A Rough Draught Of A Topic

[Snowdog]

A theoretical Orc Draught....

1 oz sambuca
1 oz sweet vermouth
1½ oz absinthe
1oz strong black coffee

[Inziladun]

The most nourishing meal in Middle-earth has to be:

Sméagol's Spectacular Sushi

Ingredients: Nice fishes
Teeth (6)

Enjoy!

[Morthoron]

Originally Posted by Snowdog

A theoretical Orc Draught....

1 oz sambuca
1 oz sweet vermouth
1½ oz absinthe
1oz strong black coffee

Hmmm...too sweet, and far too dainty.

I'm thinking that, based on descriptions, the orcs were not much into refinement, but would get their libations as quickly and easily as possible; therefore, straight turpentine (the oil, not the resin), which can be got from any pine and was ingested for medicinal purposes up until recently, fermented potato mash (potatoes, because they grow underground and in very hostile climates), and a chaser of chicory.

[Nerwen]

Thinking the thread title was a mere typo, I was about to post it in "Questionable Titles" with an oh-so-witty pun on orc-draughts... then luckily I decided to check what the thread was really about...

[Boromir88]

There is not only the Orc-draught but the Orc-neosporin...

...Then he smeared the wound with some dark stuff out of a small wooden box. Merry cried out and struggled wildly.

The Orcs clapped and hooted. "Can't take his medicine," they jeered. "Doesn't know what's good for him. Ai! We shall have some fun later."

But at the moment Ugluk was not engaged in sport. He needed speed and had to humour unwilling followers. He was healing Merry in orc-fashion; and his treatment worked swiftly. When he had forced a drink from his flask down the hobbit's throat, cut his leg-bonds, and dragged him to his feet, Merry stood up, looking pale but grim and defiant, and very much alive. The gash in his forehead gave him no more trouble, but he bore a brown scar to the end of his days.~The Uruk-hai

I agree about the physical vs. spiritual healing. Lembas and miruvor's healing is spiritual, and the effects of their healing will restore one's strength/will/energy. But there is no nasty side-effects; it's refreshing and there is no "crash" when the refreshment wears off.

Orc-draught and the orc-medicine physically heals, and it works "swiftly." Merry and Pippin get healed in "orc-fashion." Elf-fashion is spiritual, orc-fashion is physical. And orc-fashion is like big pharma, the treatment will temporarily relieve the physical symptoms but you wonder 1. what are the nasty side-effects? and 2. what happens when the drug wears off?

Neither Pippin nor Merry remembered much of the later part of the journey. Evil dreams and evil waking were blended into a long tunnel of misery, with hope growing ever fainter behind. They ran, and they ran, striving to keep up the pace set by the Orcs, licked every now and agan with a cruel thong cunningly handled. If they halted or stumbled, they were seized and dragged for some distance.

The warmth of the orc-draught had gone. Pippin felt cold and sick again...~ibid

Anyone else think about a sugar crash, or caffeine crash after reading this? Only, of course, the orc-draught crash seems much worse.

[Galadriel55]

Originally Posted by Birdland

An also, remember that Frodo became much more of a pacifist after his adventure, even declining to wear a weapon anymore. Not the effect you would want Orc Draught to have.

I do not think a swig of Orc Draught would have such long-lasting effects. Particularly in Frodo's case, given all that he went through, the Orc-draught was among the smallest of the evils and would have very little effect on him in comparison.

The idea of becoming orc-like is an interesting one, but I can only see it happen from prolonged use. Are orcs just drug addicts?

I agree most with the spiritual vs physical theme. But the most interesting thing about it as a drug is the quickness with which it comes into effect. It clearly messes with the nervous system (which is what caffeine does too), and it takes time for substances to be absorbed and transported to the brain, or the tissues where it can act on peripheral nerves. But the effect is almost immediate. I know I'm mixing Tolkien and science again, which never ends well for me, but speculating on real-world mechanisms doesn't bother my peaceful imagination that allows it to be a trick of orc-magic. Lembas is different, because as we know eating something, particularly something tasty and sweet, feels very good even without any magical properties. That alone can be enough to lift spirits - though, of course, lembas does way more than that.

Originally Posted by Snowdog

A theoretical Orc Draught....

1 oz sambuca
1 oz sweet vermouth
1½ oz absinthe
1oz strong black coffee

I'd say alcohol mixed with quinine and orc-magic... Though strong coffee also wouldn't be out of place.