Teas, Potatoes & Mushrooms

Based on this information about Teas, Potatoes & Mushrooms... it looks as if Tolkien's world could have been in the late 16th century (Tea introduced then)... yet I think it was set a bit earlier. I think a small handful of anachronisms makes Tolkien's World very unique and appealing.


In England the potato was introduced by John Hawkins in 1563 but was slow to be accepted. Teas & Coffees where introduced in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. The terms "mushroom" and "toadstool" go back centuries and were never precisely defined, nor was there consensus on application. During the 15th and 16th centuries, the terms mushrom, mushrum, muscheron, mousheroms, mussheron, or musserouns were used.

In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages (or medieval period) lasted from the 5th to the 15th century. The Renaissance was a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to Modernity and covering the 15th (1400s) and 16th (1500s) centuries.