The Encyclopedia of Arda - an interactive guide to the world of J.R.R. Tolkien
Location
Grown across Middle-earth, and also beyond the Great Sea in Aman1
Species
Refers to disparate species of cereal plants, especially wheat, barley or oats
Meaning
From an ancient word meaning 'grain' or '(small) seed'

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About this entry:

  • Updated 10 August 2022
  • Updates planned: 1

Corn

A general name for various cereal crops, especially wheat, barley or oats. The word 'corn' can be used for two unrelated kinds of plants: for cereals used (for example) in making bread, and also for maize. As used in Middle-earth, the word always refers to the cereal, and not to the maize plant.


Notes

1

The corn that grew in Aman is specifically identified as wheat (The Silmarillion speaks of the '...fields and pastures of Yavanna, gold beneath the tall wheat of the gods', in Quenta Silmarillion 8, Of the Darkening of Valinor). Yavanna is also said to have created a particular kind of corn as food for the newly-awakened Elves on their Great Journey, and this was the origin of Waybread or Lembas.

Middle-earth as a whole represents the Old World of Eurasia and Africa in the distant past, so the use of the word 'corn' for maize cannot have applied there (because maize originated in the New World, and wasn't found east of the Great Sea until long afterward). This is not necessarily true of the lands West of the Sea, and indeed The Silmarillion says that '...all living things that are or have been in the Kingdom of Arda ... lived then in the land of Aman...' (Quenta Silmarillion 5, Of Eldamar and the Princes of the Eldalië). That must presumably include all possible kinds of corn, including maize, though only wheat is given a specific mention.

Indexes:

About this entry:

  • Updated 10 August 2022
  • Updates planned: 1

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