Miruvor is not the only potion that certain members of the fellowship are exposed to. When Merry and Pippin are captured by the Uruk-hai as Boromir bravely fights to the death to put to rights his attempt to take the ring from Frodo, the two small hobbits are carried off towards Isengard. Their position is precarious, they are taken on a march for days on end without proper sustenance, and Merry is also injured, which makes Pippin fear that he will be too weak to survive the journey.
Neither of the hobbits are willing to swallow the scraps of meat that the orcs eat because they fear what sort of meat it may be. But the orcs have been commanded to keep them alive, so they force the hobbits to drink a foul and gruesome liquid along the way. It is unclear whether the vitality drink is some sort of alcohol or not, but it burns like liquor as it goes down the throat. The audience is shown a scene of this in Peter Jackson’s film adaptation of the Two Towers when Pip asks for water for his friend and Ugluk pours it into Merry’s mouth, almost choking him, before insulting the hobbits and telling them to keep their traps shut. Although it does dull the hobbit’s pain a little and make them less weary, it doesn’t have the same sort of healing purity that Miruvor possesses.
After the riders of Rohan, led by Eomer, slaughter the band of orcs, Merry and Pippin manage to escape into Fangorn Forest. They are exhausted and terrified after their ordeal until they come across the Ent Treebeard who carries them to safety. He takes them back to his home and feeds them an interesting elixir called Ent Draught. Not only does the liquid greatly improve their health and relieve them of their troubles, it also makes them grow taller, and their hair turns luscious and curly.
When they are finally reunited with Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas, who have pursued them from Amon Hen, their friends remark how well they look. Legolas asks if they have drunk the liquid of the Ents, and when they confirm it, he says that ‘strange songs have been sung of the draughts of Fangorn.’ In the barren wilderness of the world, when all hope seems lost, these rare positions are the difference between life and death, and a key part of the journey towards destroying Sauron and vanquishing his evil.