Athelas
From the One Wiki to Rule Them All, the Lord of the Rings Encyclopedia.
Athelas is a healing herb, also known as Kingsfoil or Asëa Aranion.
It was first brought to Middle-earth by Númenoreans, but by the end of the Third Age the knowledge of its healing properties was lost among all but the Rangers of the North. According to folklore in Gondor, it is especially powerful in the hands of the king, perhaps because of the Elvish heritage of the royal house. It was used by Aragorn, secretly entering Minas Tirith upon his return to Gondor to heal those touched by the black breath, an act that enhanced his reputation and strengthened his claim to the crown. The rhyme of Gondorian lore about athelas is:
- When the black breath blows
- and death's shadow grows
- and all lights pass,
- come athelas! come athelas!
- Life to dying
- In the king's hand lying!
Aragorn also uses athelas to ease the pain of Frodo's wound when he is stabbed by a Morgul-blade at the Weathertop camp. The scent of the leaves also calms the minds of the other hobbits. Athelas is also used after Moria when Aragorn tends Frodo's and Sam's injuries. Some Gondorians use an infusion of athelas for headaches.
Athelas was also used by Huan and Lúthien to heal wounded Beren in the early Lay of Leithian. It contradicts the information from The Lord of the Rings of it being brought to Middle-earth by Númenoreans, so it was either changed by Tolkien in later versions of his legendarium, or athelas grew in Beleriand before it was destroyed, and then brought back to Middle-earth by Númenoreans in the Second Age.
Kingsfoil is also mentioned in Ursula K. Le Guin's A Wizard of Earthsea, as one of the herbs in the witch of Gont's hut.
