Ungoliant

Ungoliant (Sindarin IPA: - "Dark Spider") was a primordial taking the shape of a gigantic spider. She was initially an ally of Melkor in Aman, and for a short time in Middle-earth as well. She is the mother of Shelob, and therefore the oldest, and first spider of the south, possibly even the first spider.

Origins


The true origin of Ungoliant is unknown, and was not even known by the Valar. It is said by some that she came from the Darkness itself that lies about Arda and was once an ally of Melkor when he looked down upon the world with envy. Later, she changed her allegiance from him to herself, desiring only to be a mistress of her own insatiable craving to devour all light, to feed her everlasting emptiness.

Early years
When Melkor was defeated and imprisoned by the Lords of the West after the fall of the Lamps, Ungoliant escaped the attacks of the Valar and the hunters of Oromë and fled to the southern part of Aman. There, in a ravine south of the mountain Hyamentir, she established her dark abode and took the physical form of a monstrous spider, and sucked up all the light she could find. After every feeding, she spun forth dark nets of gloom that strangled any light from entering her lair of darkness. Yet she hungered for more of it for; although she hated light, she craved it as well.

Alliance with Melkor
Eventually, Melkor sought out Ungoliant in order to exact his revenge against the Valar and the Elves. He came to her and told her of his plans. Though she was tempted greatly by Melkor's plan for her to drink the light of the Two Trees of Valinor, she feared the power of the Valar and was hesitant to accompany him. To mollify her, Melkor offered to sate her hunger with whatever she wished if she would aid him in his vengeance. She agreed, and they came shortly thereafter to Ezellohar, where she drained the Trees of their sap, poisoned them, and drank the Wells of Varda dry. The Unlight produced by Ungoliant stymied the pursuit of Oromë and Tulkas, and Melkor escaped to Middle-earth with her. However, her consumption of power of the Trees and the Wells caused her to swell to a size and shape so vast and hideous that even Melkor began to grow afraid.

When they arrived in Lammoth in Middle-earth, Melkor, now known as Morgoth, hoped to escape to the ruins of Angband where the remnants of his forces awaited him. Suspecting that he intended to leave his promise to her unfulfilled, Ungoliant demanded the gems that Morgoth had stolen from Formenos before they could reach Angband. She devoured them, and grew to an even more monstrous size. She then demanded that Morgoth surrender to her the Silmarils. However, Morgoth refused, and she attacked him. Weaving her dark webs, she attempted to enmesh him in her nets and take the Silmarils by force. Morgoth gave out a terrible cry of pain as she attacked, which was heard by the Balrogs hibernating under the ruins of Angband. They awoke and immediately rushed to the aid of their Lord, tearing apart Ungoliant's webbing with their fiery whips and forcing her to break off her attack. She fled, and the Balrogs prepared to pursue and destroy her, but they were checked by Morgoth, who ordered them to return with him to Angband.

Ungoliant's attack upon Morgoth left an echoing scream ever after on the land that gave the area the name Lammoth, and it is said to this day that when one screams in that place, the voice of the Dark Lord echoes back from the surrounding hills.

Final Years and Legacy


Driven off by the Balrogs, Ungoliant fled to Nan Dungortheb, where she bred with the Great Spiders that dwelt there, increasing the terror and power of her kind. The creatures that later infested the area were her surviving offspring and descendants, including her infamous daughter, Shelob, who dwelt from the Second and Third Ages onwards on the borders of Mordor, as her last surviving child. It is said that Ungoliant ultimately perished at her own hands when, in her ever growing and eternal hunger, she eventually devoured herself.

Etymology
Her name in Quenya is Ungweliantë, which means "Dark Spider", from ungwë ("dark") and liantë ("spider"). Ungoliant is the Sindarin translation of her Quenya name.

Other names
The Eldar called her Virilomë (Wirilomë in Vanyarin) or Gloomweaver. In Sindarin, this name is translated into Gwerlum.

The Hobbit film trilogy
Ungoliant was mentioned in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey when Radagast tells Gandalf about his encounter with the Great Spiders residing in Mirkwood, deducing that they are "some kind of spawn of Ungoliant".