Wargs

Warg is the term used to describe the evil wolves who were used as mounts by orcs. They were simply giant wolves that roamed Rhovanion, also known as Wilderland, and the wilds to the east of the Misty Mountains. The name originally applied to the terrifying werewolves that plagued Middle-earth: these evil spirits took form only at night, preying on the flesh of anything they caught. By the Third Age they had all but disappeared. Like so many foul creatures, the warg may have first been bred in Angband by Morgoth, the result of mixing two animals to produce a true monster. Wargs were said by some to have been very intelligent predators; it is rumoured that they had a crude understanding of some orc words and their Black Speech. Wargs appear in J.R.R. Tolkien's novel "The Hobbit", in which they attack Bilbo Baggins, Gandalf, and the dwarves that are traveling to the Lonely Mountain.

Physical attributes
Wargs measured about five feet at the shoulder, and could be up to ten feet in length from snout to the tail. Rohan tapestries show the wargs to have a bearlike face with a long muzzle full of huge fangs and a long, prehensile neck; its eyes were small and set back to each side of its head, its ears at the back of the skull. This arrangement gave greatest sensory range while keeping its vulnerable areas protected, and the long neck gave it reach, flexibility and power when biting into flesh. There was a large well muscled hump above its forelegs, that propelled it at high speeds, allowing the beast to run swiftly but also smash and tackle prey and foes.

Apart from its ruff, the warg had short dense fur, which would have kept injury from tooth and claw to a minimum. Not all damage could have come from the men and beasts it was attacking; wargs were ferocious and could quickly turn on other members of their pack as well as their handlers. Many warg riders displayed gruesome scars from encounters with their mounts. Coloration and patterning of the fur seems to vary throughout the breed, with mottling and other patterns appearing in shades of red, brown, fawn and liver, with harder patterning appearing toward the back. Powerful haunches and a dewclaw allowed the warg to climb.

In The Two Towers, Saruman sends out his wargs and their riders (lead by Sharku) to attack the people of Rohan as they make their way to Helm's Deep. Wargs later appear as the mount for Gothmog during the Seige of Gondor in The Return of the King. In the commentary for the extended DVD, Jackson says that the scene was chaotic to shoot and the wargs were the only computer generated creatures he felt could have looked more convincing. He also thought the scene itself could have turned out better if his team had a more organized storyboard layout for the battle. Unlike most depictions of Tolkien's wargs and their fantasy derivatives, they are noticeably more hyena-like in appearance.

Trivia
In the The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age video game there is a small colony of wild wargs living in a hollow rock formation in northeast Rohan, one of which is particually large and used as a mini-boss for a side quest.

In the books Wargs are barely mentioned in respect to Rohan except to say that occasionally a band of Wargs could be seen now and again raiding villages throughout Rohan when Theoden is retreating to Helm's Deep.

In The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-Earth II video game Isengard can use Warg Riders as a mounted unit.

In Swedish "varg" is used to name the animal Wolf. Warg is an older spelling of the same word.

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Warge