Neekerbreekers

An angry Neekerbreeker in The Lord of the Rings Online
Neekerbreekers
Name	Neekerbreekers
Origins	Related to crickets
Dominions	Midgewater Marshes
Lifespan	Unknown
Distinctions	Abominable and evil, Loud and persistent
Height	Over-grown

"neek-breek, breek-neek"

—The Fellowship of the Ring, "A Knife in the Dark"

Neekerbreekers were abominable and over-grown cricket-like insects that haunted the reeds and tussocks of the Midgewater Marshes.

History

Though the exact origin of these creatures is untold, it was said that they "were evil relatives of the cricket" because of the sound that they made, which was "shriller… and even more persistent" then one. On October 2 in the year 3018 of the late Third Age, Strider and the Hobbits made camp for the night in the Midgewater Marshes on their way to Weathertop Hill. In addition to being plagued by an uncomfortable camping-place and insect bites, there were reportedly thousands of Neekerbreekers that "squeaked all round…unceasingly all the night", annoying the Hobbits in particular and driving them frantic. Most of the group found themselves unable to sleep because of them. During the next night, though still uncomfortable, the air was devoid of the sound of Neekerbreekers, since the travelers had left them behind. It was that night that Samwise Gamgee called the creatures Neekerbreekers, though it is untold whether he invented this name or actually knew their name.

Etymology

"Neekerbreeker" was an onomatopoeic "invented insect-name" that was supposed to sound similar to the sound emitted by crickets.

In other versions

In an early draft, the creatures known as Neekerbreekers were unnamed and were explicitly identified as being "cousins of the cricket".

In adaptations

Middle-earth Role Playing

In the 1994 Creatures of Middle-earth: A Bestiary of Animals and Monsters supplement of the Middle-earth Role Playing game, Neekerbreekers are described as being 1-2 inches tall, solid meat carnivores, and "relatives of the mosquito" instead of the cricket. They are attracted by waybread and foul swamps. Neekerbreekers can spread an illness known as Yellow Rheum through bites.

The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game

In a card set called The Nîn-in-Eilph in The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game, one of the enemy cards is called "Neekerbreekers" which if used, causes a player to deal two damage to a controlled ally.

The Lord of the Rings Online

Neekerbreekers appear in many locations throughout The Lord of the Rings Online. While most appear hostile, one Neekerbreeker named Sniken was taken as a pet by a Bree-lander named Roderik Neeker-friend. Roderick tasks the player character with hunting sickle-fly wings to provide food for Sniken. When Roderick tries feeding the wings to Snicken, his hands are nearly purposefully bitten off.

Speculation

It is possible that these creatures were related to the Gryllidae cricket family, or that they represented Katydids or a similar locust from the Acrididae family.

External links

• Beware the Neekerbreekers on lingwe.blogspot.com

Translations

Foreign Language	Translated name
Amharic	ኘአከርብሬከርስ
Arabic	نييكيربرييكيرس
Armenian	Նէկերբրէկերս
Bengali	নিকেরবারীকের্স
Bulgarian Cyrillic	Никеркеркърс
Finnish	Skikirikittäjät
French	Nicbricqueurs
Georgian	ჭრიჭკრიკები
German	Zirperkirper
Greek	Νεεκερβρεεκερσ
Gujarati	નેકરબ્રીકર્સ
Hebrew	ןייכירברייכירס
Hindi	णेएकेर्ब्रेएकेर्स
Kyrgyz Cyrillic	Нээкэрбрээкэрс
Macedonian Cyrillic	Неекербреекерс
Malayalam	നെക്കാബീക്ക്രിക്സേഴ്സ്
Marathi	नेकर्सब्रिकर्स
Nepalese	णेएकेर्ब्रेएकेर्स
Persian	نههکهربرههکهرس ?
Portuguese (Brazil)	Crique-craques
Punjabi	ਨਿੱਕਰਬਰਕਰਜ਼
Russian	Кровопросцы
Sanskrit	णेएकेर्ब्रेएकेर्स्
Serbian	Неекербреекерс (Cyrillic) Neekerbreekers (Latin)
Sinhalese	ණේකෙර්බ්‍රේකෙර්ස්
Spanish (Spain and Latin America)	Niquebriques
Tajik Cyrillic	Некирбрееклер
Tamil	நீக்கீர்பிரேக்கேர்ஸ்
Telugu	నీకెర్బరీకేర్స్
Ukrainian Cyrillic	Цвібрики
Yiddish	נעעקערברעעקערס