Ungoliant

Depiction of Ungoliant in her lair by Max Duran
Ungoliant
Biographical information
Other names	Ungweliantë
Birth	Unknown, possibly after the Ainulindalë
Death	Unknown, First Age; suspected to have died by self-cannibalism
Realms	Utumno, Avathar, Ered Gorgoroth, and "the forgotten south of the world"
Spouse	"other foul creatures of spider form"
Weapon	Unlight
Physical description
Race	Spirit in a spider-form
Gender	Female
Eyes	Black

Ungoliant (Sindarin; IPA: [uŋˈɡoljant]) was a spirit who took on the form of a monstrous Spider. She was initially an ally of Melkor in Aman, and for a short time in Middle-earth as well. She was a distant mother of Shelob, and the oldest and first giant spider of Arda. She was the destroyer of the Two Trees of Valinor.

Biography

Early years

Ungoliant and the Two Trees, by Ted Nasmith

The true origins of Ungoliant are shrouded in mystery. It was believed by some of the Eldar that she may have been among the Ainur whom Melkor had corrupted long ago in the beginning, yet she was not listed among the known Ainur. It was later perceived by the Valar that she had descended from "beyond Arda" in the "darkness that" lay around it when Melkor first gazed upon the Kingdom of Manwë in envy.

During the Years of the Trees, Ungoliant became the "mistress of her own lust" after disowning Melkor as her Master. In order to "feed her emptiness" she desired to take everything she could. Upon fleeing to the south, Ungoliant had coincidentally escaped "the assaults of the Valar and the hunters of Oromë" since their vigilance ignored the south. Later, she made her way slowly towards Aman, desiring the light and hating it.

Upon reaching the Blessed Realm, Ungoliant settled down secretly in a ravine within Avathar south of Hyarmentir, taking on the shape of "a spider of monstrous form". As she spun "her black webs in a cleft of the mountains", she sucked up all the light in the region, before spinning the light into "dark nets of strangling gloom". Eventually, no more light was able to enter her abode. As a result, she grew famished.

Alliance with Melkor

Eventually, After Melkor had fled from Valinor, he came to Avathar in "the form that he had worn as the tyrant of Utumno", and plotted his revenge with Ungoliant. However, upon understanding Melkor's true purpose of destroying the Two Trees of Valinor, a great fear overcame her as she was unwilling to risk the power of the Valar and come out of hiding. It was only when Melkor had personally vowed to use both of his hands to satisfy her lust with whatever she demanded, that Ungoliant agreed to aid him.

Upon shrouding both herself and Melkor in a cloak of Unlight, she spun her webs as she slowly climbed upwards until they reached the summit of Mount Hyarmentir, overlooking Valinor. She then created a ladder of woven ropes, which Melkor used to climb up the mountain to enter Valinor. It was during a high feast when Ungoliant and Melkor came upon the Ezellohar. Ungoliant cast her Unlight against the roots of the Two Trees as while Melkor came onto the mound, slaying the Two Trees with his black spear. The sap of the Two Trees poured like blood upon Ezellohar where Ungoliant sucked it up. After which, she drained each tree from their wounds, withering them. Yet the thirst of Ungoliant was not satisfied and she drained the Wells of Varda as well, belching black vapours as she drank, growing to a vast and hideous shape which terrified even Melkor.

After this terrible act, the Unlight produced by Ungoliant stymied the pursuit of Oromë and Tulkas, and Ungoliant and Melkor fled Aman through Araman and Oiomúrë, eventually crossing over the Helcaraxë to escape justice at the hands of the Valar.

Ungoliant attacks Morgoth

Balrogs of Morgoth attack Ungoliant

Upon arriving in Middle-earth, Ungoliant perceived that Melkor was hoping to escape from her to the ruins of Angband where the remnants of his forces awaited him. Suspecting that he intended to leave his promise to her unfulfilled, she forced Melkor to halt in his tracks, and demanded that he fulfill his vow to satisfy her hunger with both of his hands. Inevitably, the Dark Lord indeed surrendered to her the many gems that the Ñoldor had at Formenos. However, as Ungoliant devoured them and grew even larger and darker, she noticed that Melkor was only using his left hand to feed her. When she demanded that he open his right hand, Melkor refused, claiming that he named the objects in his right hand onto himself, and that he no longer needed her aid.

As a consequence, Ungoliant attacked him, overpowering him and wrapping him in a "web of clinging throngs" in an effort to strangle him. The attempt on his own life caused Melkor to release an echoing cry of desperation through the mountains. The cry was so great and dreadful that the very land it was uttered in became known as Lammoth ever after. Unfortunately for Ungoliant, Melkor's cry of desperation had been heard by the Balrogs beneath the ruins of Angband. As tempests of fire, the Balrogs came swiftly to Lammoth to save the return of their lord. The webs of Ungoliant were smote asunder by their whips of flame, and forcing her to break off her attack. She fled in fear from them, covering herself with the black vapors which she belched. The Balrogs prepared to pursue and destroy her, but they were checked by Morgoth, who ordered them to return with him to Angband.

Final years and legacy

Upon being driven off by the Balrogs in Lammoth, Ungoliant fled south to Beleriand. Under a "terror of darkness", she tried to enter the Forest of Neldoreth in the realm of Thingol, but was thwarted by the power of the Maia Melian. Yet she made a dwelling in the mountains south of Dorthonion, and no Elf went there, naming those mountains the Ered Gorgoroth. There, Ungoliant met, mated, and eventually devoured the "other foul creatures of spider form" whom had dwelt there since Angband was first delved. She had many offspring with them, including Shelob, before she eventually departed from that place, eventually heading to "the forgotten south of the world" shortly before the rising of the Sun, where she would disappear from history.

While the fate of Ungoliant is not told in any tale, it was believed in some tales that she eventually let her ever growing hunger overcome her and, "in her uttermost famine", devoured herself at last.

The offspring that Ungoliant had beneath Ered Gorgoroth eventually spread throughout the dark valley, infesting it and giving to it a reputation as a place of horror, as well as the name of Nan Dungortheb.

At an unknown time after the Darkening of Valinor, a Vanyarin Elf named Elemmírë wrote the Aldudénië, which told of the role of Ungoliant's Unlight in the death of the Two Trees.

Appearance

The origins of Ungoliant are unspecified, except that she had been a spirit, entering Arda and taking the form of a giant spider. As a spirit being, she would only be perceptible to those that could perceive spirits and the spirit world. It is implied that her spirit form was one of pure darkness, reflected in her physical form. Since the Valar, Maiar, and other spirits in the physical world freely took on forms that reflected their nature, Ungoliant's terrifying and monstrous form did the same. While her form was described as being that of a giant spider, and she is credited as the "first" giant spider, the narrative indicates that, much like her descendant Shelob, she had many features that distinguished her from the common form of a spider.

Etymology

Ungoliant is a name in Sindarin consisting of the words ungol ("spider") and iant ("bridge").

Ungweliantë is a name in Quenya consisting of the words ungwë ("spider") and liantë ("tendril, vine").

In other versions

In the state of the mythology in 1916, when J.R.R. Tolkien had gone to serve in the First World War, the first precursor to Ungoliant was Ungwë-Tuita, the 'Spider of Night', who once was close to ensnaring Eärendil, and dwelt in Ruamorë. Even earlier, before the The Book of Lost Tales Part One, she was called Gungliont. In that version, after helping Melkor destroy the Two Trees, she left, instead of attacking Melkor as in later versions.

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

Gallery

Morgoth meets Ungoliant, by John Howe

Morgoth and Ungoliant in Valinor

Ungoliant demands the Silmarils from Morgoth.

Ungoliant attacks Morgoth after refusing to give up the Silmarils.

The Balrogs aiding their master against Ungoliant

Translations

Foreign Language	Translated name
Amharic	ዑንጎሊኣንት
Arabic	أونقوليانت
Armenian	Ունգոլիանտ
Assamese	অংগোলিয়েন্ট
Belarusian Cyrillic	Унголіянт
Bengali	উন্গলিয়ান্ট
Bulgarian Cyrillic	Унголиант
Catalan	Ungòliant
Chinese	昂哥立安
Georgian	უნგოლიანთი
Greek	Ουνγκόλιαντ
Gujarati	ઊઙોલિઅન્ત
Hebrew	אונגוליאנט
Hindi	ऊङोलिअन्त
Japanese	ウンゴリアント
Kannada	ಉಂಗೋಲಿಂಟ್
Kazakh	Ұнголіант (Cyrillic) Ungoliant (Latin)
Konkani	अनगोलिअंट
Korean	웅골리안트
Kyrgyz Cyrillic	Унголиант
Laotian	ູງໂລິະນຕ
Macedonian Cyrillic	Унголиант
Maithili	अनगोलिअन्ट
Marathi	ऊङ्गोलिअन्त
Mongolian Cyrillic	Унголиант
Nepalese	ऊङोलिअन्त
Norwegian	Ungolianth
Persian	اونگولیانت
Polish	Ungolianta
Punjabi	ਅਨਗਲਾਇੰਗਿਕ
Russian	Унголиант
Sanskrit	ऊङोलिअन्त्
Serbian	Унголијант (Cyrillic) Ungolijant (Latin)
Sinhalese	ඌඞොලිඅන්ත්
Tajik Cyrillic	Унголиант
Tamil	ஊஙொலிஅந்த்
Telugu	ఊఙొలిఅన్త
Thai	อุงโกลิอันท์
Ukrainian Cyrillic	Унґоліанта
Urdu	ونگولیانت
Uzbek	Унголиант (Cyrillic) Ungoliant (Latin)
Yiddish	ונגאָליאַנט