Monsterology. Worlds: Worlds

Briefly about the article: Enemies of free peoples Today we are not talking about hobbits at all. The January "Bestiary" included numerous evil creatures of Middle-earth - from the spiders of Mirkwood to the Balrog of Moria. It is clear that on four pages of a magazine article it is impossible to tell in detail about all the creatures of Tolkien’s world. Therefore, I will focus on those of them who, firstly, were directly or indirectly on the side of the forces of Evil, secondly, had at least minimal intelligence, and, thirdly, were not people.

Enemies of the Free Peoples

A Brief Monsterology of Middle-earth

Today we are not talking about hobbits at all. The January "Bestiary" included numerous evil creatures of Middle-earth - from the spiders of Mirkwood to the Balrog of Moria. It is clear that on four pages of a magazine article it is impossible to tell in detail about all the creatures of Tolkien’s world. Therefore, I will focus on those of them who, firstly, were directly or indirectly on the side of the forces of Evil, secondly, had at least minimal intelligence, and, thirdly, were not people.

However, you can write endlessly about these creatures, so don’t expect exhaustive descriptions from this article - rather, these will be some interesting and not very widely known facts. Having thus forestalled some of the possible criticism, I turn to the bestiary itself.

Greenskins and sabertooths

Orcs are the product of Morgoth's work in the field of genetic engineering. They are interesting because, having been exterminated every single one, they are capable of almost instantly reproducing again.

Among the many dangers of Middle-earth, orcs (sometimes called goblins, "irchi" in Elvish, "uruk" in the Dark Speech) are perhaps the most familiar and widespread. According to the generally accepted version, the orcs were bred by the Dark Lord Morgoth even before the First Age (times so ancient that you will find almost no mention of them in The Lord of the Rings). The elves, who at that time roamed the shores of their native lake Kuivianen, served as material and at the same time a model for mockery for the orcs.

Orcs are short, short-legged and long-armed, their rough skin is green or black, they have claws on their fingers, they have a sensitive sense of smell and black blood. Orcs eat raw meat, not disdaining carrion. Orcs (except uruk-hai) do not tolerate sunlight well and prefer night or the darkness of underground corridors. They are quite skilled in mining and crafts, but from their clutches come products of an eerie appearance and purpose: weapons, torture instruments, armor. In the Third Age (when, in fact, The Lord of the Rings takes place), orcs bred throughout Middle-earth: from Mount Gundabad in the north of the Misty Mountains to Mordor in the south. Different tribes spoke different dialects, obeyed different leaders, and often fought with each other.

Diggers

The orcs that inhabited the Misty Mountains were larger than their relatives and well adapted to life in the dungeons. In The Hobbit it is mentioned that they even had special soft shoes for silent walking along the corridors.

The Orcs of the Misty Mountains have a long-standing and bloody feud with the Dwarves over their underground kingdom of Moria. In the battle in the Azanulbizar Valley, many orcs died, including their leader Azog. However, less than a hundred and fifty years later, the orcs multiplied again and almost defeated the Free Peoples in the Battle of the Five Armies on the slopes of the Lonely Mountain.

Orcs of the Misty Mountains attacked the Guardians in Moria, and they were also present in the detachment that captured Merry and Pippin.

Under the Crimson Eye

Orcs were the main labor force and cannon fodder of the Lord of the Rings Sauron. In Mordor they could be found everywhere: during the War of the Ring, endless columns of orcs marched through Gorgoroth, converging on the gates of Morannon.

In the Third Age, Sauron developed (probably by crossing with humans or trolls) an improved breed of orcs - the Uruk-hai. They were taller, stronger and not afraid sunlight. During the War of the Ring, Uruk-hai fought in the armies of both Sauron and Saruman (although in Peter Jackson's film, the Uruk-hai are the offspring of Saruman).

In the service of Saruman

In fairness, it must be said that Saruman, keeping up with Morgoth and Sauron, also experimented with crossbreeding. The result was half-orcs who also did not suffer from photophobia. Half-orcs looked different: some were almost indistinguishable from humans, while others showed an orcish breed at first glance. In Tolkien, Saruman's orcs do not ride wargs; Peter Jackson apparently borrowed this element from the description of the Battle of the Five Armies, where Bolga orcs fought on wargs.

Ringed Riders

Over time, the ring bearers disembodied and began to frighten Middle-earth in the form of ghosts. The Nazgul are incorporeal, but their clothes, weapons and horses are quite real. The Ulairi's main weapon is fear, which they instill in all living things, although in some cases they can resort to a cursed blade. They see the world differently than humans and often rely on smell rather than sight. The Nazgul do not like sunlight and water, they are afraid of fire and the name Elbereth. However, it is impossible to kill them until Sauron is destroyed.

The title of honorary Nazgul fighter of Middle-earth undoubtedly belongs to the elf Glorfindale: he defeated the Angmar Ulairi troops, and during the War of the Ring drove the Black Riders to Bruinen (in Peter Jackson's film, the role of Glorfindale was taken by Arwen).

The ring bearers are led by the Sorcerer King (aka Angmar), the strongest of them. In the Third Age, he reigned in the witchcraft country of Angmar, from where he destroyed the Numenorean kingdom of Arnor through wars and witchcraft. He and his colleagues then captured the Gondorian fortress of Minas Ithil and turned it into Minas Morgul. The Witch King was not afraid of weapons; any attempt to attack him ended in paralysis of the attacker. He was killed by Éowyn on the Pelennor Fields, as Glorfindale had foretold him. The Witch-King was taller than other Nazgûl, and wore a crown on his head over his helmet.

Usually the Nazgul rode on black horses, specially bred in Mordor and trained to endure the waves of fear emanating from the ring bearers. However, after the Ulairi horses drowned in the waters of Bruinen (and they themselves returned to Mordor as disembodied ghosts), Sauron mounted them on huge winged creatures. The Nazgul's new mounts were featherless, with leathery wings and long necks; they flew like vultures. Most likely, these were the last representatives of this biological species in Middle-earth.

The horror of fire and shadow

Joke

Without going into details of the history and theology of Middle-earth, balrogs can be defined as spirits of fire. The Balrogs were corrupted by Morgoth even before the beginning of the First Age and formed the personal guard of the Dark Lord until his final defeat. Their huge bodies had human outlines, but were shrouded in flames and patches of darkness. The water was not fatal to the balrogs, but it extinguished their fire, and they took the form of slippery scaly reptiles. A mandatory part of the Balrog's weaponry was a multi-tailed fiery whip. One of the most pressing questions among Tolkienists is whether the Balrogs had wings, since the text describing the wings of the Balrog can be understood in two ways.

After the fall of Morgoth, several Balrogs fled east to Middle-earth and took refuge deep underground there. We know the further fate of only one of them. The Morian Balrog, also known as Darin's Curse, was discovered by the Dwarves, who were burrowing deeper and deeper under the Misty Mountains, for the precious mithril. He killed the Dwarven king and many of his subjects, and the rest of the Dwarves left Moria.

Perhaps the Balrog commanded the orcs who settled the dungeons left by the dwarves; in any case, both he and the greenskins got along with each other. It is difficult to say whether the Morian Balrog acted in concert with Sauron, but they obviously had the same aspirations. It is interesting that in its original essence and power the Balrog was not inferior to either Sauron himself, or Gandalf, or Saruman.

Burial mounds were called burial mounds south of the road leading from the Shire to Bree. Here were the burial places of the noble warriors of Cardolan, one of the principalities into which Arnor broke up as a result of the subversive activities of the Witch King (and possibly even more ancient burial places). During the Great Plague, the population of Cardolan almost entirely died out, and the undead from Angmar and its subordinate principality of Rhudaur crawled into the Repose and established themselves there.

Since then, lost travelers began to disappear in the mounds, and a bad reputation spread about them. The Lord of the Rings describes how this happened: at first the undead fooled the travelers, forcing them to walk in circles, instilling confusion and fatigue in them. The completely confused victims fell asleep or lost consciousness to find themselves inside the Repose. There, the undead, under the whisper of terrible spells, killed the unfortunate ones, and one can only guess about their further existence.

Big and strong

Three huge trolls were sitting in a clearing around a large fire. The clearing was littered with cans of Made in USA ham, blocks of chewing gum, bottles of Pepsi and other snacks, and the trolls were having a casual conversation.

Vadim Rumyantsev, "Vzzhobbit, or the Path to Nowhere"

Trolls, otherwise called torogs, are gloomy, clumsy and stupid creatures, the appearance of which, obviously, also had a hand in Morgoth. There is a version that the Dark Lord created trolls in mockery of the Ents and in imitation of them. Torogs have thick skin, are taller than a man and are much stronger than him. Trolls eat the meat of people, dwarves, hobbits and other similar foods. The fear of sunlight, which manifested itself to one degree or another in most of the servants of Morgoth and Sauron, is maximally expressed among the torogs: any meeting with the luminary of the day ends for them in death due to petrification. A textbook example of such a turn of events is described in The Hobbit.

There are many types of trolls. Cave Trolls, found throughout the dungeons of Middle-earth, along with the orcs, were part of the forces of Evil that occupied Moria. This breed is particularly large, has dark green skin, and has no toes. On his journey to the Lonely Mountain, Bilbo met three stone trolls. Finally, hill trolls are particularly aggressive (in particular, they killed Aragorn’s father, and also participated in the battle at the Morannon Gates), and mountain- by force: they were the ones who carried the huge ram in the Battle of Pelennor.

Special mention should be made of olog-hai. The Olog-hai are an elite subspecies of torog bred by Sauron towards the end of the Third Age. They were stronger and smarter than their relatives, and could also withstand solar radiation without much harm. However, this skill of theirs, as well as many others, depended entirely on the evil will of their master. In Peter Jackson's The Two Towers, trolls, apparently Olog-hai, open and close the colossal gates of Mordor.

The question of giants in Tolkien's world remains open. In The Hobbit, stone giants are mentioned who threw boulders during a thunderstorm. There are different versions as to what Tolkien meant by stone giants. These could be the same trolls, or a breed of large people, or even ents. However, are there giants in Middle-earth, are there giants in Middle-earth - I wrote what is known about them.

Mediterranean mountain people

Morgoth created the concept of a new type of weapon - the fire dragon, and produced the first prototype. Young and foolish, the dragon Glaurung crawled out of the gates of Angband. The elves fled in horror, and the dragon... [fragment omitted], thereby desecrating the surrounding fields.

S. O. Rok9ty, "Zvirmarillion"

As you probably already guessed, dragons, as well as orcs and trolls, were also the fruit of Morgoth’s activities. It is not entirely clear what the Dark Lord took as a model, and what became the material for dragons. There is a version that they were created by magic from fire.

Dragons appeared later than Morgoth's other creatures, but they turned out to be perhaps his most dangerous creation. Dragons live almost forever unless killed, and not everyone can kill them. In addition to almost impenetrable armor, dragons are protected by the ability to enchant their interlocutor with their speech and gaze. They have very sharp eyesight, a keen sense of smell and sensitive hearing. Dragons are amazingly greedy, have a very good memory and are extremely intelligent.

The first dragons ( uruloki), including the “prototype” Glaurung, already knew how to release flames, but were wingless. Subsequently, Morgoth created two types of winged dragons: fire and ice, and the latter did not know how to release fire. However, this did not make them any less dangerous: by flapping their wings, they could raise a strong wind that knocked the enemy down. The dragon Smaug, who captured the halls of the dwarves under the Lonely Mountain, belonged to a breed of fiery winged dragons.

After Morgoth's disincarnation, the surviving dragons moved to the northern wastes of Middle-earth. Sauron would never have the power to control the dragons, so they were left to their own devices. How this ended can be seen in the example of Smaug: without sensitive and centralized leadership, scattered dragons became victims of individual dragon slayers.

Later, non-Tolkien sources populated Middle-earth with new types of dragons, such as cave dragons, earth dragons (kemenloki), swamp dragons (hisualok), light dragons (kalaloki) and even rain dragons.

Nets and stings

Among the very first accomplices of the Dark Lord Morgoth (in those days when he was not yet Morgoth) was Ungoliant, who was in the form of a huge spider. In the end (even before the beginning of the First Age), Ungoliant devoured herself, having managed, however, before that to help Morgoth in his dark affairs, quarrel with him and - most importantly and fundamentally for us - produce numerous offspring.

The last of Ungoliant's descendants was the spider Shelob, who lived from the Second Age in caves on the Cirith Ungol pass, one of the routes to Mordor. She lived here before Sauron appeared in Mordor and had no relationship with him; Sauron knew of her existence and kept her as a guard dog. Shelob lay in wait for travelers - people, elves, orcs - in the labyrinth of her caves, in some places hung with cobwebs with threads as thick as a finger, and sucked the blood from them. Her skin was tougher than dragon scales, and her only weak point was her eyes. Shelob was blinded and wounded in the fight with Sam and may have died afterwards.

However, following the example of her parent, she did not leave the world without offspring. The offspring of Shelob are considered to be giant spiders that bred in the spurs of the Shadow Mountains and north of them, all the way to Northern Mirkwood. It was there that a squad of dwarves lost in the forest was captured by spiders, and Bilbo Baggins fought with them to free his companions. Giant spiders are intelligent and can speak a common language in thin, raspy voices.

Howl like a wolf

Wolves and their various relatives became one of Morgoth's closest allies back in the first era. The Silmarillion mentions the greatest of the wolves - Draugluin and Carcharoth; and Sauron himself did not disdain to take on the guise of a wolf from time to time. The ancient wolves spoke the Black Speech and understood the Elvish language.

Perhaps from these ancient wolves descend the wargs of the Third Age - ferocious intelligent wolves that live in the north of the Anduin Valley, and also, possibly, in other areas. Wargs speak own language, and also run very fast, but do not know how to climb trees and are afraid of fire. Wargs often team up with the orcs of the Misty Mountains for joint banditry and plunder. It was on the wargs that the army of the orc leader Bolg rode to the Lonely Mountain, in the Battle of the Five Armies. Later, a detachment of Guardians encountered a pack of wargs near the gates of Moria: a decent number of these creatures were killed in the night skirmish, but not a single body was found the next morning. Perhaps it was a hassle, perhaps not.

* * *

Our virtual tour According to the Mediterranean bestiary, it is coming to an end. I hope that the first, the most general idea about the dangerous creatures that lie in wait for every Ring-bearer in Tolkien’s world, you have received (or refreshed your memory of what you read a long time ago). In this short review, I deliberately avoided most of the nuances associated with the cosmology and history of Tolkien's world, numerous proper names that would require long-winded explanations, obscure to the ignorant reader and uninteresting to the initiated. And at the same time, I tried not to limit myself to the Peter Jackson film - simply because everyone or almost everyone watched it, and retelling the episodes would simply be uninteresting.

If anyone, beyond expectation, becomes interested in the information presented here, I can only refer him to more competent sources. Which, in addition to the already mentioned “Lord of the Rings”, “The Hobbit” and “The Silmarillion”, are:

J. R. R. Tolkien. History of Middle-earth. (12 volumes in English; 2 translated into Russian);

J. R. R. Tolkien. Unfinished Tales of Numenor and Middle-earth;

A variety of guidebooks, reference books, guides, etc. in Russian and English languages;

Role-playing and card games Middle-Earth And Lord of the Rings;

Material from WlotrPedia

An evil creature in the form of a spider. Her body was huge and bloated, and folds of skin covered everything weak spots. The upper part of the body was black with spots, and the lower part was pale white and exuded a terrible stench.

Shelob's legs were jointed, and her knees were higher than her body. Each leg was covered with coarse hairs and ended in a claw. Shelob's head, with large horns and two clusters of multifaceted eyes, sat on a short neck. She secreted poison through a sting located near her mouth.

Shelob was an extremely evil creature whose only desires were food and destruction.

She knew little of towers, rings, or other works of mind or hand, and wished only for the death of all others, and for herself the abundance of life, to grow until the mountains could no longer contain her, and the darkness itself could no longer contain her. The Two Towers: "Shelob's Lair," p. 333"A Elbereth Giltoniel o menel palan-diriel, le nallon si di" ngurutos A tiro nin, Fanuilos! TTT, p. 339 O Elbereth, Igniter of the stars, Looking into the distance from heaven, I call to you now from the shadow of death. Oh look at me, Everwhite.

Ardalambion Sam's indomitable spirit made the Vial glow with a diamond-white light. Pain pierced Shelob, her vision was weakened and her mind was clouded. She crawled back into the lair, leaving a trail of yellow-green mucus behind her. Shelob's further fate is unknown. The spider could have died from the wound inflicted by Sam, or long years

heal the wound and gain strength to spread terror again.

Frodo survived, but was never fully healed from Shelob's poison. He was sick every anniversary of this event for as long as he remained in Middle-earth.

Etymology

Shelob: "Shelob" means "spider" from English words she - "She and lob

- "spider" (obsolete) Elvish word Ungol means "spider". It is formed from ungo

- "cloud, dark shadow." She was also called. Shagrat Shagrat called Shelob Her Highness (Her Ladyship) . Sauron called Shelob his cat. Gollum simply called Shelob.

She (She)

• Sources
• The Two Towers: "Shelob's Lair," passim; "The Choices of Master Samwise," 337-39, 346-50
• The History of Middle-earth, vol. V, The Lost Road and Other Writings: "The Etymologies," entry for UNG

The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien: Letter #144

In Quenya, the Elvish language developed by Tolkien, the general word for animals (as opposed to plants) is kelvar.

Bulls of Orome(eng. Kine of Araw) - white bulls who lived near the inland sea of ​​Rhun. They were called so by the people of Gondor, who associated them with Vala Oromë (sq. Oromë), otherwise Araw (syn. Araw), “hunter of the Valar”. Vorondil the Hunter made a hunting horn from the horn of one of these bulls, and it became a family heirloom of the line of the Steward Rulers of Gondor. The horn eventually came to Boromir and was cut in two when Boromir fell in battle with the orcs at Parth Galen.

Orome bulls are often compared to aurochs.

Vargi(English Wargs) - a type of wolves that were particularly vicious and were often allies of orcs. Tolkien borrowed the name from the Old Norse word meaning "wolf". Sometimes called "werewolves" or "werewolves". Wargs are mentioned in The Song of Leithian, The Hobbit, and The Fellowship of the Ring.

Giant eagles A race of eagles of enormous size that lived in the Crissaegrim Mountains, and after the flooding of Beleriand - on the inaccessible peaks of the Misty Mountains in Middle-earth. It was believed that they were sent to Middle-earth and Númenor by Manwë. Tolkien suggested in various sources that these eagles were either Maiar or simply highly intelligent birds.

Giant spiders The Hobbit describes a colony of intelligent and huge spiders that lived in the northeastern part of Mirkwood at the end of the Third Age. The elves from Thranduil's kingdom tried unsuccessfully to exterminate them. During the events described in the book, 12 dwarves from Thorin's company were caught by spiders, entangled in webs and suspended on one long branch, but Bilbo Baggins managed to free them all with the help of his sword - Stinger, a magic ring and ingenuity.

In addition to this, The Lord of the Rings states that these spiders were generated by Shelob, who, in turn, descended from Ungoliant, and also inhabited the southern part of Mirkwood. It is also assumed that these spiders appeared in those places around the time when the shadow of the Necromancer (Sauron) fell on Mirkwood, around 1050 T.E.

Kirinki(English Kirinki) - one of the many species of birds of Numenor unknown in Middle-earth. It was said about kirinkas that they were smaller than wrens and had “a whistling voice, barely audible to the human ear.”

Krebain(syn. Crebain) - a species of large crows that inhabited Dunland in the Third Age. Often used as servants and spies by various evil forces, particularly Saruman. During the War of the Ring, a pack of Crebain were sent to find the Ringbearer.

The word "krebein" (crows) looks like a normal word plural from Sindarin "craban" (crow), a word that Tolkien most likely borrowed from Indo-European languages: specifically, from the Proto-Germanic root "*crab-" ( krabn-), from which the Proto-Germanic ""hrabnaz" (*hrabnaz), from which came the Old German "hraban" and the English "raven" - "raven".

Mearas(eng. Mearas), units mearh (English mearh) is a breed of wild horses that lived in the north of Middle-earth. Their lifespan was equal to that of humans, their intelligence and strength were absolutely exceptional. They were superior to ordinary horses to the same extent as elves were to humans.

The Mearas were descended from Felarof, who was tamed by the first king of Rohan, Eorl the Young, and, perhaps, in the longer term, from Nahar, the horse of Oromë. At all times they served only the king and princes of Rohan. However, during the War of the Ring, Gandalf the Gray's friendship with Blaze, the lord of the mearas, led to Blaze allowing Gandalf to mount and ride him at the end of the Third Age.

Mumakil(eng. Mûmakil), units. h. mumak (eng. mûmak) - animals from Harad that resembled elephants. The terms "mumak" and "mumakil" were used by the people of Gondor. In Hobbit folklore, these creatures were called “Oliphants”. In some translations the name is read as mamun, identifying them with mammoths.

These animals in The Lord of the Rings were first described in The Two Towers. Samwise Gamgee expressed a great desire to see one of them and spoke of the Hobbit tradition of describing mumakils as “big as a house.” Later, Sam actually saw one mumak, the size of which resembled a “moving hill.” Tolkien writes that Sam's "fear and surprise" may have made the animal even greater in his eyes.

Used as beasts of burden by the inhabitants of Harad, the Haradrim, the Mumakil were also used in battle in the wars of the Third Age. In the War of the Ring they were used by the troops in Ithilien and at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, much in the same capacity as real world elephants. In battle they carried tower-like structures (corresponding to the howdah towers of the war elephants of India), which housed Haradrim archers. The mumakil had very thick skin, which made it almost impenetrable, and the mumak itself almost invulnerable to arrows. The only way to kill him was a well-aimed shot in the eye. Also (as with real elephants), horses that did not belong to the Haradrim themselves refused to approach the Mumak, which made them also effective against enemy cavalry. Tolkien wrote that the Mumak were extinct and that

their relatives living in our time are but a shadow of their size and greatness. - Tolkien, J. R. R. The Lord of the Rings. Volume II "The Two Towers", Book IV, Chapter 4 "On Herbs and Stewed Rabbit"

"Olifont" is also the title of a short comic poem about mumak quoted by Sam, based on traditional Shire animal folklore. The poem is included in The Two Towers and The Adventures of Tom Bombadil.

The word "oliphant" is a variant spelling of the archaic word "oliphant", meaning "elephant", " Ivory", "tusk" or "a musical instrument resembling an elephant's tusk". The most famous use of the word in non-Tolkien literature was the Song of Roland: the knight Roland did not call for help by blowing his horn Oliphant at the Battle of Roncesvalles until such help was no longer needed by him and his comrades. Allusions to the horn of Roland exist in The Lord of the Rings: the horn of Boromir, the horn of Helm, and the horns of Backland in the Shire.

Arroch(syn. Arroch) - the horse on which Hurin, the lord of Dor-Lomin, rode to the battle of Nirnaeth Arnoediad. Neither horse nor rider returned, and Morwen, Hurin's wife,

...listened on sleepless nights, dreaming of hearing his steps, or woke up, thinking that she heard the neighing of Arroch, his horse, in the courtyard of the house. - J. R. R. Tolkien. Unfinished Tales: Narn i-Hin Hurin (The Tale of the Children of Hurin), "The Departure of Turin"

Translated from Sindarin - “royal horse”.

Asphalt(syn. Asfaloth) - the white horse of Glorfindel in the events of the end of the Third Age of Middle-earth. Translated from Sindarin into English, his name means sunlight foam (literally “foam of sunlight”), from as- - “sunny” and faloth- - “foam”, respectively.

“You will sit on my horse,” said Glorfindel, “I will pull the stirrups to the very saddle, and you hold tight and do not be afraid: my horse will not throw off the rider I order him to carry.” He gallops easily and smoothly, and if danger comes, he will carry you away so quickly that even the black horses of the enemies will not catch up.

Glorfindel rode Asfaloth in search of Aragorn and the hobbits heading to Rivendell. After their joyful meeting and subsequent attack by the Black Riders, Glorfindel dismounted and mounted Frodo, allowing the hobbit to reach the Ford of Bruinen and save the One Ring.

Jump, jump! - Glorfindel shouted, and then loudly and clearly said to the horse in Elvish: - Noro lim, noro lim, Asfaloth! - Tolkien, J. R. R. “The Lord of the Rings”, Volume I “The Fellowship of the Ring”, Book I, Chapter 12 “The Flight to the Ford”

Asfaloth was an unusually fast horse, surpassing even the Nazgul horses in speed, thanks to which he was ahead of his pursuers and was the first to reach the crossing with the precious burden.

Despite the fact that the description of Asfaloth in the text of The Lord of the Rings mentions a bridle and harness, Tolkien admitted in one of his letters (dated October 14, 1958) to fans that he used these words out of carelessness and oversight.

Glorfindel's horse would have worn an ornate headband topped with a feather, with straps adorned with gems and tiny bells; but Glorfindel, of course, would not use the bit. - Carpenter, Humphrey. J. R. R. Tolkien. Letters. - Eksmo, 2004. - P. 576. - ISBN 5-699-05080-9 (letter No. 211)

The chapter where harness is mentioned was written very early, when Tolkien had not yet fully thought through how the elves were accustomed to treat horses.

In the film version of The Fellowship of the Ring, directed by Peter Jackson, Asphalot is Arwen's horse, and she, along with the wounded Frodo, rides him across a ford to escape the Black Riders.

Water Guardian(English: Watcher in the Water, also called simply The Watcher) - a mysterious creature that lived in an ominous lake near the western Gates of Moria. According to legend, the Water Guardian appeared there after the Sirannon River, which flowed there, was dammed. He was first seen by Balin's band of dwarves some thirty years before the action described in The Fellowship of the Ring. The origins of the Water Guardian are not described in Tolkien's works, but his commentators have compared him to the squid, the legendary Kraken, and even dragons. In Peter Jackson's film, the Water Guardian actually resembles a giant squid.

While the party was at the Gates of Moria, Boromir accidentally disturbed the reservoir by throwing a stone into it, after which the disturbed Guardian attacked Frodo when the Fellowship was about to enter Moria. It grabbed Frodo with its long, glowing, pale green tentacle. Samwise Gamgee cut off the tentacle with his sword, but twenty others appeared from the water. The squad retreated inside Moria at the moment when the tentacles slammed the giant stone doors and uprooted the trees that grew on both sides of the entrance. The doors were blocked, leaving the Brotherhood no choice but to pass through the mines of Moria and exit on the other side through the Gate of Azanulbizar.

Gandalf noticed that the Guardian had only captured Frodo, the Ring-bearer. Frodo and Gandalf were not sure whether it was just one creature or several. As Gandalf commented,

...something came out or was expelled from the dark water under the mountains. In the depths of the world there are creatures older and more evil than the orcs. - Tolkien J. R. R. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. - Book II, Chapter 4 "The Path in Darkness"

Gwaihir(syn. Gwaihir) - one of the giant eagles. He is best known for rescuing Gandalf from the Tower of Orthanc, from the captivity of Saruman. Gwaihir also saved Gandalf after his battle with the Balrog in Moria. Gwaihir and his brother Landroval accompanied Gandalf and carried Sam and Frodo away from Orodruin at the end of the War of the Ring.

Etymology of the name: sind. Gwaihir - Prince of the winds, Lord of the winds.

Draugluin(syn. Draugluin) - a werewolf (the first to ever exist), a servant of Sauron in the First Age.

Raised among wolves and possessed by an evil spirit sent by Morgoth himself, Draugluin was the lord of all the werewolves of Beleriand, including Carcharoth, and lived with his master, Sauron, on Tol-in-Gaurhoth, the former watchtower of Finrod Felagund.

Draugluin was killed by the dog Huan during the Crusade for the Silmaril, his skin was used by Beren and Lúthien to penetrate Angband.

Translated from Sindarin - “blue wolf”. An earlier form of Draugluin's name is Drauglir.

Kark(English Carc) - an intelligent raven who lived on Raven Rock under the Lonely Mountain in the days of King Thror. He and his wife built a nest above Karaulnaya and became such a “wise and famous couple” that they gave their name to the rock where they lived.

Carcharoth(syn. Carcharoth) - “the strongest of wolves”, bred by Morgoth and placed to guard the gates of Angband. He bit off Beren's hand along with the Silmaril, but the contact of the Stone with his entrails sent Carcharoth into a frantic rage. He was killed by Huan while hunting Carcharoth in Doriath, but not before mortally wounding both the dog and Beren.

Queen Beruthiel(syn. Berúthiel) descended from the black Númenóreans, from the “inner city” located somewhere south of Umbar. Her marriage to Tarannon Falastur, twelfth King of Gondor and first of the Sea Kings, was said to have been arranged for political reasons. Tolkien describes Beruthiel as "wicked, lonely and loveless": her marriage to Falastur produced no children. In the end, Falastur broke up with Beruthiel and sent her into exile, which she served in the same city where she was from.

Berutiel became famous because of her cats, or more precisely because of their use as spies. This circumstance was described in “Unfinished Tales”:

...she had nine black cats and one white, her slaves, with whom she spoke or read their memories, sending them to find out all the dark secrets of Gondor... the white cat spied on the black ones and tormented them. Not a single person in Gondor dared to touch them; everyone was afraid of them and cursed them when they passed by.

Perhaps due to the constant intrigues of the queen, Falastur decided to expel her. Her name was erased from the Books of Kings (but not from the memory of people), and Falastur sent her to sea on a ship along with her cats:

The ship was seen sailing quickly past Umbar in the light of the half-moon, one cat sitting at the top of its mast and another at its bow, resembling a carved figure. - Tolkien J. R. R. Unfinished Tales: Commentary 7 on The Istari (The Magicians)

In The Lord of the Rings, Aragorn mentioned Queen Beruthiel's cats as a synonym for the ability to see in the dark:

(Gandalf) is more likely to find his way home on a dark night than even Queen Beruthiel's cats. - Tolkien, J. R. R. The Lord of the Rings. The Fellowship of the Ring. - M.: Tsentrpoligraf, 2003. - 544 p.: ill. - ISBN 5-9524-0266-6. (Book II, Chapter 4 "The Path in Darkness")

This implies that by the time of the War of the Ring, Queen Beruthiel and her cats had long since become a folk legend in Gondor.

Nahar(sq. Nahar) - horse of the Val Orome. The name comes from "Næχærra" in the Valarin language. It was Nahar's neighing that alerted Orome to the presence of the Quendi when he first met them, and the light from the sparks flying from under his hooves was the first light in Valinor after the death of the Two Trees.

Roak(English Roäc) - son of the raven Kark, born in 2788 T.E. During the campaign against Erebor, organized by Thorin II Oakenshield, Roak led the great ravens of the Lonely Mountain, although it was said that

...he was losing his sight, flying with great difficulty, the top of his head was bald. - Tolkien J. R. R. The Hobbit, or There and Back Again: Chapter 15 "The Clouds Are Gathering"

With the help of Roak and his pack, Thorin's company received news and communicated with Dain II Ironfoot before the Battle of the Five Armies.

Rohallor(syn. Rochallor) - the horse of Fingolfin, the High King of the Noldor of Middle-earth. Rohallor brought the king to the gates of Angband, where the desperate and fearless Fingolfin challenged Morgoth to a duel. Rohallor remained with his master throughout this duel, but was then driven back by the wolves. He died of a broken heart in Hithlum shortly after the events described.

Flash(English: Shadowfax, translation option - Svetozar) - Rohan horse, leader of the royal herd of mearas. Like other horse-mearas, Spolokh is a gray or silver stallion and could understand human speech. He is practically fearless. Spolokh could gallop faster than any other horse in Middle-earth. No one could ride it except Gandalf, and it was later given to Gandalf by King Theoden. Spolokh did not tolerate harness and saddle and carried Gandalf by his own choice. His name (Shadowfax) means "Dark Mane" and comes from the names of the horses Skinfaxi and Hrímfaxi in Norse mythology. In the abbreviated retelling, Z. Bobyr is called by a different name - Quickwing.

In an unpublished epilogue, as well as in one of his letters, Tolkien claimed that Lightning went to the West, overseas, along with Gandalf. In The Lord of the Rings, Gandalf is depicted with a “huge gray horse” on the pier just before the ship departs, and he previously promised Flash (in the chapter “The White Rider”) that he would never be separated from him again in this world.

Thorondor(syn. Thorondor) - the lord of eagles in the First Age, in The Silmarillion he is called “the mightiest bird that ever existed”, had a wingspan of thirty fathoms (54.9 m or 180 ft) and a golden beak. His name is translated from Sindarin as "king of the eagles", the corresponding form in Quenya is "Sorontur". He led the eagles during most of their appearances in The Silmarillion, and also played a very significant independent role.

Thorondor first appears in the story when he helped the Elven prince Fingon rescue his kinsman Maedhros, son of Feanor, from captivity on Thangorodrim. After the Dagor Bragollach, he saved Fingolfin's body from the desecration of his murderer, Morgoth, leaving the Dark Lord a scar on his face, and carried the remains of the Elven-king to the Rim Mountains, north of Gondolin, where they were buried by Turgon. Shortly after this, Thorondor tracked down Hurin and Huor at the foot of the mountains and sent two of his servants to carry them to Gondolin, thus fulfilling the intentions of the Wall of Ulmo. Thorondor and two other eagles rescued Lúthien and the wounded Beren at the gates of Angband during their quest for the Silmaril, carrying them to Doriath.

Eagle Gwaihir, Lord of the Winds of the Third Age, was, along with his brother Landroval, the largest of the descendants of Thorondor.

Ungoliant(sq. Ungoliant), also (in the early editions of The Silmarillion) - Ungoliant (sq. Ungoliantё) - a fallen spirit from among the Ainur, who took on the guise of a monstrous spider in Ea. In The Silmarillion, she appears as Melkor's accomplice in his revenge on the Valar, the slayer of the Two Trees of Valinor. During a quarrel with Melkor over the treasures of Valinor, Ungoliant tried to strangle him with her web, but was put to flight by the Balrogs, who heard Melkor's cry of horror. Subsequently, she hid under Ered Gorgoroth (Mountains of Terror), in Nan Dungortheb (Valley of Horrible Death), where she gave birth to offspring from other creatures in the form of spiders. Subsequently, she went to the south of the world, where an insatiable hunger forced her to devour herself.

Among the descendants of Ungoliant, The Lord of the Rings mentions Shelob.

Felarof(English: Felaróf) - the first of the mearas to be tamed by man, an intelligent horse that understood human speech and had a life expectancy comparable to that of a human.

Felarof was a wild colt caught by Léod, father of Eorl the Young and chieftain of Eotheod. Although no one could tame Felarof, Leod attempted to climb onto his back and died, thrown to the ground by the stallion.

Eorl swore to avenge his father, but, having caught the horse, he did not kill him, but turned to him as a man and ordered him to serve as vira for the death of his father. To everyone's surprise, the horse obeyed Eorl and recognized his power over him. Eorl named the horse Felarof (which means “very brave, very strong” in Anglo-Saxon poetic vocabulary) and rode him without a bridle or bit. Together they participated in the battle on the field of Celebrant. After the death of his master, Felarof was buried in the same burial mound as Eorl himself.

Juan(English Húan) is a giant hunting dog, also known as the "Hound of Valinor". In The Silmarillion, Tolkien describes its size as being roughly that of a small horse. Originally belonged to Celegorm, son of Feanor, to whom Orome was given. He had intelligence and spoke human language three times in his life. He took part in the campaign of Beren and Lúthien for the Silmaril, where he repeatedly saved them. He was mortally wounded by the wolf Carcharoth, who was killed by him in a fight, during a hunt for him, in which Beren, Thingol, Beleg Cutalion and Mablung participated.

Tolkien wrote that Juan was either Maia in animal form or an ordinary dog, whom the Valar taught human speech.

Shelob(English Shelob) - “an evil creature in the form of a spider” that lived in a mountain pass above the gorge of Cirith Ungol on the borders of Mordor. During the events described in The Lord of the Rings, she attacked the Ring-bearer Frodo Baggins, who, led by Gollum, along with his servant and comrade Sam, passed through her lair (paralyzing him with a bite to the neck for some time), but was seriously wounded by Sam (with the help of the elven sword Sting) and eventually disappeared into the depths of her cave lair. Tolkien called Shelob "the last scion of Ungoliant to trouble the unhappy world."

Origin of the name

According to Tolkien, "Shelob is a word of English origin... meaning 'she' ( she) + “spider” ( lob) = “spider”. This word is a translation of Elvish Ungol- "spider"". Tolkien suggests that this word be considered orcish and not be translated.

Origin and appearance of Shelob in Middle-earth

Shelob made her lair in an underground passage in the Cirith Ungol pass (translated from Sindarin as “spider pass”), located high above the fortress of Minas Ithil, and since then no one could get into Mordor by this road. According to Faramir, an unknown horror (whose source was Shelob) settled in Cirith Ungol even before the Nazgul captured the citadel of Minas Ithil (turning it into Minas Morgul) and the fortifications on the pass leading to Mordor:

“Nothing is known for certain,” Faramir answered. “We, the people of Gondor, have not been beyond the Southern Route for a long time, not to mention the Mountains of Darkness. We know about them only from ancient legends and fairy tales passed down to us by old people. But all legends agree that an unknown horror lives in the pass above Minas Morgul. At the name of Cirith Ungol, the elders and experts in legends turn pale and fall silent.

Lord of the Rings. Two fortresses. Book 4, chapter 6 “Forbidden Lake” (translation by Maria Kamenkovich, Valeria Carrick)

...How Shelob got here, into the cave, is not told by any legend, for few legends of the Black Years have reached our time. But since then she, who was here before Sauron and before the first stone of Barad-dur was laid, has always been here.

Lord of the Rings. Two fortresses. Book 4, chapter 9 “Shelob’s Lair” (translation by Maria Kamenkovich, Valeria Carrick)

Shelob lived in complete darkness, for she was a child of darkness and all light was harmful to her. Frodo took advantage of this, driving her away with the glow of Galadriel's phial.

Shelob had no particular purpose in life, other than to devour everything that came into her web and strive to grow larger and larger. She loved only herself and her flesh, and despised and hated everyone else, even Sauron. The Dark Lord himself knew very well about her, and she was useful to him in that she guarded Kirit Ungol; in addition, he was pleased with her hatred of all living things.

Basically, her food was the orcs of Sauron, who constantly fell into her web. And although they always took detours, Shelob found these passages and placed her nets in them.

Shelob's web was very sticky and durable, and only elven weapons could cut it.

Shelob in the events of the War of the Ring

Around 3000 of the Third Age, Shelob met Gollum, who was released from Barad-dur in search of the One Ring.

Several years ago, Gollum-Smeagol, the great climber through all the black outbacks, met her, and then, in the days of yore, he bowed to her, and bowed before her, and was imbued with the poison of her anger for all his wanderings, becoming inaccessible to light and repentance. And he promised to bring her sacrifices.

Lord of the Rings. Two fortresses. Book 4, chapter 9 “Shelob’s Lair” (translation by V. Muravyov)

In 3019, T. E. Gollum, intending to secretly use Shelob as an invincible weapon, brought to her the hobbits Frodo and Sam, who were heading to the Orodruin volcano to destroy the One Ring. Shelob managed to sting and grab Frodo, but he was rescued by Sam, who succeeded - for the first time in centuries! - not only seriously injure the monster with the elven blade of its owner, but also put it to flight.

The sounds of agony of the wounded Shelob, who crawled into her lair, are heard by Sam, putting on the Ring. This is the last mention of her in the trilogy. Later, after the fall of Mordor, by order of King Elessar, the fortress of Minas Morgul and the fortifications of Cirith Ungol were destroyed to the ground, but the giant spider was never found.

see also

Notes