Nameless things

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The title of this article is conjectural. While the content of this article is based on official information, the actual name of the subject is conjectural, and is yet to or cannot be officially named.

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"Far, far below the deepest delving of the Dwarves, the world is gnawed by nameless things. Even Sauron knows them not. They are older than he. Now I have walked there, but I will bring no report to darken the light of day."

—Gandalf in The Two Towers, "The White Rider"

Within the depths of Arda, there existed nameless things that gnawed at the roots of the earth far beneath the deepest delving of the Dwarves.

History

The origin of the nameless things is untold, but it was said by Gandalf that they were older than Sauron, and the Dark Lord knew nothing of their existence. This implies that, like the equally enigmatic Tom Bombadil, the nameless things existed prior to the arrival of some of the Ainur to Arda. However, this may have been a rhetorical flourish by Gandalf. It was also mentioned by Aragorn II that there were many "evil and unfriendly things in the world that have little love for those that go on two legs", and yet are not allies of Sauron, having their own purposes, with some being in Arda longer than him.

As far back as the Elder Days, in ages before the Orcs, there were "strange things living in the pools and lakes in the hearts of mountains" that were "more slimy than fish" and preferred to dwell in darkness. When the Northern Orcs of the Misty Mountains established Goblin-town, they widened and joined up the ancient caves that were already there; their original owners never left their caves, though they withdrew to "odd corners", slinking and nosing about". It is possible that Gollum may have encountered these original owners.

The Watcher In The Water

There were also nameless things found far beneath the Mines of Moria. When the Fellowship of the Ring approached the West-gate of Moria, they encountered a large pool inhabited by the Watcher in the Water. This pale-green, luminous and many-tentacled creature may have been a nameless thing as it was stated to be among the "older and fouler things than Orcs", dwelling within the "deep places of the world". Gandalf speculated that the Watcher was drawn out from a dark lake beneath the Misty Mountains. The pool by the West-gate was made by the damming of the river Sirannon and deepened over time, which may have caused cracks in the rock, forming passages to old tunnels, and allowing the Watcher to climb towards the surface. However, there is little to no evidence connecting the Watcher in the Water to the nameless things, and any such conjectures are purely fan theories.

When telling the tale of his fight with Durin's Bane to the Three Hunters (Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli) in Fangorn Forest, Gandalf explained that Durin's Bane had learned to navigate in tunnels not made by Durin's Folk during its long stay in the depths of Moria. When Gandalf and the Balrog fell from the Bridge of Khazad-dûm, they dropped into an aquifer, where creatures akin to the Watcher in the Water may have dwelt. The Balrog fled through the surrounding tunnels, and Gandalf pursued it closely, believing that its knowledge of the tunnels was his only hope of escape. During this pursuit, Gandalf witnessed the dark passages at the uttermost foundations of stone, encountering the nameless things that inhabited them. He refused to describe them to the Three Hunters, preventing the light of day from darkening into despair. Their chase led to the foot of the Endless Stair, which they climbed to eventually emerge on the peak of Zirakzigil.

Inspiration

Todd Jensen suggested that when Tolkien wrote about the nameless things, he was possibly influenced by "the horrible creatures gnawing away at the roots of Yggdrasil…especially the dragon Nidhog, and his terrible brood".

Similar entities

In the Lay of the Children of Húrin, Túrin and Flinding passed through Nan Dumgorthin, the "Land of the Dark Idols", in the dim twilight after the accidental death of Beleg. This unholy land was located to the east of Artanor, and composed of a grey valley with dark forests. The inhabitants were a collection of "some evil tribes of renegade men" who worshiped nameless gods older than both Morgoth and the Valar. These renegade men made sacrifices to their gods by way of shrouded shrines in secret places, or hidden idols atop a wooded mountain. Turin and Flinding heard the "harsh and hallow" laughter of the ghostly dwellers as a distant lingering echo of the "mockery of demon voices". Despite not being harmed or hindered, they walked "with creeping flesh and quaking limb".

In adaptations

In The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power

The worm

In the second episode of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power - Season One, a creature implied to be a nameless thing, known only as the worm, destroyed a ship from the Southlands of Middle-earth, leaving the seven survivors adrift on a makeshift raft in The Sundering Seas. After two weeks, the castaways Halbrand, Eamon, Abigail, Astrid, and two other castaways picked up a stranded Elf, Galadriel. At that very moment, however, Astrid points out that a ship was approaching, though Abigail realized that it was the wreckage of their own ship being dragged along by "the worm". In the ensuing attack, all except for Galadriel and Halbrand are killed by "the worm" or lost at sea. The following on-screen trivia accompanies the scene, courtesy of Amazon Prime's "X-Ray feature": "The Great Sea, or The Sundering Seas, divides the Undying Lands from Middle-earth - where there are still nameless things in the deepest places of the world." The trivia entry cites Book III, Chapter 5 of The Two Towers.

In the third episode of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power - Season Two, a nameless thing tries to pull Isildur down into a marshy area. When Arondir tries to pull him out, they both get pulled under. When Estrid tries to pull them out with a stick, the nameless thing emerges in full might to attack her, only for Arondir to slash his and Isildur’s way out through it’s body. While Arondir did not kill the nameless thing, his action caused it to retreat back down into the depths of the world. After the incident, Arondir named the piece that he cut off "supper".

In The Lord of the Rings Online

In The Lord of the Rings Online, nameless things exist as a creature type called "Nameless" and categorized as "Ancient Evil". Some are more beast-like, while others are more humanoid.

Translations

Foreign Language	Translated name
Afrikaans	Naamlose dinge
Albanian	Gjëra pa emër
Amharic	ስም የሌላቸው ነገሮች
Arabic	أشياء بلا أسماء
Armenian	Անանուն բաներ
Assamese	নামবিহীন বস্তু
Asturian	Coses ensin nome
Azerbaijani	Adsız şeylər
Basque	Izenik gabeko gauzak
Belarusian Cyrillic	Безназоўныя рэчы
Bosnian	Neimenovane stvari
Bulgarian Cyrillic	Безименни неща
Burmese	နာမည်မပါသော အရာများ
Cambodian	អ្វីៗ ដែល គ្មាន ឈ្មោះ
Catalan	Coses sense nom
Cebuano	Mga butang nga walay ngalan
Chinese	没有名字的东西
Croatian	Bezimene stvari
Czech	Bezejmenné věci
Danish	Navnløse ting
Dari	چیز های بی نام
Dutch	Naamloze dingen
Esperanto	Sennomaj aferoj
Estonian	Nimetud asjad
Faroese	Nøvnleysar lutir
Finnish	Nimettömät olennot
French	Des choses sans nom
Frisian	Nammeleaze dingen (Western)
Friulian	Lis robis cence non
Galician	Cousas sen nome
Georgian	უსახელო ნივთები
German	Namenlose Wesen
Greek	Ανώνυμα πράγματα
Gujarati	નામ વગરની વસ્તુઓ
Hebrew	דברים חסרי שם
Hindi	नामहीन बातें
Hungarian	Névtelen dolgok
Icelandic	Nafnlausir hlutir
Indonesian	Hal-hal tanpa nama
Irish Gaelic	Rudaí gan ainm
Italian	Cose senza nome
Japanese	名前のないもの
Kannada	ಹೆಸರಿಲ್ಲದ ವಸ್ತುಗಳು
Kazakh	Аты жоқ заттар (Cyrillic) Atı joq zattar (Latin)
Konkani	नांव नाशिल्लीं गजाली
Korean	이름없는 것들
Kurdish	(Sorani) شتی بێ ناو Tiştên bênav (Kurmanji)
Kyrgyz Cyrillic	Аты жок нерселер
Latin	Rerum sine nominibus
Latvian	Bezvārda lietas
Lithuanian	Bevardžiai dalykai
Macedonian Cyrillic	Безимени работи
Malayalam	പേരില്ലാത്ത കാര്യങ്ങൾ
Maltese	Affarijiet bla isem
Marathi	नावनसलेल्या गोष्टी
Mongolian Cyrillic	Нэргүй зүйлс
Nepalese	नामहीन चीजहरू
Norwegian	Navnløsetingene
Occitan	Cusas sens nom
Pashto	بې نومه شیان
Persian	چيزهاي بي نام
Polish	Bezimienne rzeczy
Portuguese	Coisas sem nome
Punjabi	ਬੇਨਾਮ ਚੀਜ਼ਾਂ
Romanian	Lucruri fără nume
Russian	Безымянные вещи
Sanskrit	अनामानि वस्तूनि
Sardinian	Cosas chene nùmene
Scottish Gaelic	Nithean gun ainm
Serbian	Безимене ствари (Cyrillic) Bezimene stvari (Latin)
Sicilian	Cose senza nomu
Sindhi	بي نام شيون
Sinhalese	නමක් නැති දේවල්
Slovak	Bezmenné veci
Slovenian	Brezimne stvari
Spanish	Cosas sin nombre
Swahili	Mambo yasiyo na jina
Swedish	Namnlösa sakerna
Tagalog	Mga bagay na walang pangalan
Tajik Cyrillic	Чизҳои беном
Tamil	பெயரற்ற விஷயங்கள்
Tatar	Исемсез әйберләр
Telugu	పేరులేని విషయాలు
Thai	สิ่งไร้ชื่อ
Turkish	İsimsiz şeyler
Turkmen	Atsyz zatlar
Ukrainian Cyrillic	Безіменні речі
Urdu	بے نام چیزیں
Uzbek	Номсиз нарсалар (Cyrillic) Nomsiz narsalar (Latin)
Venetian	Cose senza nome
Vietnamese	Những điều không tên
Welsh	Pethau dienw
Xhosa	Izinto ezingenamagama
Yiddish	זאַכן אָן נאָמען
Yoruba	Àwọn ohun tí kò ní orúkọ

External links

• What Are the Nameless Things Gandalf Refers to Below Khazad-dûm?, by Michael L. Martinez