Tolkien does not separate the elements of this word, does not say that Bilbo “broke his fast”, or any variation thereof. In fact I can’t find any instance of “fast” as “to abstain from food”, nor any clear case of “breakfast” as a verb (possibly in 07.122). We do have that very important hour, “breakfast-time“, which has its own word and which poor English can only render with a hyphen. I wonder if there’s also a special word for second-breakfast-time. I note that there are rather more mentions of breakfast than of dinner.
- 01.006 and Bilbo Baggins was standing at his door after breakfast
- 01.022 He had only just had breakfast,
- 01.096 and breakfast to be thought fierce.
- 01.140 I will give you a good breakfast before you go.’
- 01.141 and breakfast.
- 01.142 After all the others had ordered their breakfasts
- 01.142 and cook everybody else’s wretched breakfast.
- 02.001 and hurried breakfast.
- 02.002 Then he had a nice little breakfast
- 02.002 to a nice little second breakfast
- 02.003 and here you are having breakfast,
- 02.019 leaving his second breakfast half-finished
- 02.035 and less for breakfast.
- 02.037 less breakfast,
- 02.063 a perfectly beautiful breakfast for you,
- 02.116 By that time they felt like breakfast,
- 07.001 nor tea nor toast nor bacon for his breakfast,
- 07.004 and late breakfast on the lawn afterwards;’
- 07.109 or there will be no breakfast left for you.’
- 07.110 Breakfast!’
- 07.110 Where is breakfast?’
- 07.111 though we found breakfast laid as soon as we went out.’
- 07.115 I haven’t had a bite since breakfast.’
- 07.122 So they all went to breakfast with him.
- 07.146 He had gone just inside the forest after breakfast
- 08.074 with no hope of any breakfast to revive him.
- 13.052 if there is any breakfast to have.
- 13.056 and more climbing without breakfast!
- 13.056 I wonder how many breakfasts,
- 13.059 I would give a good breakfast to know.
- 13.064 and had such a breakfast as they could,
“fast, v.2.” OED Online. Oxford University Press, March 2016. Web. 10 March 2016.
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I arrived here because I also remembered reading ‘he broke his fast’ in The Hobbit, but it seems I was wrong.
Tolkien does write it in The Two Towers though: “Faramir broke his fast with them. He had not slept since the battle on the day before, yet he did not look weary.”
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