Fantasy and the Food Chain

Thus far in the project we have only examined the food eaten by our title adventurers, and have caught a glimpse into the diversity of the eating habits of hobbits, dwarves, elves, men, and Gollum. However, there has yet been nothing said on the kind of diverse foodstuffs they have the potential to be.

Tolkien's tales of Middle Earth, while also marketed to adult readers, are above all Children's fantasy literature; a surprisingly common trope of which is the risk of being eaten. As readers, we are taught at a young age that a character we may identify with is not invincible: being a lead character does not necessarily secure a place at the top of the food chain.

This lesson is taught very early on in The Hobbit: it is only in the second chapter, following a meat-based feast, that the party have a most unfortunate encounter with some trolls.

"A nice pickle they were all in now: all neatly tied up in sacks, with three angry trolls sitting by them, arguing whether they should roast them slowly, or mince them fine and boil them, or just sit on them one by one and squash them into jelly." (56)

Tolkien introduces the poor dwarves' torture with the understatement of the series, that the fatal problem they currently encounter is merely a 'nice pickle'. The casualness of the expression trivialises the situation, and it can be no accident that it also references a foodstuff, nevertheless a preserved foodstuff. The list of dishes seems to go in stages of turning the dwarves from complete, whole beings into more intense and unrecognisable states, further distancing them from what they are. To not only mince them, but mince them 'finely' is to obliterate them no longer into living beings but to restructure them. Unlike slow-roasting them whole, they are no longer even a carcass but simply unrecognisable shreds of meat, unidentifiable from each other. The worst fate of all is being squashed into jelly one by one, where they are no longer even recognisable as 'manflesh' but enter a completely different state: Tolkien creates disturbing mental imagery of a poor sad dwarf in a Mrs. Beeton-esque jelly mould ready to have for dessert with fruit.

With each potential dish the dwarves potenially become further from themselves as living flesh, and thus Tolkien provides the realisation that meat in all forms it ends up on the plate - roasted, minced, or jellied - was once a living thing. Of course, a narrow escape from becoming troll food is no guarantee of future safety: the series' protagonists both in The Hobbit and in the Rings novels face being eaten by spiders, dragons and goblins. "Food is fundamental" to the adventure tale, and slaughter is a necessary element of the fantasty epic, not only on the battlefield but in the daily struggle for sustenance (Keeling and Pollard, 2008: 4).
Bibliography:

1. Image courtesy of Lord of the Rings wikia: http://img3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130411232012/lotr/images/6/6b/Hobbler-trolls.jpg
2. Image courtesy of Food History Jottings, originally from Eliza Acton's (1905) 'Jellies,' Modern Cookery.
3. Kara K. Keeling & Scott T. Pollard,  (2008) 'Introduction' Critical Approaches to Food in Children's Literature New York: Routledge
4. J. R. R. Tolkien (1937) The Hobbit (2012) London: HarperCollins

Dwarves' Dinner (#1)

Tonight, I bring you a hearty, belly-filling, blow-your-socks-off recipe inspired by Tolkien's dwarves. With their "short stature with long beards, love for treasure, skill as smiths, and bad temper, " Thorin and his contemporaries are inspired by Eddas and Norse sagas of old (St Clare 1995:64). To maintain a gruff and hardy nature, the most fitting meal imaginable for a dwarf is a delicious, bulky stew.

While Tolkein's inspiration comes from the North, mine comes from the Americas. In my house this dish has become legend for its strengthening and medicinal properties.

Magic Chilli

Recipe is my own. Serves 6.

Ingredients:

• 400g minced beef OR 1 1/2 cups red lentils**. 
• **Prior to cooking, boil in 6 cups boiling water until absorbed. Drain and rinse thoroughly, then put aside. 
• 1/2 a large onion, diced
• 6 decent-sized cloves of garlic, finely chopped or crushed
• Olive oil
• One tin chopped tomatoes
• One tin kidney beans
• 2 tbsp tomato puree
• Sprinkling of crushed chillies
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• Sprinkling of mixed herbs
• 2 dried bay leaves
• Worcester sauce
• 2tsp cornflour mixed with 1tsp juice of chopped tomatoes.

Method:
1. In a large saucepan or cast-iron dish, heat up 3tbsp oil and gently fry the onion and garlic until clear.
2. Add the tomato puree, let it heat up, and then add the beef/lentils. Stir until the meat is browned/the lentils are coated in tomato puree.
3. Add the cumin, mixed herbs and chillies, and stir through. Then pour on the tinned tomatoes and bay leaves. Let simmer on a moderate heat for 10 minutes.
4. Splash in some Worcester sauce, and then add the cornflour mix.
5. Serve with boiled rice or jacket potato, and top with sour cream and cheese. Best enjoyed with a side of garlic bread and a tankard of the finest ale.

Yum!

 

Your magnificent beard and swordsmith shop await you!

Bibliography:

1. Gloriana St. Clare (1995) 'An Overview of the Northern Influences on Tolkein's Works' University Libraries Showcase, issue 99, p. 64