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Gandalf the Wizard and Frog Morton
By William Miller

Hello my fellow puffers… this month we will explore the identity of Frog Morton, the name sake of one of my favorite tobaccos from McClelland, and the association to another famous pipe smoker, Gandalf the Wizard.

Reading the references from McClelland, Frog Morton is a tobacconist who likes to blend his own smooth latakias, which he enjoys smoking while sitting on lily pads on the pond, or going into town to take in the opera.  The rumor around the pipe community is that Frog Morton was a character in Lord of the Rings and that Gandalf got his “Halflings’ Leaf” from Mr. Morton.  So, is this fact or urban legend?  Here we go…

Gandalf the Gray facing his "shadows within" by smoking an impressively long clay pipe.

According to a book entitled Herblore of the Shire, written by the esteemed hobbit, Meriadoc (Merry) Brandybuck, the hobbits of Middle-earth were the first to discover the pleasures and benefits of smoking tobacco, which they call “pipe-weed”. Tobold (Toby) Hornblower, of the Shire’s Southfarthing, cultivated the plant into its current varietals.  The most notable being Longbottom Leaf and his own personal blend called Old Toby.

The hobbit, Merry Brandybuck, from whom we know of the origin of pipe-weed.

The wizard, Gandalf, became quite a connoisseur of the hobbit’s discovery, which men call “Halfling’s Leaf” and purchased his pipe-weed at the Prancing Pony, an inn of the township Bree.  J.R.R. Tolkien’s books, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, are filled with many wonderful references to Gandalf’s enjoyment of his pipe and his ability to blow magnificent smoke rings that he could make change color.  My favorite quote from Gandalf on the subject is, “You might find that smoke blown out clears your mind of shadows within. Anyway, it gives patience to listen to error without anger.”  This was spoken to the White Council of wizards and elves and I think it is apropos to the meditation effect that we still experience from our pipes today.

The author J.R.R. Tolkien was also an outspoken lover of pipes.

Frogmorton (sic) is the name of a village in the Hobbit’s Shire.  The name means “frog marsh” and it played a role in the story of the Lord of the Rings.  However, at least as J.R.R. Tolkien used the name, it does not apply to a character in his books.  So, Gandalf did not buy his Halfling’s Leaf from McCleland’s Frog Morton.

By the way, if you wish that you could get your hands on some of the famous Halfling’s Leaf, you might try the "Middleearth Pipe-weed series" by the tobacconists at Just For Him called “Longbottom Leaf”, “Shortcut to Mushrooms”, “Isengard”, “Treebeard” and “Old Toby”.  My personal favorites are “Longbottom” and “Shortcut”.  I also highly recommend all of McClelland’s Frog Morton blends.

All the photos in this article are public domain downloaded from Google Images.