- "When the Black Breath blows
and death's shadow grows
and all lights pass,
come athelas! Come athelas!
Life to the dying
In the king's hand lying!" - —the rhyme of Gondorian lore
Athelas, also known as King's foil, is a type of plant. It is regarded as a weed by most people, mostly to hobbits and men.
It appears in both The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings trilogies.
Etymology[]
Athelas is combined of two Sindarin terms: athaya, meaning "helpful, beneficial". The second word is "lass, which means "leaf". Lasse also means "leaf" in Quenya.
Background[]
The plant was brought To Middle-earth by the Númenóreans, but most people were ignorant of its true healing powers through the use of an elf magic. It would be used to heal those that were under the Black Breath.
Only the rangers of the north and the elves knew of their magic healing properties. Most of the time, Hobbits and men regarded it as a "useless weed." A similar thing would occur when Prince Kili, the sister-son of Thorin Oakenshield, where Oin knew of its healing properties, as he asks Bard for it. THe second time it happened would be when Aragorn asked for athelas by Sam, and he did not know of the kingsfoil weed.
Tauriel's usage[]
Kili gets injured by a poisoned arrow and is forced by his uncle, Thorin Oakenshield, to stay behind. Óin, Fíli and Bofur opted to stay behind (with Bofur drinkingto much the night before. Seeing none of hte citizens will help them, they go to Bard, who gives them shelter after seeing Kili injured. When Óin inquires if he has king's foil, Bard states that it is given to the pigs.
Desperate to save Kili, Bofur runs to get it. He finds it being eaten by a pig, like Bard said it was. However, he is waylaid by an Orc. Before it can kill him, the arrow flies and hits him.
[]
Tauriel in possession of the athelas plant
Bofur, after being saved by either Legolas's or Tauriel's arrow, then proceeded with going to Bard's house. There, Tauriel sees Bofur running with the plant. Now realizing she has the athelas plant, Tauriel decides to use it to save Kili. When Bofur asks what she is doing, she declares her purpose to him. Tauriel, with the use of her elf magic, uses the plant by putting it in Kili's wound, clensing him of the poison, but not healing him completely.
Aragorn's usage[]
- "Sam, do you know Athelas plant?"
"Athelas?"
"Kingsfoil."
"Kingsfoil? Ah, that’s a weed."
It may help to slow the poison." - —Aragorn and Sam Gamgee
Following their battle on Weathertop, Frodo Baggins was stabbed by the Witch-king of Angmar with a mortal blade. They were forced to run to another location. Frodo, slowly transforming into a wraith like they are, suffers from the wound greatly. During their time in the woods, Aragorn gets Samwise Gamgee, Frodo's gardner to find the king's foil. Arwen, the daughter of Lord Elrond, comes to them to take Frodo to the healing house of her father. Before she can, Aragorn puts the athelas in Frodo's wound to heal him, but ultimately fails.
In Return of the king, both Lady Eowyn and the hobbit, Meriadoc Brandybuck were all under the shadow of the Black Breath. Aragorn presumably healed both of them.
History[]
The Fellowship of the Ring[]
Aragorn uses the athelas plant in order to subdue the pain that Frodo has when he was poisoned by the Witch king's bladde.
The Desolation of Smaug[]
When Kili was poisoned by one of Bolg's arrows, he became gravely ill, and was forced to be left behind due to his condition. Fili, Oin and Bofur took Kili back to Bard's house, and let them house themselves there.Kili's sickness worsened and Bard came back with several herbs that help with pain. Óin, who is trying to heal Kíli states that all the weeds that Bard brought were useless and asks for kingsfoil. Bard reveals that they feed the weed to the pigs. Bofur goes and retrieves the plant from one of the farmers' pigs. Tauriel, who saved the dwarves and Bard's children from Orcs, took the plant and used it to heal her lover.
Notorious Forgetfulness of its Reputation[]
To most people, athelas is known as "Kingsfoil," and only disregard it as a pointless weed. However, some people around the world know of its amazing healing properties. Being a healer, Óin knew what the athelas plant could do and inquired for kingsfoil by Bard, who says that they use kingsfoil to feed to the pigs, unaware of the weed's healing properties.