(didn't know where to post this, didn't think it fit into the tavern so I posted it here)

has anyone else seen The Hobbit? ANOTHER mushroom reference! Saruman scolds the brown wizard (one of five wizards, like gandalf) during a conversation with Gandalf, saying all he does is eat mushrooms.


if you haven't seen lotr: fellowship of the ring (first lord of the rings film), they pick a few shrooms in the middle of the road right before the dark rider comes.


and of course.......Tolkien himself wrote that hobbits are extremely obsessed with mushrooms. (:


p.s. another mushroom reference I saw recently was Snow White & The Huntsman, middle of the film. There's mushrooms all over the place, you can't miss it, then 1 of 9 dwarves says they should eat some shrooms.

Hhaha, love your view on it

yeah, living in the deep south in the midst of cow fields, that line brought the entire theater down into laughter.

YA Saw it! Woo Last night everybody cracked up at that part!

Good movie, beautiful scenery.

Don't forget LOTR's (54/55) and the hobbit (37) were published before most of the western world were even in the know about psychoactive mushrooms. Prior to the 50's there wasn't very much info on these species at all in regards to their psychoactivity.

Also Hobbits are especially fond of growing quality edible produce

And of course, the famous "Longbottom Leaf." It's no secret what kind of leaf THAT is!

Saruman : "...And you had not the wit to see it. Your love of the Halflings' leaf has clearly slowed your mind."

rofl haha noticed it too, a few dozen people did as well

The western world has been using psychoactive mushrooms for centuries, if I'm not mistaken. I saw the hobbit the other night. The mushroom joke seemed a little inappropriate, but I can't complain as long as psychedelics are getting at least some credit on the mainstream stage.

Also, the way they smoke their pipes in certain parts of the movie seemed to imply that they weren't smoking tobacco.

I haven't seen it yet, but I plan on going this Monday to see it.

Yes, hobbits are known to favor mushrooms in particular And of course smoking their pipes with the Longbottom leaf has always been something I've smiled about from the books.

So excited to see this film. I remember the first time I read the book in grade seven, I absolutely fell in love with it. My entire grade eight year I carried my copies of The Lord of the Rings in my back pack, reading and re-reading them. I can even speak a little Elvish when the mood strikes me

Can you prove this?

From what I've read, european missionaries had merely observed ceremonies in the central american regions. Science didn't become curious until the early 20th century and actual usage didn't spread until people became curious of that information when it hit the media in the late 50's.

So yeah, obviously native americans were using them, but I don't think I'd be over-sceptic to suggest this particular wizard just adored shiitake's

Amanita Muscaria is one thing (not only in Siberia, there's accounts of traditional fly agaric usage in Europe way before Wasson brought it up with his research) but psilocybes are different.

Tolkien was fond of mushrooms, and they traditionally have this faerish quality which might be attributed to fly agaric use in some european folklore, but I suppose hobbits like mushies because they are included in that "all things that grow" category.

Ah of course!

How could how forget the thundering fairy chair

Yes I felt the same way when watching

haha speaking elvish would be awesome!


most definitely. i remember one part where one of the dwarves made the other take a hit to calm down so that he could say what he was trying to say, or something along those lines. no way in hell that's tobacco!

and of course, in the second movie, twin towers, when merry gives pip the rest of his stash before he sets off to gondor with gandalf, he tells him "you smoke too much pip"

and if you've scene the 4 hour extended edition, when in gondor, Gandalf has pip get him more of his "stash" and Gandalf literally coffs BIG TIME from taking a hit.

then, at the end of the film, pip and merry find saruman's stash after taking his castle with tree beard. it was some of the finest they'd ever had, and they decide not to tell tree beard because they think that he might be offended because the dried herbs could be a "cousin" to tree beard, possibly. so the maryjane references are plentiful throughout lord of the rings and the hobbit


They way saruman complained about him eating too many mushrooms was a definite reference, but I can understand tolkien's including of them just because they simply looking so wild or fairy-ish, but you never know....