Ent-draught

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Pippin sampling an Ent Draught
Pippin sampling an Ent Draught

In J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium of Middle-earth, Ent draught was an extremely invigorating drink of the Ents.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Ent draughts were brewed by the Ents from the waters of the mountain springs on Methedras. These springs were the source of the Entwash and the water had special properties. When Merry and Pippin drank from the Entwash and bathed their feet they felt refreshed and their wounds were healed.

When Treebeard brought Merry and Pippin to his home at Wellinghall on February 29, 3019, he gave them each a bowl of Ent draught from a stone jar. The Hobbits found that it was similar to the water they had drunk from the Entwash, but it was even more invigorating. They felt its power coursing through their limbs and it felt like the hair on their heads was curling and growing. There was a taste or scent like a breeze from the woods. The next morning, Treebeard gave the Hobbits an Ent draught from a different jar. This one was more filling and had an earthier, richer taste.

So invigorating was the drink that Meriadoc Brandybuck and Peregrin Took actually grew taller after drinking it. Their exact height is not recorded, but it is said that they surpassed Bandobras Took, who was four feet, five inches tall.

[edit] In Adaptations

In Peter Jackson's film adaptation of The Two Towers, a scene in which Merry and Pippin drink Ent-Draughts is included but only in the Extended Edition. A bit of a continuity error results, as subsequently in the adaptation of The Return of the King, Merry and Pippin are not noticeably taller than Frodo and Sam when they encounter them again at the end of the story.

[edit] Sources

  • The Fellowship of the Ring: "Prologue: Concerning Hobbits," p. 11
  • The Two Towers: "Treebeard," p. 63, 65, 74, 82; "Flotsam and Jetsam," p. 166-67, 174-75, 180
  • The Return of the King: "The Field of Cormallen, p. 234; "Many Partings," p. 260