Changes: Spiders

Revision as of 18:51, 10 December 2019

Giant, sapient spiders, also known as the Children of Ungoliant, lived in particularly in dark and perilous places (affected by the power of evil) in Middle-earth. Those who spoke were vicious and malevolent creatures, and their presence was typically seen as a blight.

Description

These Spiders could speak to one another, as shown in The Hobbit. Like Orcs and Goblins, they detested the light, yet thirsted for it and sought to devour it.

They lived in the south of Middle-earth in the First Age, having descended from spider-creatures of the Ered Gorgoroth, but by the Third Age they spread to other areas far away. After the shadow of Sauron fell upon Greenwood the Great, many spiders came and lived there, and the forest became known as "Mirkwood".

Shelob, in Mordor, was their relative.

History

The first Dark Lord, Melkor, used Ungoliant to help him destroy the Two Trees of Valinor and steal the Silmarils.^[1] Ungoliant, who had an insatiable desire to devour light, demanded the Silmarils. Melkor refused and she attempted to kill him. Ungoliant was subsequently driven off by Melkor's Balrogs, and she ultimately wandered across Middle-earth, consuming anything that gave light such as gemstones; and often mated with other large spiders. Her offspring were a great bane on the world in later years. She was described as surrounded by "an aura of darkness". Her fate is unknown, but it is said that, always hungry, Ungoliant ended by devouring herself.^[2]

The Hobbit Bilbo Baggins and his thirteen Dwarf companions encountered giant spiders in Mirkwood on their Quest to the Lonely Mountain. They managed to capture and entangle in webs each of the thirteen Dwarves. Only Bilbo's magic ring and his Elven blade (Sting) allowed them to escape from being eaten.^[3]

Shelob1 — Frodo caught in Shelob's web, as depicted in the third film

Frodo Baggins and Sam Gamgee encounter the lone, giant spider Shelob in her lair, within caves near Cirith Ungol, as they were trying to enter Mordor in their quest to destroy the One Ring. Frodo was ambushed by her twice, and paralyzed by her poison on the second encounter.^[4] Sam used Sting to attack Shelob and wound her, which caused her to flee.^[5] Her fate is unspecified.

Influence of spiders in Tolkien's life

Contrary to popular belief, the reason that Tolkien featured spiders so prominently in his stories was not because he was bitten by a tarantula when he was young, but rather because his son was afraid of them. From this they are portrayed negatively, always appearing as antagonists.

Portrayal in adaptations

Hobbit45 — Mirkwood Spiders crawling over Radagast's home

Films

The capture of Frodo by Shelob and her battle with Sam are depicted in the film The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.

Giant spiders appear briefly in the first Hobbit film, where they are seen attacking Radagast's home in Rhosgobel, only to retreat back into the forest, seemingly repelled by his magic. Radagast later tells Gandalf that they came from Dol Guldur.
In The Desolation of Smaug, the spiders capture the Dwarves in Mirkwood. As in the book, the spiders are capable of speech that Bilbo can understand when he is wearing the One Ring. They were voiced by Brian Sergent and Peter Vere-Jones in the film.

Seanathra — The giant spider Saenathra, from the *War in the North* game adaptation

Video games

Giant spiders appear in many Lord of the Rings video games, including The Return of the King
In The Battle for Middle-earth II and its expansion pack, Spiderlings are a unit that can be trained by the Goblins faction; Shelob also appears as a hero for the Goblins. The Goblins have a "spiderling lair" fortress extension that spawns smaller spiders which attack nearby enemies.
For The Hobbit video game three spiders were invented named Wicked, Wild, and Wrath. These three spiders are the queens of the Spiders of Mirkwood and are three of the bosses of the Flies And Spiders level.

The Lord of the Rings: War in the North features a giant spider named Saenathra, who took Radagast captive, and must be defeated to free him. Like the Mirkwood spiders from the Hobbit, she has the ability to speak.

LEGO: The Lord of the Rings

In LEGO The Lord of the Rings, the player must go through Shelob's Lair and kill at least six small spiders with Sauron's mark on their back.

The Lord of the Rings Minecraft mod

In the Lord of the Rings Minecraft mod, spiders can be found in Mirkwood and Nan Ungol. There are three delineations:

Translations

Foreign Language	Translated name
Afrikaans	Groot spinnekoppe
Albanian	Marimanga të mëdha
Amharic	ታላላቅ ሸረሪዎች
Arabic	العناكب
Azerbaijani	Böyük Hörümçəklər
Belarusian Cyrillic	вялікія павукі
Bengali	গ্রেট মাকড়সা ?
Bulgarian Cyrillic	Големи паяци
Catalan	Grans Aranyes
Cebuano	Dakong kaka
Chinese (Hong Kong)	巨形蜘蛛
Croatian	Veliki Pauci
Czech	Velicí Pavouci
Danish	Store edderkopper
Dutch	Grote Spinnen
Esperanto	Grandaj Araneoj
Finnish	Suuret Hämähäkit
French	Grandes Araignées
Galician	Grandes Arañas
German	Riesenspinnen
Georgian	დიდი ობობები
Greek	Μεγάλη αράχνη
Gujarati	ગ્રેટ કરોળિયા
Hausa	Babban gizo-gizo
Hebrew	עכבישים ענקיים
Hindi	महान मकड़े
Hmong	Zoo kawg thiab kab laug sab.
Hungarian	Nagy Pókok
Indonesian	Laba-laba besar
Irish Gaelic	Damháin alla mór
Italian	Randi Ragni
Japanese	すごいクモ類
Kazakh	Ұлы өрмекшілер (Cyrillic) Ulı örmekşiler (Latin)
Korean	큰 거미 ?
Latin	Magna Aranearum
Latvian	Liels Zirnekļi
Laotian	ແມງມຸມທີ່ຍິ່ງໃຫຍ່ ?
Lithuanian	Didžiosios Vorai
Macedonian Cyrillic	големи пајаци
Malay	Labah-labah Gergasi
Marathi	ग्रेट कोळी ?
Maltese	Brimb Kbira
Norwegian	Stor edderkopper
Pashto	لوی ماډلونه
Persian	عالی عنکبوت‌ها
Polish	Wielkie Pająki
Portuguese	Grandes Aranhas
Romanian	Păianjenii mari
Russian	Гигантские пауки
Serbian	Велики Пауци (Cyrillic) Veliki Pauci (Latin)
Sinhalese	මහා මකුළුවන්
Slovak	Veľké pavúky
Slovenian	Super pajki
Spanish	Grandes arañas
Swahili	Buibui Kubwa
Swedish	Stora spindlar
Tamil	கிரேட் சிலந்திகள்
Thai	แมงมุมที่ยิ่งใหญ่
Turkish	Büyük Örümcekler
Urdu	عظیم مکڑیاں
Uzbek	Буюк ўргимчаклар (Cyrillic) Buyuk o'rgimchaklar (Latin)
Welsh	Corynnod mawr
Yiddish	גרויס ספּידערס

Races of Arda

Free Peoples of the World:

Servants of the Shadow:

References

↑ The Silmarillion, Quenta Silmarillion, Chapter VIII: "Of the Darkening of Valinor"
↑ The Silmarillion, Quenta Silmarillion, Chapter IX: "Of the Flight of the Noldor"
↑ The Hobbit, Chapter VIII: "Flies and Spiders"
↑ The Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers, Book Four, Ch. IX: "Shelob's Lair"
↑ The Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers, Book Four, Ch. X: "The Choices of Master Samwise"

[1] The Silmarillion, Quenta Silmarillion, Chapter VIII: "Of the Darkening of Valinor"

[2] The Silmarillion, Quenta Silmarillion, Chapter IX: "Of the Flight of the Noldor"

[3] The Hobbit, Chapter VIII: "Flies and Spiders"

[4] The Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers, Book Four, Ch. IX: "Shelob's Lair"

[5] The Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers, Book Four, Ch. X: "The Choices of Master Samwise"

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

@@ Line 6: / Line 6: @@
 |height= Massive
 |length=
-|skincolor= Dark
+|skincolor=
-|haircolor= None
+|haircolor=
 |feathers=
 |distinctions= Gigantic, dark, arachnid-like traits, lethal, venomous
 Capable of speech
 |lifespan=Unknown
-|members= [[Ungoliant]], [[Shelob]], [[Saenathra]] (non-canon)
+|members= [[Ungoliant]], [[Shelob]], [[Saenathra]]
+}}Giant, sapient '''spiders''', also known as the '''Children of [[Ungoliant]]''', lived in particularly in dark and perilous places (affected by the power of evil) in [[Middle-earth]]. Those who spoke were vicious and malevolent creatures, and their presence was typically seen as a blight.
-}}
+== Description ==
-The''' Great Spiders''', also known as the '''Children of Ungoliant''', were a race of oversized and sentient arachnids that lived in [[Middle-earth]], particularly in dark and perilous places affected by the power of the Shadow.
+These Spiders could speak to one another, as shown in ''[[The Hobbit]]''. Like [[Orcs]] and [[Goblins]], they detested the light, yet thirsted for it and sought to devour it.
-==Description==
+They lived in the south of Middle-earth in the [[First Age]], having descended from spider-creatures of the [[Ered Gorgoroth]], but by the [[Third Age]] they spread to other areas far away. After the shadow of [[Sauron]] fell upon Greenwood the Great, many spiders came and lived there, and the forest became known as "[[Mirkwood]]".
-The Great Spiders could speak to one another, though only those imbued with the power of (or derived from) the [[Ainur]] could understand them. Like [[Orcs]] and [[Goblins]], Great Spiders were known to detest light, yet they thirsted for it and sought to devour it. Great Spiders comprise three separate known species.
+[[Shelob]], in [[Mordor]], was their relative.
-===Giant Spiders===
+== History ==
-Giant Spiders were a sentient race of Great Spiders that lived in [[Middle-earth]]. They lived in the [[South|South of Middle-earth]] in the [[First Age]], but by the [[Third Age]] they had spread to other areas. They were descended from the spider-creatures of the [[Ered Gorgoroth]]. Giant Spiders infested the great forest of [[Greenwood|Greenwood the Great]] after the shadow of [[Sauron]] fell upon it and it became known as [[Mirkwood]].
+The first [[Dark Lord]], [[Melkor]], used Ungoliant to help him destroy the [[Two Trees of Valinor]] and steal the [[Silmarils]].<ref>''[[The Silmarillion]]'', ''[[Quenta Silmarillion]]'', Chapter VIII: "[[Of the Darkening of Valinor]]"</ref> Ungoliant, who had an insatiable desire to devour light, demanded the [[Silmarils]]. Melkor refused and she attempted to kill him. Ungoliant was subsequently driven off by Melkor's Balrogs, and she ultimately wandered across Middle-earth, consuming anything that gave light such as gemstones; and often mated with other large spiders. Her offspring were a great bane on the world in later years. She was described as surrounded by "an aura of darkness". Her fate is unknown, but it is said that, always hungry, Ungoliant ended by devouring herself.<ref>''[[The Silmarillion]]'', ''[[Quenta Silmarillion]]'', Chapter IX: "[[Of the Flight of the Noldor]]"</ref>
-===Umaiar spiders===
+[[File:Spiders_Mirkwood.jpg|thumb|The Mirkwood spiders|230x230px]]
-The [[Umaiar]] spiders, a subspecies of Umaiar (and by extension a sub-subspecies of [[Maiar]]), which included [[Ungoliant]]. There are those Maiar who took the form of giant spiders upon joining [[Morgoth]]. Apart from Ungoliant (who died by devouring herself), the fate of this race is unknown.
+The [[Hobbit]] [[Bilbo Baggins]] and his thirteen [[Thorin and Company|Dwarf companions]] encountered giant spiders in Mirkwood on their [[Quest of Erebor|Quest to the Lonely Mountain]]. They managed to capture and entangle in webs each of the thirteen Dwarves. Only Bilbo's magic [[One Ring|ring]] and his Elven blade ([[Sting]]) allowed them to escape from being eaten.<ref>''[[The Hobbit]]'', Chapter VIII: "[[Flies And Spiders|Flies and Spiders]]"</ref>
-===Spawn of Ungoliant===
+[[File:Shelob1.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Frodo caught in Shelob's web, as depicted in the [[The Return of the King (film)|third film]]]]
-The Spawn of Ungoliant are the third race of Great Spiders. This race was spawned by Ungoliant after she fled to the South. She mated with and devoured the mortal giant spiders who lived there. Because they were half [[:Category:Demons|Umaiar]], these spiders were immortal; they were bigger, stronger and smarter than their mortal kin.
+[[Frodo Baggins]] and [[Sam Gamgee]] encounter the lone, giant spider [[Shelob]] in her [[Shelob's lair|lair]], within caves near [[Cirith Ungol]], as they were trying to enter [[Mordor]] in their quest to destroy the [[One Ring]]. Frodo was ambushed by her twice, and paralyzed by her poison on the second encounter.<ref>''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'','' [[The Two Towers (novel)|The Two Towers]],'' Book Four, Ch. IX: "[[Shelob's Lair (chapter)|Shelob's Lair]]"</ref> Sam used Sting to attack Shelob and wound her, which caused her to flee.<ref>''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'', ''[[The Two Towers (novel)|The Two Towers]]'', Book Four, Ch. X: "[[The Choices of Master Samwise]]"</ref> Her fate is unspecified.
-==History==
+== Influence of spiders in Tolkien's life ==
-The first [[Dark Lord]], [[Melkor]], used Ungoliant to help him destroy the [[Two Trees of Valinor]] and steal the [[Silmarils]].<ref>''[[The Silmarillion]]'', ''[[Quenta Silmarillion]]'', Chapter VIII: "[[Of the Darkening of Valinor]]"</ref> Ungoliant, who had an insatiable desire to devour light, asked for the Silmarils to be given to her. Melkor refused and she attempted to kill him. Ungoliant was subsequently driven off by Melkor's Balrogs, and she ultimately wandered across Middle-earth, consuming anything that gave off light, such as gemstones; and often mated with other large spiders. Her offspring were a great bane on the world in later years. She was described as surrounded by "an aura of darkness". Her fate is unknown, but it is said that, always hungry, Ungoliant ended by devouring herself.<ref>''[[The Silmarillion]]'', ''[[Quenta Silmarillion]]'', Chapter IX: "[[Of the Flight of the Noldor]]"</ref>
+Contrary to popular belief, the reason that Tolkien featured spiders so prominently in his stories was not because he was bitten by a tarantula when he was young, but rather because his son was afraid of them. From this they are portrayed negatively, always appearing as antagonists.
-[[File:Spiders_Mirkwood.jpg|thumb|The Mirkwood spiders]]
+== Portrayal in adaptations ==
-The [[Hobbit]] [[Bilbo Baggins]], and his thirteen [[Thorin and Company|Dwarf companions]] encountered giant spiders in Mirkwood forest on their [[Quest of Erebor|Quest to the Lonely Mountain]]. Only Bilbo's magic ring and an Elven blade (''[[Sting]]'') allowed them to escape being eaten.<ref>''[[The Hobbit]]'', Chapter VIII: "[[Flies And Spiders|Flies and Spiders]]"</ref>
+[[File:Hobbit45.jpg|thumb|Mirkwood Spiders crawling over [[Radagast]]'s home]]
+=== Films ===
+* The capture of Frodo by Shelob and her battle with Sam are depicted in the film [[The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King|''The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King'']].
-[[File:Shelob1.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Frodo caught in Shelob's web, as depicted in the film.]]
+* Giant spiders appear briefly in the [[The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (film)|first Hobbit film]], where they are seen attacking [[Radagast]]'s home in [[Rhosgobel]], only to retreat back into the forest, seemingly repelled by his magic. Radagast later tells Gandalf that they came from [[Dol Guldur]].
-[[Frodo Baggins]] and [[Sam Gamgee]] encountered Ungoliant's daughter, [[Shelob]], in her [[Shelob's lair|lair]] as they were trying to enter [[Mordor]] during their quest to destroy the [[One Ring]]. Frodo was ambushed by the spider twice, and was paralyzed by her poison on the second encounter.<ref>''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'','' [[The Two Towers (novel)|The Two Towers]],'' Book Four, Chapter IX: "[[Shelob's Lair (Chapter)|Shelob's Lair]]"</ref> Sam used ''Sting'' to attack Shelob and wounded her, forcing her to flee the scene.<ref>''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'', ''[[The Two Towers (novel)|The Two Towers]]'', Book Four, Chapter X: "[[The Choices of Master Samwise]]"</ref> It is unknown whether she died from her wounds.
+* In ''[[The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug|The Desolation of Smaug]]'', the spiders capture the Dwarves in Mirkwood. As in the book, the spiders are capable of speech that Bilbo can understand when he is wearing the [[One Ring]]. They were voiced by [[Brian Sergent]] and [[Peter Vere-Jones]] in the film.
-==Influence of spiders in Tolkien's life==
-Contrary to popular belief, the reason that Tolkien featured spiders so prominently in his stories was not because he was bitten by a tarantula when he was young, but rather because his son was afraid of them. Because of his son's arachnophobia, they are portrayed negatively, always appearing as antagonists.
-==Portrayal in adaptations==
-===Films===
-*The capture of Frodo by Shelob and her battle with Sam are depicted in the film [[The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King|''The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King'']].
-[[File:Hobbit45.jpg|thumb|Mirkwood Spiders crawling over [[Radagast]]'s home]]
-*Giant spiders appear briefly in the [[The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (film)|first Hobbit film]], where they are seen attacking [[Radagast]]'s home in [[Rhosgobel]], only to retreat back into the forest, seemingly repelled by his magic. Radagast later tells Gandalf that they came from [[Dol Guldur]].
-*In ''[[The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug|The Desolation of Smaug]]'', the spiders capture the Dwarves in Mirkwood. As in the book, the spiders are capable of speech that Bilbo can understand when he is wearing the [[One Ring]]. They were voiced by [[Brian Sergent]] and [[Peter Vere-Jones]] in the film.
+[[File:Seanathra.jpeg|thumb|The giant spider Saenathra, from the ''War in the North'' game adaptation]]
-===Video Games===
+=== Video games ===
-*Giant spiders appear in many Lord of the Rings video games, including ''[[The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (video game)|The Return of the King]]''
-*In [[The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II|''The Battle for Middle-earth II'']]'' ''and its [[The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II: The Rise of the Witch-king|expansion pack]], Spiderlings are a unit that can be trained by the Goblins faction; Shelob also appears as a hero for the Goblins. The Goblins have a "spiderling lair" fortress extension that spawns smaller spiders which attack nearby enemies.
-*For ''[[The Hobbit (2003 video game)|The Hobbit video game]]'' three spiders were invented named [[Wicked, Wild, and Wrath]]. These three spiders are the queens of the Spiders of Mirkwood and are three of the bosses of the ''[[Flies And Spiders]]'' level.
+* Giant spiders appear in many ''Lord of the Rings'' video games, including ''[[The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (video game)|The Return of the King]]''
-[[File:Seanathra.jpeg|thumb|An image showing the giant spider Saenathra from the War in the North Game adaption.]]
+* In [[The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II|''The Battle for Middle-earth II'']]'' ''and its [[The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II: The Rise of the Witch-king|expansion pack]], Spiderlings are a unit that can be trained by the Goblins faction; Shelob also appears as a hero for the Goblins. The Goblins have a "spiderling lair" fortress extension that spawns smaller spiders which attack nearby enemies.
+* For ''[[The Hobbit (2003 video game)|The Hobbit video game]]'' three spiders were invented named [[Wicked, Wild, and Wrath]]. These three spiders are the queens of the Spiders of Mirkwood and are three of the bosses of the ''[[Flies And Spiders]]'' level.
-*''[[The Lord of the Rings: War in the North]]'' features a giant spider named ''[[Saenathra]]'', who took Radagast captive, and must be defeated to free him. Like the Mirkwood spiders from the Hobbit, she has the ability to speak.
+* ''[[The Lord of the Rings: War in the North]]'' features a giant spider named ''[[Saenathra]]'', who took Radagast captive, and must be defeated to free him. Like the Mirkwood spiders from the Hobbit, she has the ability to speak.
-===LEGO: The Lord of the Rings===
+=== LEGO: The Lord of the Rings ===
 In ''[[LEGO The Lord of the Rings]]'', the player must go through [[Shelob's Lair]] and kill at least six small spiders with [[Sauron|Sauron's]] mark on their back.
-===The Lord of the Rings Minecraft mod===
+=== The Lord of the Rings Minecraft mod ===
-In the Lord of the Rings Minecraft mod, spiders can be found in [[Mirkwood]] and [[Nan Ungol]]. There are several species:
+In the Lord of the Rings Minecraft mod, spiders can be found in [[Mirkwood]] and [[Nan Ungol]]. There are three delineations:
 # [[Mordor|Mordor spider]]
@@ Line 79: / Line 70: @@
 # [[Utumno|Utumno Ice spider]]
-==Gallery==
+== Translations ==
+<div style="overflow:auto; height:300px; width:500px; float:left">
-<gallery>
-Art hobbit-n13.jpg
-Art hobbit-n14.jpg
-Art hobbit-n15.jpg
-Art hobbit-n16.jpg
-Art hobbit-n16d.jpg
-Art hobbit-n17.jpg
-Giant Spider(ling)s.jpg|Giant Spiders from GW.com
-</gallery>
+<!--<div style="overflow:auto; height:200px;">-->
-==Translations around the World==
+{| class="itemtable" style="color:#6f3d0b; border:2px solid #FFF; border-top: 0; text-align:left; -moz-border-radius-bottomleft:8px; -moz-border-radius-bottomright:8px; -webkit-border-bottom-left-radius:8px; -webkit-border-bottom-right-radius:8px;" bgcolor="#edeeff"
-{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
-!Foreign Language
+| width="300" |'''Foreign Language'''
-!Translated name
+| width="300" |'''Translated name'''
 |-
 |Afrikaans
 |Groot spinnekoppe
 |-
 |Albanian
 |Marimanga të mëdha
 |-
 |Amharic
 |ታላላቅ ሸረሪዎች
 |-
 |Arabic
-|العناكب كبيرة
+|العناكب
 |-
 |Azerbaijani
 |Böyük Hörümçəklər
 |-
@@ Line 160: / Line 143: @@
 |-
 |Greek
-|Μεγάλη αράχνες
+|Μεγάλη αράχνη
 |-
 |Gujarati
@@ Line 174: / Line 157: @@
 |महान मकड़े
 |-
 |Hmong
 |Zoo kawg thiab kab laug sab.
 |-
@@ Line 225: / Line 208: @@
 |Stor edderkopper
 |-
 |Pashto
 |لوی ماډلونه
 |-
@@ Line 252: / Line 235: @@
 |Veľké pavúky
 |-
 |Slovenian
 |Super pajki
 |-
@@ Line 285: / Line 268: @@
 |גרויס ספּידערס
 |}
+</div>
+{{Clear}}
 {{Races}}
-==References==
+== References ==
 <references/>
-[[de:Riesenspinnen]]
-[[es:Arañas]]
-[[it:Ragni]]
-[[he:עכבישים ענקיים]]
-[[pl:Wielkie Pająki]]
-[[ru:Гигантские пауки]]
 [[Category:Spiders| ]]
 [[Category:Villains]]
-[[Category:Games Workshop Character]]
 [[Category:Servants of Morgoth]]
 [[Category:Servants of Sauron]]
 [[Category:Creatures]]
 [[Category:Races]]
+[[Category:The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Characters]]
+[[Category:Characters in Middle-earth: Shadow of War]]
+[[de:Große Spinnen]]
+[[es:Arañas]]
+[[fr:Grandes Araignées]]
+[[he:עכבישים ענקיים]]
+[[it:Ragni]]
+[[pl:Wielkie Pająki]]
+[[ru:Гигантские пауки]]