[Child of the 7th Age]

Lostgaeriel,

Hmm... That's fascinating.

I'm no Elvish scholar, but the origin of the word 'lembas' is Sindarin, and means journey or waybread. The older form is 'lenn-mbass'. I believe another Quenyan name was 'coimas' or bread of life.

My guess is that "lembas" as a word existed before Tolkien wrote the particular scene between Merry and Pippin that you are describing. In that sense, the similar Cornish word wouldn't have had a direct impact on the origin of lembas. However, Tolkien knew a vast number of languages and it's certainly possible he had the Cornish word in the back of his mind as he wrote out that particular passage, hence giving the scene an underlying double meaning.

By the way, on my dad's side, I am a "Cousin Jenny" whose family came to the UP of Michigan long years ago to mine copper. I know absolutely no Cornish, but I do make a "mean" pasty and also saffron cake. The story you tell about throwing the pasties down the mine shaft and not having them break....I heard that many times in my childhood (although definitely in English!). If I heard such a tale way across the Atlantic, surely JRRT would have been aware of it, as well as the actual dialect and language that would have been used. Shippey has show how much "word play" there is shot throughout LotR. This could be another instance. But, like you, I can only guess. Perhaps there's someone else who can speak with more certainty on this.

I have a Cornish dictionary on mail order. If and when it gets here, I'll have a look at that word to see what it says. I couldn't find anything directly relevent in the Cornish word lists on the internet. Thanks for the reference to that 'pasty book'. I'll try to dig up a copy.