lembas bread

gi suilon, mellyn! 

 i have been reading lord of the rings – again. this time it was a completely new experience though, since i switched language to italian. it was quite challenging, as i have been learning that language for about sixteen months, yet easier that i thought it would be. the thing that annoyed me most was their constant changing of proper names into ones that make little sense (i shouldn’t be surprised, i have known for ages that they even changed snape’s surname), like turning rivendell into gran burrone (‘great ravine’) or shire into contea (what does mean shire, but i would have expected the translators to leave such an important name in its original state for it becomes unrecognizable for someone who doesn’t care to check and suddenly stumbles upon the original version, or watches movies in english.)

moreover, i didn’t quite like translations of songs and poems, of which only a handful was done neatly and rhymed. ‘all that is gold is not glitter’, for example, which is short, brilliant and important to the plot, was left in rather rough state. maybe it is only a matter of the particular translation, but unfortunately i don’t have the possibility to consult any others. 

i couldn't help myself - a piece of one of my favorite fanfiction authors:

'Aragorn was standing about ten feet away, his back to Gimli. He was looking up at a narrow pillar of a side passage that had crumbled into disrepair. Perched perhaps twenty feet up the pillar was Legolas. The Elf had evidently climbed the chipped masonry to the top of the small archway and clung there, his hands and feet braced on some slight imperfection in the stone, his body leaning back and his eyes fixed on the shaft from which the light came.
Aragorn seemed half amused, half exasperated as he called up to the Elf. "Legolas, come down. The Company breakfasts down here."
Legolas twisted almost upside down to look at the Man. "I can smell the green from here, Aragorn! It is better than food or sleep."
Aragorn snorted. "First you wouldn't eat because of the dark. Now you won't eat because of the light."
Legolas laughed, clear and bright as bells ringing. "You can toss the food up here. Or," his bright gaze fell on Gimli, "send it with the Dwarf. He is good at climbing stone."
Gimli glowered at him, but the Elf only laughed again. Aragorn sighed. "The longer you stay up there, the longer it will take for us to leave Moria."
Legolas let go of the pillar. Aragorn started in shock, but the Elf somersaulted smoothly in mid air and landed lightly beside him. Gimli wondered how he kept his arrows from falling out of his quiver.
"We can go now," Legolas said simply. He took the dried fruit that Aragorn held and laughed again. Then he caught up his bow and leaped away, racing across the hall to come to a complete stop at the eastern archway, his head thrown back and his eyes half closed as he looked up at the shaft of light.
Aragorn turned and gave Gimli a sympathetic look. He walked over to the Dwarf, one corner of his mouth drawn up in wry amusement.
"That, Master Dwarf, is a typical Wood-elven reaction. We've been in these caves too long, and the light is very welcome."'

(in the deep places by lamiel, ch. 7)

in the end i had to create something related to lord of the rings and the choice was rather obvious. “lembas is the sindarin name, and comes from the older form lenn-mbass 'journey-bread'; in quenya it was most often named coimas which is 'life-bread'”

master tolkien writes:
eat a little at a time, and only at need. for these things are given to serve you when all else fails. the cakes will keep sweet for many many days, if they are unbroken and left in their leaf wrappings, as we have brought them. one will keep a traveller on his feet for a day of long labour, even if it be one of the tall man of minas tirith.

no veren!

lembas bread recipe

¼ cup sour cream
¼ cup fresh lemon juice
½ cup honey (mallorn tree preferably)
2 cups flour (i used whole wheat for healthier version)
zest of 2 lemons
1 tsp baking powder
110 g cold butter

whisk flour, zest and baking powder
add diced butter and mix quickly until it becomes crumbly
mix cream, juice and honey (it doesn’t have to be runny)
add wet ingredients and mix with hand until it forms a ball – do not overwork (use more flour if needed, it should feel a bit less thick than shortbread)
refrigerate for at least an hour
roll out 1 cm thick and cut square pieces – i made 12 7x7 cm cookies
bake 15-17 min in 200C until edges are golden brown
optional: decorate with thin citrusy icing
wrap with mallorn leaves and save for your travel