List of Middle-earth animals
This is a list of animals, both real and fictional, that appeared in Arda, the world of J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium. In addition, this list encompasses several living creatures that were referred to at some point by Tolkien as being beast-shaped Maiar (angelic beings) rather than proper animals; such cases are annotated.
In Quenya, an Elven tongue devised by Tolkien, the general term for animals, as distinct from plants (olvar), is kelvar.[1]
Fictional bird species[edit]
Crebain[edit]
Crebain (singular: craban) were a large species of crow that inhabited the land of Dunland during the Third Age. They were often used as servants and spies by various evil powers, notably Saruman. During the War of the Ring, a flock of crebain searched for the Ring-bearer.[2] Crebain "crows" would be the regular plural form of Sindarin *craban "crow," a word which (while unattested) seems to have been adopted by Tolkien from Indo-European languages, particularly a pre-Germanic form *krabn-, whence the proto-Germanic *hrabnaz,[3] from which descended both Old High German hraban and English raven.
Elven-birds[edit]
A species of songbirds native to Tol Eressëa. The birds mated for life, and were described as "grey, with golden beaks and feet". A pair of Elven-birds was gifted to Erendis on her wedding to Aldarion, the crown-prince of Númenor. She later dismissed the birds when their marriage broke down.[4]
Great Eagles[edit]
A race of eagles of outstanding size that were sentient and could speak, believed to have been sent to Middle-earth and Númenor by Manwë. Tolkien proposed variously that they had been either Maiar or just highly intelligent animals. The Eagles fought alongside the army of the Valar, Elves and Edain during the War of Wrath at the end of the First Age. In the Third Age, Thorondor's descendants Gwaihir and Landroval lived in an eyrie to the east of the Misty Mountains in Wilderland.
Ravens of Erebor[edit]
The ravens of Erebor (the Lonely Mountain) were a type of intelligent raven that could converse with humans. Two ravens are named: Carc and his son Roäc. Carc lived in the days of King Thrór, when he and his mate nested above the guard-chamber in Ravenhill, while Roäc appears in The Hobbit in T.A. 2788. They were also extremely long-lived: Roäc was aged 153 at the time of The Hobbit. Their main rookery was on Ravenhill on a spur of the Mountain. They often assisted the Dwarves of Erebor by providing messengers.
Fictional mammal species[edit]
Kine of Araw[edit]
White oxen that lived near the inland Sea of Rhûn, called thus by the men of Gondor, who associated them with the Vala Oromë or Araw, "the huntsman of the Valar".[5]
Vorondil (Steward to King Eärnil II of Gondor, T.A. 1998-2029) hunted these beasts, and fashioned a horn for blowing from one of them. It became an heirloom of the Stewards of Gondor.[6] This horn eventually came to Boromir and was cloven when he fell during the War of the Ring.
The Elves of Mirkwood allude to the Kine of Araw: they sing of a land "[w]here the kine and the oxen feed" while sending wine-barrels off down the Forest River for re-filling in the river's ultimate destination in Dorwinion, a wine-growing region on the shores of the Sea of Rhûn.[7]
The Kine of Araw have been compared to aurochs.[8]
Mearas[edit]
The mearas (singular mearh) were a breed of wild horses in the north of Middle-earth. Their lifespan is similar to that of Men and their intelligence and strength are extraordinary. They surpass normal horses in the same manner that Elves surpass Men.
They descend from Felaróf, who was tamed by Eorl the Young (later the first King of Rohan), and perhaps ultimately from Nahar, horse of the Vala Oromë. Ever since, they have been the mounts of the King and Princes of Rohan alone. During the War of the Ring, however, Gandalf the White's friendship with Shadowfax, lord of the Mearas, led to Shadowfax allowing Gandalf to ride him into the very end of the Third Age. King Théoden's mount, Snowmane, was also one of the Mearas.
Mûmakil (Oliphaunts)[edit]
Mûmakil (singular: mûmak) were animals from Harad resembling elephants, but far larger. The terms mûmak and mûmakil were used by the Men of Gondor. Hobbit folklore called these creatures Oliphaunts.
The creatures are described in The Two Towers. Samwise Gamgee expresses a desire to see one and tells of Hobbit-lore of their being "big as a house" (see below). Later, Sam then sees one as big as a "moving hill", though the narration implies Sam's "fear and wonder" may have exaggerated its size. Employed as a beast of burden by the Haradrim, the mûmakil were also used in battle during the wars of the Third Age. In the War of the Ring, they were used by troops in Ithilien and in the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, much like war elephants of the real world. In battle, they carried tower-like structures (corresponding to howdahs), bearing Haradrim archers. The only known way to kill one was to shoot it in the eye. As with real elephants, horses (other than the Haradrim's own) refused to go near them, making them effective against enemy cavalry. There are also Mûmakil in Rhûn.
"Oliphaunt" is also the title of a short comic poem about the beast quoted by the hobbit Samwise Gamgee, based on traditional bestiary lore from the Shire. The poem appears in The Two Towers and The Adventures of Tom Bombadil.
The word oliphaunt is a variant spelling of the archaic word oliphant, used in literature to denote "elephant", "ivory", "elephant-tusk", "musical horn made of an elephant tusk", or "a musical instrument resembling such a horn". The most famous use of the term in literature outside Tolkien is in The Song of Roland, wherein the knight Roland fails to call for help at the Battle of Roncevaux using his oliphant horn until it is too late for him and his comrades. Roland's horn is echoed in The Lord of the Rings by Boromir's horn and counterposed by Helm's horn and the horns of Buckland.
In the film version of The Two Towers and The Return of the King, the mûmak is shown as a massive, building-sized elephant with two tusks on the upper jaw and two on the lower jaw (much like the extinct Gomphothere), where of the legs are longer and the head smaller in proportion to the body, than those of extant elephants, somewhat more like the long-legged, smaller-headed Columbian mammoth; and the mûmak's back is humped, akin to the Asian elephant. In the director's commentary, Peter Jackson joked he was told to make the animals as vicious as possible, otherwise audiences might relate scenes of cavalry attacking the animals to those of trained animal abuse in circuses.
Wargs[edit]
A species of demonic wolves allied with orcs, who often used them as steeds. Tolkien took the name from the Old Norse word vargr (for "wolf"). Sometimes called 'Hounds of Sauron', they appear in The Lay of Leithian, The Hobbit, and The Fellowship of the Ring. Many of them dwelt near Dunland. Some Wargs possessed intelligence and could use or understand human speech.
The two later Peter Jackson film adaptations from The Lord of the Rings trilogy had more hyena-like depictions of them, some even resembling the extinct, heavier-bodied Cenozoic Hyaenodon in appearance.[9] Peter Jackson's The Hobbit trilogy, however, depicts them as more wolf-like and gives them more prominence in the story.
Werewolves[edit]
Monstrous wolf-like monsters of human intelligence. They were bred by Morgoth in the First Age and inhabited by dread spirits. Their relationship (if any) to the Wargs of later ages is unknown. Like the vampires of Middle-earth, Tolkien's werewolves are not the same as the cursed shapeshifters of European folklore.
Vampires[edit]
Fearsome bat-like monsters summoned by Morgoth in the First Age. Whether any survived into later ages is unknown. Tolkien used the term "vampire" due to its association with bats, blood, and darkness. His versions of the creatures are not synonymous with the vampires of European folklore.
Fictional reptilian species[edit]
Some fictional species occur in Tolkien's writings that may be either a kind of reptile, or else some kind of dinosaur.
Dragons[edit]
Fearsome reptiles of great power and intelligence, the Dragons were bred during the wars of the First Age by Morgoth. Some possessed wings, fiery breath, and the power of speech. Dragons such as Glaurung and Smaug, also had a hypnotic power over their victims. All were inherently evil.
Fell beasts[edit]
Flying creatures that were used by the Nazgûl as steeds during the later parts of the War of the Ring. Tolkien did not use this phrase as a proper name for them (it is simply a description; fell means "fierce, awful, terrible"), but absent any other name, they are usually called "fell beasts". Tolkien describes one thus:
- ...if bird, then greater than all other birds... ...neither quill nor feather did it bear, and its vast pinions were as webs of hide between horned fingers... A creature of an older world maybe it was...[10]
A few paragraphs later it is said to attack with "beak and claw".[10] In one of Tolkien's personal letters, he does not confirm, but acknowledges, the common comparison to a pterosaur.
Were-worms[edit]
The Hobbit refers to "wild Were-worms in the Last Desert" in "the East of East".[11]
Fictional invertebrate species[edit]
Great Spiders[edit]
The Hobbit describes a colony of spiders of enormous size and cunning intelligence, who possessed the power of speech, and lived in the northern parts of Mirkwood at the end of the Third Age. The Elves of Thranduil's realm tried unsuccessfully to exterminate them. During the events of the book, Thorin's company of Dwarves was captured by spiders and enmeshed in webs; however, Bilbo Baggins managed to free them with the aid of his sword Sting and his magic ring.[12]
The Lord of the Rings adds that these spiders were of the brood of Shelob, who in turn was a child of Ungoliant, a creature of darkness in the First Age who destroyed the Two Trees of Valinor. They inhabited southern regions of Mirkwood as well.[13] It also suggests that the spiders first appeared after the Shadow fell on Mirkwood around T.A. 1050.[14]
Dumbledors and Hummerhorns[edit]
Dumbledors and Hummerhorns are creatures fought by the hero of the poem Errantry. A dumbledor is an English dialect word for bumblebee, while "Hummerhorn seems to be a Tolkien invention" for a large "wasp or hornet".[15]
Neekerbreekers[edit]
The Neekerbreekers are described as "evil relatives of the cricket." They lived in the Midgewater Marshes, east of Bree in central Eriador. They were given the onomatopoeic nickname Neekerbreekers by Sam Gamgee, referring to their incessant chirping at night.[16]
Notable birds[edit]
Some individual birds play a notable role in their own right in Tolkien's writings.
Gwaihir[edit]
One of the great eagles, Gwaihir is perhaps best known for rescuing Gandalf from the tower of Orthanc, ending Gandalf's captivity by Saruman. Also, Gwaihir rescued Gandalf after his battle with the balrog in Moria. He, his brother Landroval, and Meneldor accompanied Gandalf to rescue Sam and Frodo from Mount Doom at the end of the War of the Ring.[17][18]
Roäc[edit]
One of the great Ravens of Erebor (the Lonely Mountain). The son of Carc, born in T.A. 2788. By the time of the Quest of Erebor organised by Thorin II Oakenshield, Roäc had become the leader of the great ravens, although it is stated that "he was getting blind, he could hardly fly, and the top of his head was bald." With his and his flock's help, Thorin's company gathered news and communicated with Dáin II Ironfoot before the Battle of Five Armies.
Thorondor[edit]
The Lord of Eagles in the First Age, said in The Silmarillion to be the "mightiest of all birds that have ever been", with a wingspan of thirty fathoms (54.9 meters, or 180 feet) and a beak of gold.[19][20] His name translates from Sindarin, an Elven tongue devised by Tolkien, as 'King of Eagles';[21] its cognate form in Quenya, another Elven language, is Sorontar.[21][22] He led the eagles during most of their appearances in The Silmarillion, and has a significant role of his own.
Thorondor first enters the narrative when he helped the Elven-prince Fingon rescue his kinsman Maedhros from imprisonment upon Thangorodrim.[19] After the Dagor Bragollach, he saved Fingolfin's body from defilement by his slayer Morgoth, giving the Dark Lord a scar on his face and carrying the Elven-king's corpse to the Encircling Mountains north of Gondolin, where it was buried by Turgon.[23] Shortly afterwards, Thorondor espied Húrin and Huor at the feet of the Mountains, and sent two of his servants to fetch them and bear to Gondolin, fulfilling thus the intentions of the Vala Ulmo.[23] Thorondor and two other eagles rescued Lúthien and the wounded Beren from the doors of Angband during their Quest of the Silmaril, taking them to Doriath.[24]
Notable horses[edit]
Some individual horses play a notable role in their own right in Tolkien's writings.
First Age horses[edit]
Arroch[edit]
The horse that Húrin Lord of Dor-lómin rode to the battle of Nírnaeth Arnoediad. Neither horse nor rider returned, and Morwen Húrin's wife "listened for his footfall in the sleepless watches of the night, or would wake thinking that she had heard in the courtyard the neigh of Arroch his horse".
Nahar[edit]
Nahar (from the Valarin Næχærra) was the horse of the Vala Oromë. It was the neighing of Nahar that alerted Oromë to the presence of the Quendi when he came upon them for the first time, and light from the sparks his hooves threw up were the first light in Valinor after the darkening of the trees.
Rochallor[edit]
The horse of Fingolfin, High King of the Noldor. Rochallor bore the King to the gates of Angband, where a desperate and fearless Fingolfin challenged Morgoth to single combat. Rochallor stayed by his master throughout the duel, but was driven away by wolves. He died of a burst heart in Hithlum soon afterwards.
Rohan and Éothéod's horses[edit]
Arod[edit]
The grey horse given to Legolas by the Riders of Rohan in The Two Towers. Gimli also rides him, sitting behind Legolas, until they reach Minas Tirith. The epilogue to The Lord of the Rings (published in The History of Middle-earth, volume IX, Sauron Defeated) has Sam saying that "Legolas let his horse run back free to Rohan from Isengard", presumably after the war, when Legolas and Gimli left the rest of the Company to visit Aglarond and Fangorn. The name Arod means 'swift' and 'noble.' In "The Lord of the Rings" by "J.R.R. Tolkien" Legolas refers to Arod as 'brave' and 'a defender of the Elves' when the horse so willingly carried Legolas and Gimli through all their perils on their quest.
Brego[edit]
Brego is a horse of Rohan ridden by Aragorn in Peter Jackson's film adaptations of The Two Towers and The Return of the King. He was originally Théodred's horse. Aragorn first meets him in the stables at Edoras, where two of the Rohirrim are struggling to bring him under control, and Aragorn calms him by speaking Elvish to him, and then tells Éowyn to set him free. After Aragorn’s fall in the skirmish with the Warg riders, Brego carries him to Helm's Deep. Aragorn continues to ride Brego until their arrival at the door to the Paths of the Dead, at which point Brego and Arod bolt.
In Tolkien’s writings, the name Brego refers only to the second King of Rohan. This is noted in the film version of The Two Towers when Aragorn, speaking in Elvish to Brego at Edoras, tells him, "Your name is kingly".
Felaróf[edit]
The first of the Mearas, a white stallion, described as being as intelligent and long-lived as any human, and capable of understanding the speech of Men.
Felaróf began life as a wild horse in Éothéod, a land near the sources of the Anduin in northern Wilderland. He was captured as a foal by Léod, lord of Éothéod and a tamer of horses. Felaróf grew in captivity but no one could tame him. In T.A. 2504 Léod attempted to mount him, but was killed when the horse threw him.
Léod's son Eorl the Young (then aged 16) vowed to avenge his father, commanding the horse to serve him as weregild for his father. Eorl named the horse Felaróf (meaning "very valiant, very strong" in the Anglo-Saxon poetic vocabulary)[25] and rode him without bit or bridle. They took part in the Battle of the Field of Celebrant. Felaróf was buried in Eorl's burial mound.[26]
Firefoot[edit]
The horse of Éomer of Rohan; he bore Éomer and Gimli from Edoras to Helm's Deep before the Battle of the Hornburg.
Hasufel[edit]
The horse given to Aragorn by the Riders of Rohan in The Two Towers. Previously, this horse had been ridden by a Rider named Garulf, killed in the recent skirmish with the band of orcs that had captured Merry and Pippin ("May he bear you well and to better fortune than Garulf, his late master!" — Éomer to Aragorn). Aragorn later rode his own horse, Roheryn, who came to Rohan with a company of Dúnedain from the north.
The name Hasufel derives from the Old English hasu 'grey, dusky' and fel 'coat, pelt'.
Lightfoot[edit]
A horse of Rohan, and the sire of Snowmane. Lightfoot is mentioned on the inscription on Snowmane's grave (Snowmane's Howe).
Shadowfax[edit]
A horse of Rohan, and the chief of the Mearas. Possessing fantastic speed and stamina, he features in The Lord of the Rings as the steed of Gandalf the Wizard. Like the other mearas, Shadowfax was a 'grey' or silver stallion and could understand the speech of Men. His name is "an anglicized form of ... OE Sceadu-fæx",[27] meaning Shadow-mane; the same element (Old Norse fax meaning "mane") appears in the names of the horses Skinfaxi and Hrímfaxi in Norse Mythology.
Shadowfax had been foaled in the Westfold dales of Rohan.[28] Rohan's King Théoden effectively gave the horse to Gandalf on 20th 'September' T.A. 3018. As Gandalf's steed he faced the Witch-king, participated in the Battle of the Morannon, and visited Tom Bombadil.
No one except Gandalf could ride Shadowfax. At Gandalf's request, Shadowfax also carried Gimli the Dwarf for a time, and later Pippin, a Hobbit.
In an unpublished epilogue[29] and a letter[30] Tolkien stated that Shadowfax passed West over the Sea with Gandalf, aboard the Ringbearers' ship; in The Lord of the Rings Gandalf appears with a "great grey horse" on the quay just before departing, and he had earlier promised Shadowfax (in the chapter "The White Rider") that they would not be parted again in this world.
In the film adaptations of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, directed by Peter Jackson, Shadowfax was primarily played by a white horse named Blanco, owned by Cynthia Royal. Blanco was euthanized after illness in 2014.[31][32] Another horse, an Andalusian stallion named Domero, played Shadowfax until its death in 2003.[citation needed] In Jackson's film of The Return of the King, Shadowfax kicks Denethor onto the pyre in Minas Tirith's necropolis, which saves Faramir. However, in the book, Shadowfax does not participate in the pyre scene at all, having been left at the gate of the necropolis.
Snowmane[edit]
The horse of King Théoden of Rohan, who accompanied Théoden to the Battle of the Hornburg, and was ridden on the final charge out of the fortress. At the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, Snowmane was pierced by a black dart, causing him to fall onto Théoden. He was buried with honour on the field of battle; his grave, known as Snowmane's Howe, bore the inscription:
- Faithful servant yet master's bane
- Lightfoot's foal, swift Snowmane.
- — The Return of the King, "The Battle of the Pelennor Fields", p. 120
Windfola[edit]
Éowyn's grey horse. Disguised as Dernhelm, Éowyn rode with Merry on Windfola to the Battle of the Pelennor Fields. During the battle, Windfola was terrified by the Nazgûl's fell beast; Éowyn and Merry were thrown from Windfola's back, and Windfola ran wild over the plain.
Other notable horses[edit]
Asfaloth[edit]
The horse ridden by Glorfindel when he meets Strider and the Hobbits before they arrive at Rivendell. Asfaloth (meaning "Foam Flower" in Sindarin) carries Frodo alone to the Ford of Bruinen.
'Ride on! Ride on!' cried Glorfindel, and then loud and clear he called to the horse in the elf-tongue: noro lim, noro lim, Asfaloth!" (Sindarin for 'run quickly').
--The Fellowship of the Ring, "Flight to the Ford"
In the film version of The Fellowship of the Ring, Asfaloth is Arwen's horse and the two flee with the wounded Frodo across the ford from the Black Riders.
Roheryn[edit]
The name Roheryn means 'horse of the lady' in Tolkien's invented Elven language, Sindarin; this stems from the gift of the horse to Aragorn by Arwen. Roheryn was brought to Aragorn in the South by his kinsman Halbarad during the War of the Ring, prior to the Battle of the Pelennor Fields. He, Arod, and the other horses of the Dúnedain went with their masters on the Paths of the Dead and made the great march to Pelargir.
Notable ponies[edit]
Some individual ponies played a notable role in their own right in Tolkien's writings.
Bill[edit]
A pony bought in Bree for the exorbitant price of twelve silver pennies by Barliman Butterbur for Frodo Baggins and his companions, to replace the ponies stolen from them. Butterbur purchased Bill from Bill Ferny, a neighbour in league with the spies who stole the other ponies. In the hobbits' service Bill became a fatter and happier pony. He was named 'Bill' by Sam Gamgee shortly after the party left Bree.
Bill became acquainted with elvish horses in Rivendell, to his advantage. He accompanied the Fellowship of the Ring (indeed he is described as a "member" of the group[33]) from Rivendell to the doors of Moria, but had to be left behind there. An attack by the Watcher in the Water left the Company thinking him slain; but he returned to Bree, where he was nursed back to health and reunited with Sam on the return journey to the Shire. Bill's old master, Bill Ferny, had been set by Lotho Sackville-Baggins to watch the gate at the Brandywine bridge into the Shire; and after he was cowed into submission by the hobbits, Bill the pony gave him a kick. Sam later took the pony to Hobbiton.
Fatty Lumpkin[edit]
The pony kept by Tom Bombadil. Fatty Lumpkin (sometimes just "Lumpkin") was rarely ridden by Tom, and spent much of his time roaming free on the Barrow-downs. The ponies of Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin got to know Fatty Lumpkin and managed to find him after the hobbits encountered a wight in the Barrow-downs. When the hobbits' ponies escaped from Bree, their familiarity with Fatty Lumpkin led them back to Tom's house.
Strider[edit]
The pony ridden by Frodo Baggins from Minas Tirith back to the Shire, and from the Shire to the Grey Havens. The pony came to be known as Strider during or after the journey from Minas Tirith.[34]
Stybba[edit]
The pony given by King Théoden of Rohan to Merry Brandybuck. He is described as small, shaggy, and grey. Théoden's reason for leaving Merry in Edoras while he rides to Gondor to do battle is that Stybba cannot keep up with the horses of the Rohirrim, and none of the riders can carry Merry. The name is from Old English styb "stub, stump". Icelandic stubbur is a common name for sheep.
Notable dogs and wolves[edit]
Some individual dogs and wolves played a notable role in Tolkien's writings.
Named dogs also feature in two pieces of Tolkien's fiction that are not part of his legendarium: Garm, a significant character in Farmer Giles of Ham, and Rover, the titular protagonist of Roverandom.
Carcharoth[edit]
The "mightiest of all wolves", bred by Morgoth and set to guard the gates of Angband. He bit off Beren's hand together with the Silmaril and was maddened by its touch. Carcharoth was slain by Huan, but not before he managed to wound mortally both the hound and Beren.
Draugluin[edit]
A werewolf (the first to exist) in the service of Sauron in the First Age.
Bred from the wolves and inhabited with an evil spirit sent by Morgoth himself, Draugluin was the sire of all werewolves of Beleriand, including Carcharoth, and lived with his master Sauron in Tol-in-Gaurhoth, the former watchtower of Finrod Felagund.
Draugluin was slain by the hound Huan during the Quest for the Silmaril, and Beren and Lúthien used his pelt to sneak into Angband.
An earlier form of the name was Drauglir. While Draugluin translates as "blue wolf" in Sindarin, a closer translation is believed to be "pale wolf."[citation needed]
Huan[edit]
Huan, also known as the Hound of Valinor, was a great hound, approximately the same size as a small horse, given to Celegorm, one of the Sons of Fëanor, by the Vala Oromë the Hunter. When the Noldor under Fëanor rebelled, Huan went to Middle-earth with his master. For this reason, he fell under the Doom of Mandos.
When Beren had gone with Finrod Felagund to Angband but had been captured in Tol-in-Gaurhoth, Lúthien set out to rescue him. She was intercepted by Celegorm and Curufin; whereas Huan captured her, and she was brought before Celegorm. Celegorm and Curufin took her as a prisoner to Nargothrond, secretly plotting to wed her to Celegorm and thereby force an alliance with Lúthien's father Thingol. Huan felt pity for Lúthien, and therefore told her of a way to escape, and accompanied her to Tol-in-Gaurhoth to rescue Beren, where he killed all of Sauron's werewolves, as well as Sauron himself in wolf form. Thereafter Huan returned to Celegorm, who had been exiled from Nargothrond by Orodreth.
On their way to Himring, Celegorm, Curufin, and Huan came across Beren and Lúthien in the north of Doriath. Curufin tried to kill Lúthien, but Huan drove Celegorm and Curufin away, and told Beren and Lúthien of his plan to gain entrance to Angband, disguised as the werewolf Draugluin and the vampire Thuringwethil. After Beren and Lúthien had won the Silmaril but Beren had lost his hand to the wolf Carcharoth, Huan joined Beren, Thingol, Beleg Cúthalion, and Mablung to capture the former. Huan and Beren killed Carcharoth; but Huan was mortally wounded, wished Beren farewell, and died.
Tolkien wrote he was either a beast-shaped Maia or a common animal taught to speak by the Valar.[17]
Other notable animals[edit]
Shelob[edit]
An "evil thing in spider form"[13] that dwelt beneath the Pass of Cirith Ungol on the borders of Mordor. During the events of The Lord of the Rings, she attacked the Ring-bearer Frodo Baggins, who passed through her lair, but was finally repelled by Sam Gamgee. She is called the "last child of Ungoliant to trouble the unhappy world".[13]
Ungoliant[edit]
Described as an evil spirit in the form of a spider. She is mentioned briefly in The Lord of the Rings, and plays a supporting role in The Silmarillion. She is said to have given birth to Shelob. Her origins are unclear, as Tolkien's writings don't explicitly reveal her nature, other than that she is from "before the world".
Watcher in the Water[edit]
A mysterious creature with tentacles appearing in The Lord of the Rings. At the end of the Third Age, it lived in a lake before the West-gate of Moria, and attacked the Company of the Ring during the events of the book. In Peter Jackson's film adaptation the Watcher somewhat resembles a cephalopod with an eversible, many-toothed mouth.
Real-world species[edit]
This section provides a list of the diverse range of animal species from the real world that are mentioned or alluded to in Tolkien's fiction. The species and types are animals familiar to Tolkien from the ecology of England and the mythologies of northern Europe. The inclusion of these animals in his legendarium reinforces the notion that Middle-earth is set in the Earth's Old World (albeit in a fictional prehistoric era).
This section generally uses traditional names and groupings rather than scientific taxonomy.
Birds[edit]
Birds of prey and carrion[edit]
crows, eagles, falcons, hawks, owls (including barn owls and white owls), ravens, vultures
Fowl[edit]
Songbirds[edit]
finches, larks, nightingales, robins, starlings, swallows, thrushes, willow-wrens, wrens
A willow warbler called Little Bird is one of the creatures who roam the Withywindle river and who are familiar to Tom Bombadil (Tolkien uses the old name willow-wren). She brings news to Bombadil; thus her name is an allusion to the idiom "a little bird told me". She features in the second poem in The Adventures of Tom Bombadil.
Water birds[edit]
boobies, coots, cormorants,[35] dabchicks, gulls, herons, kingfishers, moorhens,[36] storks, swans (especially the mute swan; there are also black swans, presumably not the black swan of Australia)
A kingfisher called Fisher Blue is one of the birds who roam the Withywindle river and who are familiar to Tom Bombadil. Fisher Blue talks with Bombadil (or at least Bombadil understand the bird's language) and teases him, but later assists him. Fisher Blue features in the second poem in The Adventures of Tom Bombadil. He also contributes the blue hat-feather that Bombadil wears in The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien in one of his letters confirms that the species is a Common kingfisher.[37]
Old Swan is another of the birds who roam the Withywindle river and who are familiar to Tom Bombadil. Old Swan is a cob (male) of the mute swan species ("dumb-throat"), and lives on Elvet-isle, an eyot in the river. It was from Old Swan that Bombadil obtained his original hat-feather. At one point Bombadil casually threatens Old Swan with upping by the Kings of Arnor. Old Swan features in the second poem in The Adventures of Tom Bombadil.
Other birds[edit]
Mammals[edit]
Land carnivores[edit]
bears, dogs, foxes, wolves, white wolves
The hobbit Farmer Maggot has three guard-dogs called Fang, Grip and Wolf.
Felines[edit]
The Black Númenórean Queen Berúthiel, a queen-consort of Gondor used cats as spies. A monstrous cat called Tevildo appeared in The Book of Lost Tales; Tolkien later developed the character into Sauron.
Hoofed animals[edit]
cattle (wild and domesticated), deer, donkeys, goats, horses and ponies, pigs (wild and domesticated), sheep
Ponies feature regularly in The Lord of the Rings. For example, Meriadoc Brandybuck obtains five ponies for the hobbits to ride from Crickhollow (on the eastern borders of the Shire) to Bree. One of the ponies bore Frodo Baggins, and therefore the One Ring. Their journey passed through the Old Forest and stayed at the house of Tom Bombadil, where the ponies got to know Bombadil's pony, Fatty Lumpkin.
The hobbits became separated from the five ponies during an encounter with a barrow-wight. The hobbits were rescued by Bombadil, who also reunited them with the ponies. Bombadil gave the five ponies their names at this time: "Sharp-ears, Wise-nose, Swish-tail, and Bumpkin, White-socks my little lad"; from then on they answered only to those names. The five ponies later vanish, during the attack on Bree by the Black Riders. The reader is told that the ponies find their way to Bombadil and Fatty Lumpkin, and are eventually sent back to Bree, to be looked after by Barliman Butterbur.
A great boar roamed Everholt, a section of Firien Wood on the eastern border of Rohan. In T.A. 2864 King Folca of Rohan hunted this beast down and slew it, but he "died of the tusk-wounds that it gave him."
Rodents and similar creatures[edit]
badgers, beavers, hares, hedgehogs, mice (house mice, field mice), moles, otters, rabbits, rats (brown rats and black rats), squirrels, black squirrels, voles, water-rats, weasels
Badger-brock is one of the animals who live in or near the Withywindle river and who are familiar to Tom Bombadil. He lives in his sett with his sow and cubs. Bombadil stumbles into the sett, but convinces Badger-brock to let him leave unmolested. Badger-brock features in the eponymous first poem of The Adventures of Tom Bombadil.
Whisker-lad is an otter, one of the animals who roam the Withywindle river. Tom Bombadil is familiar with Whisker-lad and his family. Bombadil and Whisker-lad engage in repartee; one of Bombadil's retorts is a reference to the Norse lay of Ótr, when Bombadil threatens to give the hide of the disrespectful otter to the Barrow-wights, who he says will cover it with gold apart from a single whisker. Whisker-lad features in the second poem in The Adventures of Tom Bombadil.
Marine mammals[edit]
In Roverandom[edit]
(Roverandom is connected to the world of Middle-earth via Elvenhome)
dugongs, manatees, porpoises, right whales, sea-cows, sea-lions
Miscellaneous mammals[edit]
apes, bats, vampire bats, elephants
In The Father Christmas Letters[edit]
Tolkien's The Father Christmas Letters are not set in Middle-earth (although they share Elves and Goblins). Nevertheless, the letters (especially 1932) contain references to, and his drawings of, some exotic mammals:-
- mammoths, polar bears, 'drasils' (creatures invented by Tolkien using the Norse word for 'horse'), reindeer, hairy rhinoceros, Przewalski's horse
Reptiles and amphibians[edit]
frogs, lizards, snakes (including adders, grass-snakes, and possibly the black serpent of Harad), sea-turtles, toads
Fastitocalon, an enormous sea turtle, is the subject of a poem of the same name in The Adventures of Tom Bombadil.
Fish[edit]
In Roverandom[edit]
(Roverandom is connected to the world of Middle-earth via Elvenhome)
eels, goldfish, minnows, redfish, sardines, sea-devils, sea-horses, sharks
Insects[edit]
ants (including black ants), beetles, blackbeetles, bumblebees, butterflies (including purple emperors), crickets, dragonflies, flies, glow-worms, gnats, grasshoppers, hornets, horseflies, locusts, midges, moths
Cultivated & harvested insects[edit]
bees, scale-insects, silk-worms
Other land-creatures[edit]
earth-worms, leeches, mites, slugs, snails, spiders
Marine invertebrates[edit]
coral, pearl-oysters, periwinkles, sea-shells
In Roverandom[edit]
(Roverandom is connected to the universe of Middle-earth via Elvenhome)
anemones, barnacles, cephalopods, clams, cockles, conches, crabs, limpets, lobsters, mussels, oysters, sea-slugs, shrimp, sponges
See also[edit]
Other articles of the topic Children's literature : Vicky Gets Her Glasses, Thidwick the Big-Hearted Moose
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References[edit]
- ↑ Tolkien, J. R. R. (1977), Christopher Tolkien, ed., The Silmarillion, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, Ch. 2 "Of Aulë and Yavanna", ISBN 0-395-25730-1
- ↑ Tolkien, J. R. R. (1954), The Fellowship of the Ring, The Lord of the Rings, Boston: Houghton Mifflin (published 1987), Book II Ch. 3 "The Ring Goes South", ISBN 0-395-08254-4
- ↑ Calvert Watkins, American Heritage Dictionary of Indo-European Roots
- ↑ J. R. Tolkien (1980), Unfinished Tales, George Allen & Unwin, part 2, ch.2 'Aldarion and Erendis', pp.189–190, 193; ISBN 0-04-823179-7 Search this book on
..
- ↑ The Return of the King", Appendix A (ii), p. 395.
- ↑ The Return of the King, "Minas Tirith", p. 29.
- ↑ J. R. R. Tolkien (1937), The Hobbit, 4th edition (1978), George Allen & Unwin, ch. IX p. 158; ISBN 0-04-823147-9 Search this book on .
- ↑ The Science of Middle-earth: The Kine of Araw; Henry Gee, The Science of Middle-earth
- ↑ The "Two Towers" Creatures Guide Collins (November 6, 2002) ISBN 0-00-714409-1 Search this book on .
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Tolkien, J. R. R. (1955), The Return of the King, The Lord of the Rings, Boston: Houghton Mifflin (published 1987), "The Battle of the Pelennor Fields", ISBN 0-395-08256-0
- ↑ J. R. R. Tolkien (1937), The Hobbit, 4th edition (1978), ch. 1 p. 25; ISBN 0-04-823147-9 Search this book on .
- ↑ Tolkien, J. R. R. (1937), Douglas A. Anderson, ed., The Annotated Hobbit, Boston: Houghton Mifflin (published 2002), Ch. 8 "Flies and Spiders", ISBN 0-618-13470-0
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 Tolkien, J. R. R. (1954), The Two Towers, The Lord of the Rings, Boston: Houghton Mifflin (published 1987), "Shelob's Lair", ISBN 0-395-08254-4
- ↑ Tolkien, J. R. R. (1955), The Return of the King, The Lord of the Rings, Boston: Houghton Mifflin (published 1987), Appendix B, ISBN 0-395-08256-0
- ↑ Christina Scull & Wayne G. Hammond (2014), editors, The Adventures of Tom Bombadil, Harper Collins, p. 166; ISBN 978-0-00-755727-1 Search this book on .
- ↑ J. R. R. Tolkien (1954), The Fellowship of the Ring, 2nd edition (1966), George Allen & Unwin, book 1 ch. XI p. 195; ISBN 0 04 823045 6 04 823045 6 Search this book on .
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 Tolkien, J. R. R. (1993), Christopher Tolkien, ed., Morgoth's Ring, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, "Myths Transformed" VIII, pp. 410–12, ISBN 0-395-68092-1
- ↑ Morgoth's Ring, p. 138.
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 The Silmarillion, "Of the Return of the Noldor", p. 110
- ↑ The Lost Road, "Quenta Silmarillion", §97
- ↑ 21.0 21.1 The Etymologies, entries THORON-, TĀ-
- ↑ Morgoth's Ring, "Myths Transformed", VIII, pp. 409–411
- ↑ 23.0 23.1 The Silmarillion, "Of the Ruin of Beleriand", pp. 154, 158–9
- ↑ The Silmarillion, "Of Beren and Lúthien", p. 182
- ↑ Unfinished Tales, "Cirion and Eorl", p. 314, note 28.
- ↑ The Lord of the Rings, Appendix A, II, timeline, p. 434.
- ↑ J. R. R. Tolkien (1967), Nomenclature of The Lord of the Rings, published in Wayne G. Hammond & Christina Scull (2005), The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion, p. 762/763; ISBN 0 00 720308 X 00 720308 X Search this book on .
- ↑ J. R. R. Tolkien (1954), The Two Towers, 2nd edition (1966), George Allen & Unwin, book 3 ch. XI pp. 205–206; ISBN 0 04 823046 4 04 823046 4 Search this book on .
- ↑ Tolkien, J. R. R. (1992), Christopher Tolkien, ed., Sauron Defeated, Boston, New York, & London: Houghton Mifflin, p. 123, ISBN 0-395-60649-7
- ↑ Carpenter, Humphrey, ed. (1981), The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, Letter #268, ISBN 0-395-31555-7
- ↑ Deen, Sarah (11 Apr 2014). "'The lord of all horses': Much-loved Lord of the Rings horse Shadowfax dies". United Kingdom: Metro News. Retrieved May 4, 2017.
First seen in The Two Towers, Blanco's most memorable moment as Shadowfax came when Gandalf and Pippin rode to Edoras in Return of the King, with Gandalf uttering one of the most-quotable lines: 'Run, Shadowfax, show us the meaning of haste.'
- ↑ Kelvarhin. "In Memory of Shadowfax". The One Ring. Retrieved May 4, 2017.
- ↑ J. R. R. Tolkien (1954), The Fellowship of the Ring, 2nd edition (1966), George Allen & Unwin, book 2 ch. 3 p. 293; ISBN 0 04 823045 6 04 823045 6 Search this book on .
- ↑ The Return of the King, "The Grey Havens", p. 380.
- ↑ J. R. R. Tolkien (2018), The Fall of Gondolin, Harper Collins p. 46; ISBN 978 0 00 830275 7 0 00 830275 7 Search this book on .
- ↑ J. R. R. Tolkien (2018), The Fall of Gondolin, Harper Collins p. 41; ISBN 978 0 00 830275 7 0 00 830275 7 Search this book on .
- ↑ J. R. R. Tolkien (1981), The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien, George Allen & Unwin, letter no. 240 (1st August 1962) pp. 318–319; ISBN 0-04-826005-3 Search this book on .
External links[edit]
- Quenya and Sindarin wordlists at Wiktionary, which include Elvish names devised by Tolkien for real-world animals
- Brego Information on the horses who worked in Peter Jackson’s film trilogy
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