@@armagodn The fox in the Shire that’s perplexed at the sight of three hobbits hiking at night as Frodo, Sam, and Pippen make their way to the house at Crickhollow.
@armagodn a random talking fox has a brief monolog about "how queer" it is to see a bunch of hobbits sleeping naked under a tree. It feels bizarrely out of place to some readers; I see it as a kind of demonstration of how even the local wildlife knows that this adventuring simply isn't how hobbits operate, and just how counter to hobbit nature (even this comparably early and tame) their adventure is.
I'm still of the opinion that the walking thing north of the shire was an ent, or more likely an ent wife, not a mis identified giant. a real giant in the relatively flat land would easily stand out but something like an elm tree?
I like the way Tolkien referred to his earlier writings as if they were documents he uncovered and translated and was still working on interpreting. It helps Middle-Earth feel even more mysterious and compelling :)
WOW... Very well put- especially since the unearthing of ancient history (Smeagol, I'm looking at you here!) is one of the major thematic elements during the LOTR- from Bilbo's book, travel through the old Forest, and Tom B and the Barrow Wites.... As well as in Rivendell Aragon sings the Lay of Luthien, Bilbo recites his poem about Earendel and Elwing.... Gandalf gives history lessons at various times- in Moria and Orthanc, during the ride to and siege of Gondor, etc. The historicity and consistent legendarium of the LOTR is really a major part of what sets it above even some of the best modern fantasy! Cheers!
Smite the like button? No no, I shall like the fox, "pass through the wood of youtube on business of my own. I shall stop for several minutes and sniff 'Mythic Creatures!' I think. 'Well, what next? I have heard of strange doings in this land, but I have seldom heard of a list without giant spiders on it. Ten of them! There's something mighty queer behind this.' I may never found out any more about it if I don't press that like button before carrying on!
I second the inclusion of an honorable mention for the ravens that speak to the race of Durin and the magical thrush who communicate with the men of Dale. Great list.
I always wondered what the deal was with the thinking fox in chapter 3. I assumed it was a holdover from earlier drafts that were more like "the hobbit". But it could be Tolkiens way of showing that the animal's of middle earth are more sentient than most humanoids realize.
Possibly a bored or enthused copyist added a little something of their own at some point. After all, the original Red Book did not survive the long ages itself.
@@EriktheRed2023 Maybe Samwise added it in while telling Bilbo's story to his children. I doubt he'd alter the original text, but sometimes little additions like that stick around through oral tradition alongside the text itself, and eventually they combine.
Ents clearly consider themselves a 'people'. Learn now the lore of Living Creatures. First name the four, the free peoples: Eldest of all, the elf-children; Dwarf the delver, dark are his houses; Ent the earthborn, old as mountains; Man the mortal, master of horses.
Beornings i think are descended from Elurin and Elred grandchildren of Melian the Maia. Whose sister got changed into a giant bird by Ulmo. Melian or Yavanna changed Elurin and Elred into bears when they were lost in the forest. They also were taking in by the refuges from Dorthonian lead to Brethil by there grandmother on Berens side Emeldir. So they became the leaders of the Beornings.
Peter Falk as Gandalf describing the watcher in the water: Those are the shreaking Eels Boromir. Stop throwing stones in there! PS: now i wish we had Columbo the Grey. Uhhhh, just one more thing Denethor, when did you start using a Palantir?
Great video. I always thought Tolkien's description of the winged steeds of the nazgul to be inspired by the public fascination with the proper description and mass media appearances of pterodactyls in the Victorian era. Apart from Conan Doyle's famous "The Lost World" there were MANY stories of varying quality about humans encountering pterosaurs, and it's always struck me that maybe Tolkien read some of the British ones or read some article or other about them when he was young. He was certainly of the right generation for it. A small note on "skin-changing". This is an established mythic concept in the Scandinavian myth and legend that Tolkien derived much of his lore from, with gods and mortals achieving the shape of another by literally wearing their skin. In the (in)famous myth about the building of the walls of Asgard, for example, Loki distracts the giant mason's horse by wearing a horse-skin and becoming a mare, which leads to the birth of Sleipnir. That kind of belief remained up here for centuries after too, and is often the explanation for werebear stories from northern Sweden from as late as the 1800s. So definitely something that was within Tolkien's vast field of knowledge, I think.
I believe Beornings to simultaneously be humans as well as bears, so it (hopefully) wouldn't make much difference. Picture a pyramid like those at Giza. From the side it appears to be a two-dimensional triangle. From the top it looks like a two-dimensional square. It is, of course, a three-dimensional object so it contains both of those shapes simultaneously. Beornings are similar. They are simultaneously bears and humans the way the pyramid is simultaneously a triangle and a square. Beornings just get to choose which angle the world views them from.
I always assumed that werewolves and wargs were distinct but related creatures. In Fellowship, Gandalf mentioned both werewolves and wargs as being among Sauron's servants, suggesting that they're different creatures. Werewolves, as you pointed out, were either fallen Maiar in wolf shape or wolves inhabited by evil spirits. Wargs, on the other hand, are an especially large and evil breed of wolves but don't seem to have the capacity for speech that werewolves do (other than their own warg-language). Perhaps they're the result of breeding between werewolves and ordinary wolves.
@34:58 Crablore, "said to be a hideous crustacean warped by a dreadful oath taken long ago" -- wait, what? Why don't I remember this from any of the Tolkien stuff I've read? I mean it's not even in there with Fastitocalon or the Mewlips from _Adventures of Tom Bombadil_. Where is this in Tolkien? Maybe in that recent-ish release _The Nature of Middle-earth_ that I've read only once and then mislaid my copy of?? Or is this just old-age based mental decay on my part?
The story of Crablor seems to have originated in that ancient repository of Tolkien wisdom, tumblr 😆 I don't know *all* the details but it's become a bizarre joke among some fans that Maglor turned into a crab. He even has his own week.
Ten thoughts in reverse: 1. If Morgoth ever had a Melian moment with a Balrog? a beast 'red of tooth and claw'? Who knows? What I do know is that if Morgoth has a "chip off the ole' block," it's Glaurung the Golden. The scales are different (and Morgoth wins if this is a factor) but it is difficult to tell who is the most egregious a-hole. They both turn the Malice dial straight up to 11. It also occurs to me that Glaurung knew that his Dear Old Dad, and that arrogant ass Turin's dear old dad could both see all the fun things that big G got up while roasting elves. He's the kinda dragon that would play "Jump" (Van Halen) to a weeping sister/wife. 2. Ents seem to be adopted Children of Eru like Dwarfs. They are the Children of Yavanna as Dwarfs are the Children of Aule. Eru is their Allfather, but Mahal is their Dad. 3. If Morgoth doesn't want to personally "expend" himself, as with Glaurung, he can order a subordinate to do so. . Annnnddd....if that Orc-demon goes down into the dungeon in Angband and (we will choose the more Tolkien term here and go with...) "breeds" with the tortured souls below to make a clone army then, why not? If it is his most grievous sin, that's a feature not a flaw. Does it make little brother, Manwe sad? Awww. Then Dad should have just given me WHAT I WANT! 4. Manwe loves birds. It's not surprising that the things he loves might take shape and be granted the Breath of Life. 5. Barrow Wights, the everlasting reminder of the Witch King's greatest accomplishment. If the Witch King ever chuckles, its at the thought that his "fell spirits?" inhabit the bodies of his slain foes and dress up in their stuff. I would lay down a Benjamin or two on a bet that there are Morgul-Wights in the Tower of Dark Sorcery and I would also guess that Aragorn thinks so too. 6. Because I have run RPGs with all of these creatures (The Legendarium is the hardest world to truly translate to an RPG, by the way), I have had to parse out the variety of canines. First we have Dire Wolves, as seen on Game of Thrones. They are big wolves used in this case by orcs. After battles, there are a lot of Dire Wolf corpses. If you have a Necromancer or one of his pupils handy, waste not want not. Do they shove the dead wolf's spirit back into its necromancy enhanced body? Do "fell spirits" inhabit the bodies of the dead dire wolves? Either way, Wargs! That leaves Sauron's pet project, werewolves. The Silmarillion covers their creation with the most claity. The werewolves and vampires are perhaps meant to be representative of the multitude of creatures, hybrids, failed experiments, and unspeakable horrors lurked in the halls of Angband and underneath the far north of Middle Earth 7. On the outer edges of the Legendarium is a lingering bit of Faerie animism. Badger Kings, Goldberry and her parents, and maybe even the grumpy spirit of Caradhras. I've always thought of these Maia as the construction workers of Arda that became the change they wished to create. Perhaps the skinchangers are their descendants? 8. If Manwe's love for avians incarnates itself as Giant Eagles, it would also not surprise me if Sauron did not catch and corrupt several of their descendants. The corruption bit is always the cherry on top for Dark Lords. Presto! Chango! Fell Beasts. 9. I remember reading somewhere about Sauron having a half-troll breeding program with black trolls and the Variags of Khand, but I cannot remember where I might have read that. Any ideas? 10. Orcs, Balrogs, cantankerous Dwarfs, and Giants, come see them all on your scenic trip through the Misty Mountains. A multidimensional Mountain range found in many a world throughout Ea, subcreated by disciples of the creator. Book your adventure today!
Melkor was into a lot of freaky stuff. He "... conceived in his thought an evil lust and a design more dark than any that had yet come into his heart..." when Luthien appeared before him. And then there was the whole thing with Arien. As for Sauron : he was of the people of Aule. Aule made the dwarves but couldn't give them independent life (Eru gave them that, being moved by Aule's desire). I wonder if Sauron did something likewise but by more devious means. Orcs were ransacking Beleriand before Melkor returned from Valinor but there's no word of them before he was imprisoned there. Of course, there's the whole "dark rider thing" where Elves were kidnapped and perhaps taken to Utumno to be turned into Orcs. Saruman was also of the people of Aule and a kind of colleague of Sauron and he was into Orc breeding too. Aule has a lot to answer for 😁 I like to think the (World of Warcraft) Gnomes were created by Sauron as his little helpers and in mockery of the Dwarves, prompting Melkor to comment that Sauron's mocking leaves a lot to be desired 😅
I was going to comment on the giant spiders. I would argue that from a story perspective they have much bigger role than giants or even trolls. Not only in the destruction of the trees, but also in Bilbo's and Frodo's story. They are also different from wargs/werewolves/vampires and their ilk in their origin. They deserve so much more than just an honorable mention ;)
A fun quirk dragons have is that all the dragons we know to have been slain, were slain by humans. Well, the giant eagles killed lots of them during the drowning of Beleriand, but otherwise all tolkinian dragons I have heard of being slain were slain by humans, not elves or dwarves. Dwarf metal masks protect against dragonfire, and the dwarfs could drive a dragon back, but are not said to have slain any.
the sheer scope of Tolkien's works and world is astounding; no matter how much Legendarium content I consume, I always seem to learn about something new, like that great orc captains might actually be embodied Maiar
The legendary scale of GNG is mythic in proportions of sheer greatness. Bless you Lexi! Will watch it as soon as I can :) yes, there are several creatures that were thrown here and there, which are easy to miss :)
Thank you as always, my dude! Yes, many odd little critters sprinkled here and there with no explanation... left to torment the minds of the lore-scholars until the End of Days 😅
I've got two questions about Balrogs which I've never heard a good answer. They refer to them as 'Balrogs of Morgoth' does that mean there are Balrogs not of Morgoth? And secondly, does Sauron have any command over them? Or are they equal in power under Morgoth?
A serious answer to the first question would be that there's no evidence of non-Morgoth Balrogs (if anything the phrase might be a holdover from the earliest days of Elven history, when 'balrogs' ie 'demons of terror' were *not* understood to be 'of Morgoth,' and when the Elves figured it out they overcorrected for the sake of clarity and the phrase stuck?) I have to confess, though, that I think 'freelance Balrogs' is a glorious idea. I don't think Sauron has any particular clout with the Balrogs either, apart from them all being on the same general 'side.' From what little we know of the internal organization of Morgoth's armies, Gothmog, Gorthaur/Sauron, and Glaurung would probably have viewed each other as rivals rather than partners, and that attitude may have carried over post-War of Wrath.
@@estherandreasen366 there isn't a shortage of candidates lol.. Maeglin, Eowyn, Gimli, Daeron, Finduilas, Grima, Melkor, Beren, Curufin, Treebeard, Samwise.. in no particular order. There's a whole lotta simping going on in Arda
I think what a lot of readers underestimate the number of Maiar and lesser spirits that came with the Ainur. We know all the Ainur, several Maiar, and three anomalous spirits (Ungoliant, Tom Bombadil) all by name (and one we don't know: the Gnawers at the Root of the World). The Children of Illuvatar were hand-crafted spirits, Which Aule "saw" in the song of creation and playfully copied. All spirits eventually embodied some physical form as they passed into Arda, but only the Ainur and Maiar could shed and change their forms at will. But despite all the ones that we know, imagine the flood of unnamed Lesser Spirits that followed the gods! Billions maybe? And, they all would have inhabited the world; giving rise to plants and animals, the greatest of which becoming the mythological creatures such as the Ents, Hounds, Horses, Giants, Skin Changers, and Eagles, and the spirits that were enthralled and corrupted by Morgoth would end up as Spiders, Wargs, Trolls, Vampires, Dragons, Balrogs and Fell Beasts.
Oh hell yes. A new Tolkien channel summarizing in-depth lore with occasional clever, snarky jokes and comments. I knew I was in for a treat when I saw your channel name. Instasub!
This is wonderful! I don’t know if my own list would be in the same order, or even contain the same critters, but this is engaging and entertaining food for thought!
Some random thoughts: 1. I think it’s interesting that Tolkien’s bestiary (& much of High Fantasy’s) exclude unicorns. Odd that such a fantastical mythos would lack such a widely-imagined, familiar legend. 2. Cheers for excluding the Great Spiders off the list. As someone who suffers a little arachnophobia, Tolkien’s are particularly harrowing for my imagination. What’s not to loathe? They’re gargantuan. They secrete a blinding, despair-inducing gloom akin to octopus ink. They possess immortality apparently, of similar sort to elves or flesh-incarnated Maiar. They have malevolent sentience. & Outer Space could’ve been infested w/ MORE of them. 3. I agree Tolkien’s wargs, werewolves, & vampires were likely not the prevalent humanoid versions; the hybrid monsters like Dracula & lycanthropes. I imagine they’re monstrous-sized versions of natural bats & wolves, like prehistoric direwolves
Re Beorn and the Beornings, I have a theory. Consider a few points. 1. In one place, Tolkien says there are only three unions of the Edain and the Eldar (sc. Beren and Luthien, Tuor and Idril, and Aragorn and Arwen). But we _do_ have confirmation of at least one more union of a Man with an Elf: Imrazor and Mithrellas. (Perhaps "Eldar" should be understood in the strictest sense and Mithrellas wouldn't count, being a Nando? -- or perhaps even an Avar who came to live among the Nandor? a little like Eol among the Sindar, excepting the nasty disposition!) The princes of Dol Amroth still show Elven ancestry, hundreds of years later. 2. We also know that, though doing so is rare, Maiar can take on fully incarnate forms, up to and including reproducing with the Children of Eru. Melian is the go-to example, and her decision is given a kind of justification -- implying that it _needs_ some kind of justification -- as aligning with her fate as the mother of Luthien; but this is not said to be a unique power of hers, and the sending of the Wizards does imply otherwise. That said, Melian's union with Thingol is the only one we're told about, and it _sounds_ like it's the only one that was "approved." 3. We _also_ also know that Morgoth 'n' Friends (a) don't care much about the rules, (b) have dealt extensively with Men in the past, and (c) have interfered enough with Elves and/or Men to produce Orcs. (Even a being as comparatively low-power as Saruman successfully creates Man-Orc hybrids.) 4. Unlike Orcs, who seem practically incapable of repentance, Men are unusually independent of the Music; even the Edain are supposed to be descendants of Men who had at one point worshiped Morgoth, but had revolted. (Think, too, of Bor the Easterling and his people, who, despite being recent immigrants to Beleriand and long under Morgoth's domination, prove loyal to the Elves, _even in the Nirnaeth Arnoediad._) So Men have a definite spiritual flexibility which can show up in unlikely circumstances. So: could the powers of the Beornings be due to their descent from a, cough, _extracurricular_ union between one or more corrupt Maiar and one or more Men? These Men-Maiar would presumably be to ordinary Men roughly what Wargs are to wolves. We'd expect such beings to be hostile to the Free Peoples, of course, which may not seem to fit with the Beornings' general friendliness to other Men, Dwarves, and Elves, still less to Radagast and Gandalf (though you might see a trace of this hostility in Beorn's ornery disposition!). But of course the Men-Maiar might have repented, or a subset of them might have done so, and thus become the Beornings.
Tolkien in his letters claimed that dragons went on for many more millenia after the War of the Rings, almost "up until our own times". I see this as a hint that "Farmer Giles of Ham" indeed is part of the Legendarium, with Chrysophylax (Chrysophilax?) being a distant, vastly less impressive but relatively amicable descendent of Ancalagon the Black, and the evil, despotic yet inept and ridicuous king who eventually is overthrown by the titular hero being the last ruling descendant of Aragorn (Tolkien explicitely said in a letter that it would not take long for Aragorn's descendents to degenerate into mediocre tyrants but "Divine Right of Kings, Yay!!!!!!" I guess.).
Dragons seem like a bad investment. The resources sank into one dragon could probably have been used to produce thousands upon thousand sof orcs instead, which would be much more valuable, since they both seem to occupy the same niche, territory control, and have the same weakness, high moral armies and superwarriors. A dragon general could be a great investment though. You diminish to the minimum the risk of death, and have a near-invulnerable very smart, charismatic, fearsome strategist leading your troops. Morgoth's biggest flaw is mismanagement, he definitely got what he needs to succeed, as evidenced by the amount of Eru Ex Machinas in his defeats.
Boldog. I've been trying to remember the name for a while but was having a hard time finding it. Thanks! However Balrogs and Boldogs should be no lower than #2 on this list. Furthermore ... I must protest in the strongest possible terms the inclusion of Giants in this list instead of Giant Spiders. The former make but a brief appearance while the latter are well known. If this injustice is not rectified forthwith, I shall riot!
Definitely need Ungoliant, Shelob and her broods in Mirkwood. I don’t think vampires and vampire bats are intended to be the same thing, nor werewolves and worgs, though its possible the former are the Maiar infested versions while the later are diminished offspring. They clearly are not meant to be like Hollywoods werewolves and vampires, however. You left out the great worms mentioned in the Hobbit and the delvers Gandalf mentions in Moria though perhaps those are the worms also. The very fact that there is an Ettinmoors, an Ettin being a two headed troll or giant along with the reference to multiple headed trolls, suggests that Tolkein instended such creatures to exist. You also left out the Pukil (?) men, the dead of dunharrow, the spirits haunting the dead marshes and surely a few others. Maybe it needs to be a top 20 list?
I always imagined the Kine of Araw as a supersized form of Arochs, the wild ancestor of domestic cattle, proportioned as the Mumakil are to elephants. Bull Arochs were up to 180 cm tall at the shoulder, and had substantial horns.
19:50 The Barrow Wights' chant also interested me. The prospect of who exactly worded it (The Witch king? Or Sauron himself?). And what other chants are there, used in places we don't know of, by beings we never knew existed. 35:55 That is true, alive dragons are no matter for jokes. If a dragon tells you something funny, chuckle with caution. For example, when you hear, "I will not part with a single coin", reply with a: "haha". Only if the dragon then looks at you expectedly, add "lol". Never assume that it's safe to combine "haha lol".
I am surprised not even a passing mention of the Mearas. Or the nameless things, whatever they are. I always love how Tolkien describes his mystical though. Shadowfax "foaled in the morning of the world" for example. The more you read the more you realise Tolkien was actually writing poetry, just pretending it was prose :)
Tolkien did contradict himself a bit on the innate magical abilities of men. Yes, clearly they were rare and generally less powerful than those of the Eldar and probably even the dwarves (not even to speak of the ainur, obviously), but they were very real and some subspecies of men had clearly considerable more than others, especially of course the insufferable Numenorean Herrenmenschen but also the much more humble Druedain, who despite being completely benevolent were counted among the men of darkness aka low men and who (or at least their descendents) apparently occasionally were hunted and slaughtered by the Rohirrim for no discernible reason at all. Concerning shapshifting, while Finrod may only have created illusions to disguise himself and his companions, Luthien clearly seems to have actually tranformed both herself and boytoy, seeing as her transforming into Thuringwethil allowed her to actually fly. Of course her mom was one of the Ainur. Idril was pure elda though and turned into a bird to fly and greet Earendil in the sky. Though similarly to Beren, it is of course possible, maybe even likely that this was a special gift of the Valar, instead of an inherent power of herself.
I'm sorry the video is great but I normally listen to this kind of thing to fall asleep and for some reason your voice just isn't working for that purpose I need a male voice preferably with a British accent to tell me about penguins in their natural habitat the Roman empire and star wars I'd love to support the channel but outside of falling asleep im entirely too busy to watch youtube during the day please keep it up though youre doing great!
😆as someone who routinely rejects videos as 'too interesting to sleep to,' I appreciate your candor. I hope you find the rest you seek, even if it's not here!
Well, the Ents certainly do count themselves as being one of the free peoples and the impression is that Gandalf and the Eldar do so as well. I think the Ents were a creation of Yavanna and adopted by Eru like the dwarves were.
on the fell-beasts, "pterodactyl" is a common misnomer for any of the pterosaurs--you'll more often see it used for _Pteranodon_ (one of the most famous--they've featured in all sorts of dinosaur media, but you might specifically remember them from _Jurassic Park ///_ and _Jurassic World)_ than for _Pterodactylus;_ with the full context of that, Tolkien would almost certainly have been referring to that entire group of flying reptiles (NOT dinosaurs, though closely related ;)) rather than to any specific genus of them, and without _Quetzalcoatlus_ they would of course have coincidentally been much bigger than any known in Tolkien's lifetime
I had way too much fun 1) getting confused about the different 'pter' words 2) looking up images of nonpterodactyl pterosaurs and 3) looking up *size comparisons* of pterosaurs, shortly before vowing to never sleep again.... I agree that Tolkien's point was likely more 'it's like a pterodactyl but not exactly the same' and not so much suggesting that he had a specific alternate species in mind 😆
@@GirlNextGondor yeah, the big contextualizing thing would definitely have been "scaly, like a bird or bat but not", which all neatly slots into both pterosaurs and fell-beasts ;) i'm a paleo-nerd, so i felt compelled to speak up about the common mistake with "pterodactyl"
Norse Mythology was not one of Tolkien's inspirations! You are very much mistaken. The Lord of the Rings, is ENTIRELY based on Anglo-Saxon, mostly Anglisc (English) folklore. It's what Tolkeine was attempting to do. Write a fantasy novel based within English, Anglo-Saxon Pagan history and fill in any blanks, of which there are many. The Dark Ages, meant people didn't write things down. The Hobbit, has a fire breathing dragon, which hoards gold, so does Beowulf, and Old English Pagan tale from folklore. A book you can read in modern English, which was translated by Tolkien. Elves, giants, trolls, goblins, etc, are from Anglo-Saxon folklore. Alfred, in Old English, means Elf Friend. Elves didn't have pointed ears, no one ever said they did. An elf is a beautiful, fair beyond measure person, angelic. It's not a coincidence, English people were originally called Anglisc. Paganism, is a subset of Germanic Paganism, as is Norse, but Norse isn't as old. People, well mostly American's think Norse Gods such as Thor and Odin are Norse Gods, when in fact they're not, not originally. They're Germanic Gods, mainly Anglisc Gods and so too, are things such as Runes. In England, we named the day of the week after some of our Gods, such as Woden (Woden's day=Wednesday), Thunor (Thunor's Day= Thursday), Tiw (Tiw's Day=Tuesday), Frig (Frig's Day=Friday), Mona (Mona's Day=Monday), Suna (Suna's Day=Sunday), sound familiar? There were only six days-of-week. Saturn Day, came later, invented by Christians. We didn't take inspiration from Nose Mythology! Then there's Hell, Géat, Wade, Ing, Bældæġ, Hāmdæl and Ēostre etc and all older than the Norse copies, such as Thor and Odin. Anglisc Paganism, is so old, Tolkien wasn't the only one to use it to write fantasy novels. Christians and Jews used it too. Easter isn't a Christian festival, it's an Anglisc Pagan festival to worship, the Goddess of Spring and rebirth. Easter used to be the New Year. Christmas is Yuletide, again Jesus wasn't born at Yuletide, it's just more appropriation. Do something wrong and you will go to Hell. That would be the Anglisc, Goddess of the undead, Hell who rules over her domain, also called Hell. The very word, God, is taken from Woden too. The Germanic Lombards called him Goden, or God for short. Remember that every time someone uses the word God, they're referring to Woden. If you learn about Germanic Paganism, especially Anglo-Saxon Paganism, you will realise, Tolkien didn't just make things up, he was embellishing what was already here.
I would put Balrogs at #1, partly because they are perhaps Tolkien's most original creation. No direct precedent to such ineffable beings of "shadow and flame" exist in any mythology that I am aware of, that are made of fire but at the same time carry darkness with them. And of course they are terrifyingly powerful. In terms of power ranking? Well, I would put dragons at #1. Morgoth obviously considered the Balrogs insufficient to break the Siege of Angband, so he created dragons, and Glaurung leads the charge with Balrogs following him, breathing fire everywhere. The winged dragons are hard to beat. Balrogs can't fly, whether they have wings or not. And dragons have powers of sorcery, just like Balrogs do.
They say Sam's cousin saw an Ent in the woods. He saw one. One of my favourite quotes in LOTR: 'Your Hal's always seeing things. Maybe he's seeing things that ain't there.' But that's Ted Sandyman. Maybe it was there.
I always think of Hal's 'walking tree' when Treebeard starts asking if Merry and Pippin have seen any Entwives around the Shire. They say no -- Treebeard should have asked Sam!
@@GirlNextGondor Yeah, there was probably an Ent around Hobbiton. Entwife, maybe not. I always thought hobbits were definitely protected supernaturally. Not just by Gandalf and the Elves and Dunedain.
In The Hobbit, where Bilbo Baggins (Frodo's Uncle) goes on an adventure, he is given a mission by Gandalf to be a helper to the Dwarves (home in the lonely mountains). Oakenshield and his men want to conquer back, since Oakenshield is king heir to the previous king (his father). But one problem remains the Dragon Smaug. Some creatures are very large and resemble giants, such as Azog the white Orc (wolf rider). And his son Bolg. They had an army. Azog is called: "The Defiler". His master is in "Dol Gur" and is called: "The Nechomanser". By Radagast the Brown. Gandalf finds out that it is their old enemy Sauron. Mysterious creatures on Middle-Earth are the following: Balrogs (formerly Maia). Made by Melkor (Morgoth). But not in the same way as Eru's children. Because only Eru can create life. But the first dark lord. Captured many of Eru's children, locked them up and corrupted them by torture and manipulation and suddenly they became Morgoth's loyal servants. Like dark spirits in flames. Others became Orcs of Mordor. Goblins and Trolls were also allies of Morgoth. After Morgoth was chained with the chain forged by Aule(a vala) and Valinor's smith. And thrown into a bottomless black hole. Took Mairon(Maia) a powerful fire spirit over after Morgoth's arrest. And became known as the second dark lord "Sauron". Who tricked Celebrimbor and later in Mordor forged a ring for himself and tricked everyone. And he became known as the Lord of the Rings. The Nazguls are the Ringwraiths, nine black spirits, who are only shadows of their former selves (Black Numenoriens). So Nine mortal men. Who transformed into Sauron's loyal servants and the deadliest of all. 1 of the 9 is known as the Witch King of Angmar. "The commander of the remaining 8 of 9". The black big creatures in the Mirkwood forest, were evil and ate fresh flesh like spiders do. They drug them with poison so that they sleep and look as if they are dead like a fish. Spin them into the spindle weave and hang them upside down. When they are hungry, they suck out the liquid inside them. They are probably the grandchildren of: Ungolianth. And Ungolianth is probably Shelob's mother.
I wonder how long did @GirlNextGondor took to decide the “smash the like button like…” image, considering all the smashing examples in the Lore. Gurthang, maybe?
Stephen King picked up on the crab cryptids in The Dark Tower - Roland lost a couple of fingers to a "lobstrosity" before he figured how devilishly fast they went from innocuous to ravenous. They wound up being good to have around, though, serving as Roland and Eddie's primary food supply for a large part of their journey together.
Spiders ? No spiders? Ok - so Spiders did finally get an honorable mention - but only an honorable mention? Nameless things that gnaw the roots of the world, and make passages deeper than dwarves delve? I really think you should have been willing to include individual creatures - for example, Shelob.
Tolkien's vampires seem effectively were-bats: their distinguishing feature seems to be being monstrous bat-like creatures more particularly than blood drinking.
Reason why Gandalf didnt wanna enter Moria was because of the Balrog but in same time he kinda had to. Coz Gandalf is the only maia in our ranks that has the power to match with the Balrog and I think Gandalf know that The Balrog must be dealt with. Just like Sauron, Balrog is a big threat to everything in Middle Earth, if that beast would escape Moria and join Sauron of all places it can cause devastating disaster. And by defeating the Balrog, Gandalf were granted a super upgrade. Which was good coz that helped him become stronger than Saruman and could save Theoden and Gondor.
I always thought the Eagles were Maiar of Manwe. They seem capable to take on both Dragons and Ringwraiths with thier Fellbeast steeds for one. The second of which they are specifically referred to as the Eagles of Manwe as if distinct from the Kelvar that Yavanna brought in to being. Huan is another example of a Maia IMO but I could be wrong. It's how I always interpreted them mainly because they seemed to exist in a time before the rest of the living things of Yavanna were created.
24:45 so these are the ones that bug me the most as their popular description nowadays is nothing like their description in the books, I would say that their book description is actually far closer to that of a Ginn than the film versions more bat like looks (basically something ied expect to see on the cover of a heavy metal LP from the 80s, or if anyone is familiar with the black and white film “”night of the demon”” from the 1957 in the US it’s called “”curse of the demon”” the balrog reminds me of the demon from that film) it’s like how the Windigo now has looks closer resembling a dear skull but their original form was basically just a ghoul. To be honest while the film version is more monstrous I think the man made of fire and smoke is more disturbing and scary.
I made up an explanation for the Beornings. Radagast conferred on a Northman of the Vale of Anduin the ability to shape-shift into a bear in order to protect the Men of the Greenwood against orc raids. This was against the rules for a Maia , sharing “magic “ with mortals, but the power was conditioned by its being used only against the Enemy, never in the service of Sauron. Radagast, we know, had not remained “true to his mission” but he was still no friend of Sauron. Said Northman was either Beorn or his descendant, for the family retained the ability.
Tolkien very strongly insisted that there were no multi-headed dragons in Middle-Earth (he basically treated the idea as proposterous), but he wasn't anywhere near as adamant concerning multi-headed trolls. "Pterodactyles" was often used as catch all term for what is more correctly called pterosaurs before more accurate paleontological knowledge spread more and more to the general layman public.
