Places in Middle-earth
Imloth Melui
Type: Forests, Fields, Plains
Region: Gondor
Meaning: sweet flower-valley
Location: A wooded area in Lossarnach where athelas grows.
Description:
A wooded area in Lossarnach known for its roses and athelas; the childhood home of Ioreth:
'Oh that!' said Ioreth... 'I have often said to my sisters when we came upon it growing in the woods: "kingsfoil" I said, "'tis a strange name, and I wonder why 'tis called so; for if I were a king, I would have plants more bright in my garden". Still it smells sweet when bruised, does it not? If sweet is the right word: wholesome, maybe, is nearer.'
'Wholesome verily,' said Aragorn. 'And now, dame, if you love the Lord Faramir, run as quick as your tongue and get me kingsfoil, if there is a leaf in the City.'
'And if not,' said Gandalf, 'I will ride to Lossarnach with Ioreth behind me, and she shall take me to the woods, but not to her sisters.'
The Return of the King, LoTR Book 5, Ch 8, The Houses of Healing
And then [Aragorn] cast the leaves into the bowls of steaming water..., and at once all hearts were lightened. For the fragrance that came to each was like a memory of dewy mornings of unshadowed sun in some land of which the fair world in Spring is itself but a fleeting memory....
'Well now! Who would have believed it?' said Ioreth.... 'The weed is better than I thought. It reminds me of the roses of Imloth Melui when I was a lass, and no king could ask for better.'
The Return of the King, LoTR Book 5, Ch 8, The Houses of Healing
'Nay, cousin! they are not boys,' said Ioreth to her kinswoman from Imloth Melui, who stood beside her. 'Those are Periain, out of the far country of the Halflings, where they are princes of great fame....'
The Return of the King, LoTR Book 6, Ch 5, The Steward and the King
Contributors: Elena Tiriel 14Mar08
