Tolkien's Inspiration's (#593-597)

 Fun Fact #593

When Curses come Ringing

In 1785 a farmer in Hampshire England was plowing a field when he accidentally uncovered a ring with strange writing on it. Not thinking too much of it, the Farmer sold the ring to Chaloner Chute who owned “The Vyne Country House” and fields the ring was found in.  Then in 1908 a thin lead Tablet with writing was found 80 from The Vyne in “The Noden Temple Ruins”.

The Tablet was a defixo or “Curse Tablet” from 300 AD but no translation was known. Then a second Curse Tablet with the same inscription was found at Lydney park in 1929 by Sir Mortimer Wheeler who recognized it as bearing the same mark as on the Vyne Ring. Seeking answers Sir Wheeler sought out Oxford’s best linguist John Ronald Reuel Tolkien who soon uncovered the translation, learning about a previously unknown Celtic god of Healing and Dogs named “Noden” cursing the ringbearer until it was returned:

“For the god Nodens. Silvianus has lost a ring and has donated one half [its worth] to Nodens. Among those named Senicianus permit no good health until it is returned to the temple of Nodens.”

This discovery of “The Cursed Ring of Silvianus” helped expand knowledge of The Celtic Mythology and the Romans who occupied the area at the time. Yet this Cursed ring, helped inspire “The One Ring” in JRR Tolkien's “Hobbit” and “Lord Of The Rings” which have helped inspire and entertain people the world over. 

I hope you all will enjoy this week’s Theme of “The Hobbit Lords” where we will explore the real life items and places which helped inspire “The Lord of The Rings” or were inspired by it.  As always thanks for reading and please have a wonderful day! 

Picture of “The Ring of Silvanius” 

Fun Fact #594

Leftover Lembas

Since Hippocrates’ musings about crackers being able to positively affect digestion in  the 5th Century BC crackers have been a staple of Military Food Supplies. As time continued the method evolved with a notable addition being King Richard The First of England prepared for the Third Crusade by having a mixture of Grains mixed into the crackers incidentally improving both flavor and The Nutritional Value becoming known as “The Biscuit of Muslin”. Later in the 1660s, Muslin Biscuits began being used by the British Navy for long voyages with each sailor getting 1 pound of the stuff a day. 

Then in Milton, Massachusetts, 1801 Josiah Bent invented and began selling “Water Crackers”. They were less tasty than Biscuits since they only used flour and water, but lasted far longer than the Biscuits 6 months. They were quickly a success being sold to The USRC, and then The California Gold Miners. By the 1860s the “Water Crackers” were so hated The Bent Company had rebranded them to “Hard Tack” yet that didn't prevent soldiers from coming up with the song “Hard-Tack Come again No More”.   

The British were introduced to the concoction in their trade with The South and soon The British began making their Biscuits in the style of American Hard Tack –just with all the flavors of Muslin Biscuits. Still, even the British took up the custom of soaking the stuff in coffee before eating.

JRR Tolkien first encountered it in World War 1 and –using brown sugar sent to him by family– was among those who invented “Tack Pudding” which quickly began being served as a “dessert” to soldiers in the Trenches. Yet it served as the inspiration for “Cram” in The Lord of The Rings Fantasy Novels as Hard Tack’s fantasy counterpart, with Lembas being the version made by the Elves which had been enchanted to magically taste good (Like Vanilla Wafers). 

Today Hard Tack is still made and sold as “Sailor Boy Bread” –Now with Flavoring! It's made by Interbake Foods with 98% of the American production being sent to Alaska for use as a survival ration. 

Thanks for reading and please have a wonderful day.

Fun Fact #595

What's A Woobie

In The Lord of The Rings Novels the Elves give the fellowship with “Elven Cloaks” which were warm in the cold, cool in the heat, and could magically blend in with any environment. At the time no real life counterpart existed, but when the Books really became popular in the 1960s The US military put out a reward for anyone who could design a blanket that could achieve similar results. 

In 1962 this was collected for the invention of “The Poncho Liner”, although the inventor’s name was never released. The liner then saw use in Vietnam where soldiers held it in high regard for its usefulness being both warm or cold as needed. As it was made from Nylon it was also durable, dried quickly, and even a full sized blanket could be folded up into compact squares. As time went on improvements were made such as the addition of Camouflage and it being nicknamed by Soldiers “The Woobie” after a sitcom on air at the time. 

Today Woobies are still popular with it being the most commonly stolen military issue item. Soldiers will often “upcycle” their woobies into jackets, coats, robes, or even blankets for their children. They are also among the most popular Military surplus goods on the market today currently being sold for $45 ($40 at The Rockford Army-Navy Surplus). Heck, some civilian manufacturers have even sprouted up in recent years who make Woobie Jackets, Tents, and Just about anything else you could need the fabric for.

Fun Fact #596

The Green Guerillas

From The Ancient Egyptains, To the Iroquois Confederacy (Haudenosaunee) cultures from around the world have used Seedballs to aid in the reliability for their crops. Yet the art was nearly lost in the Modern World as industrialization led to farm equipment abandoning the old ways of planting seeds in favor of quicker less costly methods. 

So just what is a seedball? In short a seedball is a seed covered with some fertilizer, and an outer shell of clay. This allows the seed to better survive until it has the optimal chance to sprout and grow while being relatively hands off. That said, it's not perfect and performs best in temperate to wet environments. Today its used as an outdoors project for kids to get them into gardening.

By 1945 the method was almost completely forgotten. JRR Tolkein however was taught this by his legal guardian (Both his parents were dead before he was 10)  Priest Francis Morgan as they tended a Church Garden. This method stuck with him and in a Post WW2 environment he advocated for its reintroduction to quickly restore areas deforested and devastated by the war. To do this they air dropped thousands of Seedballs in western Europe and it proved to be a success in most areas. 

Meanwhile Japan had already gotten a head start when Masanobu Fukuoka had advocated for a minimalist farming technique during the war and began traveling the world teaching the technique afterwards. This really picked up speed in the 1970s when environmentalist groups began using the technique to “Seed Bomb” vacant lots to bring some much needed green to “The concrete jungle”. 

This movement soon became organized as an environmentalist group known as “The Green Guerillas”. They took as their symbol the letters “SG” after the JRR Tolkein’s Fictional character “Samwise Gamgee” who brings plants back to the shire after the War is over by spreading seeds in tiny balls of dirt, although some branches of The Guerillas used The Mallorn Tree from the novels instead. Yet people sprouting trees in random lots proved to be more trouble for cities and so in the 1990s 29 states banned “Seed Bombing”. In protest, The Green Guerillas released a political cartoon featuring an Orc chopping down Mallorn trees with the caption “Many of these trees were my friends.”