AUTHOR'S NOTES -
CHAPTER 37: NOTHING TO WHAT I HAVE NOW
‘They brought a wild boar for eating now. They’re letting it cook in the pit.’
‘In it?’ said Sam, dubiously. He could have understood if they’d used a spit over the fire.
Frodo laughed. ‘You wait,’ he said. ‘It will be delicious.’
I initially wrote this with smoke coming out of the pit, but next time I was in a bookshop I had a look through some of Ray Mear’s survival books. In fact, the process involves digging a pit and laying a fire over it with stones set in amongst the fire. As the branches on which the fire is supported burn through, the hot stones end up in the bottom of the pit. Meat and other food is laid in the pit and covered with leaves, and some water is poured in. The heat from the stones creates steam which cooks the food. Presumably it’s well insulated, because the food can be left cooking for hours.
‘Seemingly not, but when the birds are nesting on the marsh, the tides are always lower. Bird-tides, the Elves call them; they say Ulmo holds back the waters to please Vána. Larks nest here, as well as the shore birds.’
The Silmarillion, Valaquenta: “The spouse of Oromë is Vána, the Ever-young; she is the younger sister of Yavanna. All flowers spring as she passes, and all birds sing at her coming.” These salt marshes are loosely modelled on those of the North Norfolk Coast, where the bird-tides occur in May/June and allow the terns, oystercatchers and other ground nesting shore-birds to breed successfully.
‘...It’s a pity the sea-lavender isn’t out; the whole marsh is a haze of purple then. The bees love it; you have to be careful not to tread on them.’
Sea Lavender at low tide. I've searched for some good aerial pictures of the North Norfolk Marshes but didn't find any that showed the area described here.
Sam listened to the sound of Frodo’s voice; there was an enthusiasm there that charmed him, every word singing with love of this place. He had no idea what cockling was, nor whether samphire was a plant or animal, but no doubt he would find out in the fullness of time. ‘Who does the boat belong to?’ he asked.
Samphire is a salt-marsh plant with fleshy stem and leaves. Since it is regularly covered by the sea, it is quite salty to eat, even after being cooked in fresh water. Boil in a little water for 1 or 2 minutes, drain, add some good extra virgin olive oil and a squeeze of lemon. Later in the season the stems are tougher and best boiled and eaten a bit like a globe artichoke, dipped into melted butter and drawn between the teeth to pull the flesh off the tougher spine.
‘How do I learn the trick?’ he asked as Frodo sat down beside him. ‘Falling into deep water don’t seem to be the answer. If you hadn’t grabbed me by the hair, that time, I would have been drowned-dead. I was never so glad to have my hair nearly pulled out by the roots in all my born days.’
The Fellowship of the Ring, The Breaking of the Fellowship: “Gurgling he went under and the river closed over his curly head.
An exclamation of dismay came from the empty boat. A paddle swirled and the boat put about. Frodo was just in time to grasp Sam by the hair as he came up, bubbling and struggling. Fear was staring in his round brown eyes.”
‘Melinyel,’ he murmured. ‘Nál vanya. A tulë. A tulë.’ He rocked over Sam as the next wave washed over them, and with a cry Sam came, his seed spilling between them, to be swept away by the sea.
Melinyel: I love you
Nál vanya: You are beautiful
A tulë: Come
The web site I used for Elvish has the word “tule,” but it also has “namárie” when it should be “namárië.” I have therefore made a guess that “tulë” is probably the correct form. Possibly “hantale” should be “hantalë.” If anyone knows the answer, please let me know.