Miruvor
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In J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium of Middle-earth miruvor is the name of a warm and fragrant clear cordial of the Elves. Its special property is to give the drinker renewed strength and vitality. Miruvor was used by the Elves at their festivals. They did not reveal how miruvor was made, but it was thought to come from the honey of the undying flowers in the gardens of Yavanna.
Elrond gave a flask of miruvor to Gandalf when the Fellowship embarked on their quest. During the snowstorm on Caradhras, Gandalf gave each of the companions a sip of the cordial to revive their frozen and tired limbs. He gave them another sip when they stopped to rest, and a third sip when they first entered the Mines of Moria. At that point, the precious liquid had almost run out.
Miruvor was also mentioned in the lament Galadriel sang when the Fellowship left Lórien:
Yéni ve lintë yuldar avánier mi oromardi lisse-miruvóreva Andúnë pella ...
(The long years have passed like swift draughts of sweet mead (miruvor') in lofty halls beyond the West ...)
The Fellowship of the Ring: "Farewell to Lórien," p. 394
[edit] Etymology
The exact translation of miruvor or miruvóre, is not known, but Tolkien compared it to the Greek nectar, for which he gave "death-defeater" as a probable etymological meaning.
[edit] Sources
- The Fellowship of the Ring: "The Ring Goes South" and "A Journey in the Dark"
- Tolkien's "Notes and Translations" for Namárië in The Road Goes Ever On: A Song Cycle, by Donald Swann and J.R.R. Tolkien
