Athelas

Athelas, also known as Asëa aranion and Kingsfoil, was a healing herb that grew throughout Middle-earth.
== History ==
Athelas was first brought to Middle-earth by Númenóreans, but by the end of the Third Age the knowledge of its healing properties was lost among all but the Rangers of the North and the Elves, and it was commonly considered by most men and hobbits to be a useless weed.The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, Book One, Ch. XII: "Flight to the Ford" According to folklore in Gondor, it was especially powerful in the hands of the king. It was used by Aragorn when he secretly entered Minas Tirith upon his return to Gondor to heal those (such as Éowyn) who had been touched by the Black Breath, an act that enhanced his reputation and strengthened his claim to the crown.The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King, Book Five, Ch. VIII: "The Houses of Healing"
The rhyme of Gondorian lore about athelas went as follows:
: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!
Aragorn also used Athelas to ease the pain of Frodo's wound when he was stabbed by a Morgul-knife at the Weathertop camp. The scent of the leaves also calmed the minds of the other Hobbits. Additionally, Athelas was used after Moria when Aragorn tended to Frodo and Sam's injuries.The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, Book Two, Ch. VI: "Lothlórien" After the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, Aragorn used Athelas in the Houses of Healing to revive Faramir, Lady Éowyn, and the hobbit Merry, who were all under the shadow of the Black Breath.
Some Men of Gondor used an infusion of Athelas for headaches.
== Etymology ==
The term Athelas consists of the Sindarin terms athaya ("helpful, beneficial") and lass ("leaf"). In Quenya, the term lasse also means "leaf".
In other languages: the Anglosaxon æðele ("noble") and the Old French foil ("leaf").
== In other versions ==
Athelas was used by Huan and Lúthien in the Forest of Brethil to heal wounded Beren, according to the early Lay of Lúthien. This contradicts the information from The Lord of the Rings of it being brought to Middle-earth by Númenóreans, so it was either changed by Tolkien in later versions of his legendarium, or else Athelas had grown in Beleriand before it was destroyed, and then brought back to Middle-earth by Númenóreans in the Second Age.
== In other literature ==
Kingsfoil is also mentioned in Ursula K. Le Guin's A Wizard of Earthsea, as one of the herbs in the witch of Gont's hut.
==Translations==
Foreign Language 	Translated name
Arabic 	اثيلاس
Armenian 	Աթէլաս
Belarusian Cyrillic	Ацэлас
Bengali 	অথেলাস
Bulgarian Cyrillic 	Ателас (Athelas)
Кралски лист (Kingsfoil)
Georgian 	ათელასი
German 	Königskraut(Kingsfoil)
Greek 	Αθέλας
Gujarati 	એથેલાસ
Hebrew 	אתילאס (Athelas)
עשבת המלך (Kingsfoil)
Hindi 	अथ्ऐलस
Kannada 	ಅಥೆಲಾಸ್
Kazakh 	Ателас (Cyrillic) Atelas (Latin)
Korean 	아 헬라스 ?
Kyrgyz Cyrillic 	Атэлас
Macedonian Cyrillic	Ателас
Malayalam 	അഥേലസ്
Marathi 	एथेलस
Mongolian Cyrillic 	Атэлас
Persian 	اتهال ?
Punjabi 	ਅਥੇਲਸ
Russian 	Ацелас, Целема
Sanskrit 	आथेलस्
Serbian 	Ателас (Cyrillic) Atelas (Latin)
Sinhalese 	ඇතලස්
Tajik Cyrillic 	Ателас
Tamil 	அதெலஸ்
Telugu 	అథెలాస్
Turkish 	Atelas (Athelas)
Kralfoyası (Kingsfoil)
Ukrainian Cyrillic 	Ацелас
Urdu 	اٹہیلہس
Yiddish 	אַטהעלאַס
== References ==
Category:Sindarin names & words
Category:Plants
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ru:Ацелас
uk:Ателас