#pipeweed

happy 4/20 from ur favorite stoner hobbits :3

I adore Billy/Pippin, but I'm not usually attracted to him. Yet watching him light his pipe for some reason really piques my interest.

Why is this sexy???

And also...

like, i mean, while sweet galenas (ie pipeweed) was introduced to Middle-Earth by Númenoreans, and grows wild in the climate of Gondor, we also know that pre-LOTR it's only used as a substance (and probably also only farmed/grown on purpose) in the Shire and Bree, and among groups that have somewhat frequent contact with the people of one or both of those places (so Gandalf, dwarves, Aragorn, possibly other rangers)

but like. after LOTR. first of all the Shire is now a place that is Known in Gondor, and once things settle down after the war, and especially once enough has been done to get rebuilding of Gondor underway that Aragorn has the time to turn his attention more on restoring Arnor, one would presume that there will be trade between Shire and Gondor.

and secondly... again, Aragorn smokes. maybe he'd give that habit up after becoming a king, but probably not, i don't really see a reason why he would. and historically in real life... what the royalty do definitely influences the trends among the rest of the people. So whatever King Aragorn Elessar of the house of Telcontar, heir of Isildur, savior of Gondor, etc. does is kind of automatically going to be Cool now. Not to mention, it's not just Aragorn, but also, uhhh... every single member of the Fellowship except for Boromir and Legolas that smoke. and all of them are heroes, and we know that Gimli comes with other dwarves later to help rebuild Minas Tirith, and Pippin is going to come visit occasionally (and Merry too), and even if Sam never comes back to visit Gondor, he certainly hangs out with Aragorn and everyone whenever they're visiting in the North.

So like, the new king and also most of his heroic companions smoke. That's definitely going to make smoking officially A Cool Thing To Do. And there's probably now trade between Shire and Gondor happening anyway, which means a way for pipeweed grown in the Shire to make it down south to those willing to pay for it. Not to mention that again, it's a plant that grows wild in Gondor, so even if you can't afford the stuff from the Shire, you can go gather the wild stuff, or even start cultivating it locally yourself, if you're willing to put in that effort. Likely the Shire-grown stuff would be considered more authentic and prestigious, but pipeweed in general would still be available even for the less wealthy

We know that pipeweed was originally brought to Middle-earth by the Númenóreans, who called it sweet galenas. But where did it came from before that?

Númenor was created by the Valar at the beginning of the Second Age, so the island can’t have had native flora or fauna. I’m sure the Edain brought animals and plants with them from Middle-earth when they settled there, but that still begs the question, where did pipeweed actually come from?

And I have a theory! It came from Valinor.

Númenor received ship visit from Tol Eressëa for a time. The Elves definitely could have brought plants or seeds with them as gifts. It also says in The Silmarillion that flowers grew on Tol Eressëa:

“Then through Calacirya, the Pass of Light, the radiance of the Blessed Realm streamed forth, kindling the dark waves to silver and gold, and it touched the Lonely Isle, and its western shore grew green and fair. There bloomed the first flowers that ever were east of the Mountains of Aman.”

I mean, I know this is far from conclusive proof. But it doesn’t say there wasn’t sweet galenas among those flowers! And pipeweed had to come from somewhere.