The Origin of Health Potions Used in Video Games: ‘miruvor’ the Cordial of Imladris from “The Lord of the Rings”

In J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings The Fellowship of the Ring the Fellowship is stranded at the Redhorn Gate, trying to defeat Caradhras, as depicted in Peter Jackson’s 2001 movie.

The hobbits started freezing due to a heavy snow storm, the situations was dire:

‘Give them this.’ said Gandalf, searching in his pack and drawing out a leathern flask. ‘Just a mouthful each – for all of us. It is very precious. It is miruvor, the cordial of Imladris. Elrond gave it to me at our parting. Pass it round!’ As soon as Frodo had swallowed a little of the arm fragrant liquor he felt a new strength of heart, and the heavy drowsiness left his limbs. The others also revived and found fresh hope and vigour.

Tolkien, J. R. R. 1991. The Fellowship of the Ring. The Lord of the Rings 1. London, England: HarperCollins, p. 378

While lembas bread is much more famous and has greater significance in Tolkien’s work, miruvor, “the cordial of Imladris” is the first example of a potion mentioned in fantasy works (since Tolkien is the father of modern fantasy), which most strikingly resembles healing potions found in today’s video games. It instantly restores the health of an individual, and if you are looking for something which resembles health potions in modern RPGs, miruvor is by far the most remarkable template for it. One can only guess if this potion was the direct inspiration for its appearance in video games, but its origins in fantasy literature are surely to be found in Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. While the the idea for potions in general in video games may be found in alchemy, there is no doubt that Tolkien’s work has heavily inspired fantasy video games of our time. The cordial of Imladris is an overlooked hidden gem.