Frodo's mushrooms?

[Ed8r]

In Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, Frodo is said to have raided Farmer Maggot's fields as a youngster, trespassing to gather mushrooms. The land is in a flat river bottom, described as a boggy area: "Soon they came into well-tended fields and meadows: there were hedges and gates and dikes for drainage." At the time of the story, it is late September and the fields are of turnips.

Can anyone speculate as to which kind(s) of mushrooms Tolkien was likely thinking of? Would they be ceps, do you think?

I live on the Pacific Coast of the U.S. and know nothing about the seasons and types of wild mushrooms in England.

[NickCantle]

Hullo,

I'm sure Merry & Pippin collect mushrooms on a bank after being chased by the farmer in 'The Fellowship of the ring'. Maybe it's worth watching to see what they are

[Ed8r]

I thought of that, but the film version also showed corn (maize) fields and the general area was not "boggy." Plus, I suppose they would have shown either New Zealand mushrooms, or - as was done with some of the flora - invented their own.

[NickCantle]

I doubt there's anyone out there that knows exactly what Tolkien was thinking of, unless there's some descriptive literature somewhere!

What are you researching this for may I ask? It sounds interesting!

[fairplay]

Welcome to WAB Ed8r !

The fields would be the wrong habitat for Ceps, I think he had in mind just ordinary Horse Mushrooms - Agaricus arvensis, or maybe the Field Blewit - Lepista saeva.
Unless they were a bit more adventurous and took a fancy to something growing on cow pats.

Neil.

[Ed8r]

Well, no specific purpose to the research really, just a personal new-found fascination with fungi combined with an annual rereading of LOTR.

I realize we can't know definitely what Tolkien was thinking, but I did hope some folks from the other side of the pond could suggest likely wild crops for the season and type of area he described.

(no, no cow pats, just hedgerows I think.)

[SheffieldLass]

It has to be Liberty Caps Psilocybe semilanceata ... well Tolkein did enter the world of fantasy somehow .....

[SheffieldLass]

Although Lord of the Rings might suggest Marasmius oreades ....

[Ed8r]

Ok, ok . . . (throws hands in air) . . . I asked for it!

But seriously, since Tolkien based the Hobbits' Shire on England, I was more interested in which mushrooms one would expect to find in abundance in late September around cultivated fields in England. A crop worth picking and cooking into a "mighty dish of mushrooms and bacon."

[mebeingme]

Hi Ed8r,
I'm also going with Field Blewit (Lepista saeva). Habitat seems fine. Delicious recipes on the net