[Corin Stormhands]

I maintain that "wafer" was the primary word used by Tolkien and only the "characters" called them cakes, because they didn't know a better word for them...

You know 2J, there's something strangely disturbing about that...

[2Jedismom]

Well, Tolkien had a kind of atmosphere going with the characters, you must admit and if he'd had them saying a bunch of things that were inconsistent with their times then it would have sounded silly. So he refered to them as wafers when he was describing them...for example, here the elves talk about the Lembas

"All the same, we bid you spare the food,' they said. 'Eat little at a time, and only at need. For these things are given to serve you when all else fails. The cakes will keep sweet for many many days, if they are unbroken and left in their leaf-wrappings, as we have brought them."

And here is a time when Tolkien is refering to them in the story:

`Did you see them again, Mr. Frodo?' asked Sam, as they sat, stiff and chilled, munching wafers of lembas, in the cold grey of early morning.