Everyone that has read or even watched the Lord of The Rings knows of Shelob, the giant spider that attacks Frodo and Sam on their journey into Mordor. She is one of the most overwhelming obstacles that Frodo and Sam have to overcome on their perilous journey. I thought that the detailed description that you get of Shelob in the book was super interesting, especially because you will miss out on this if you've only seen the movie.
"But still she was there, who was there before Sauron, and before the first stone of Barad-dûr; and she served none but herself, drinking the blood of Elves and Men, bloated and grown fat with endless brooding on her feasts, weaving webs of shadow; for all living things were her food, and her vomit darkness".
With this description, it feels like the text is describing Shelob as existing from the beginning of time. The book tells us that she is the last descendant of Ungoliant, an evil spirit in the form of a spider. Ungoliant is mentioned briefly in The Lord of the Rings, and plays a supporting role in The Silmarillion. However, even Ungoliant's origins are unclear, as Tolkien's writings do not explicitly reveal her nature, other than that she is from "before the world". Ungoliant is one of a few instances, along with Tom Bombadil, where Tolkien does not provide a clear background for an element of his fiction.
Although we don't know much about Ungoliant, we do know some things about Shelob. She dwelt for many years in Nan Dungortheb with her countless brothers and sisters, even after Ungoliant ventured elsewhere. Shelob fled from ruin the War of Wrath and established her lair high in the mountains of Mordor, before Sauron claimed that land as his own. And her descendants were to be seen in Ephel Dúath and Mirkwood.
I think its almost more terrifying to read descriptions of characters like these, rather than see them in a movie or illustration. To see them visually is still disturbing for sure, but when there is freedom in our own mind to conjure up the image of a creature like this, we tend to work in not only the descriptions from the text, but some aspects of our own fears into the creature. Every time I see the giant spiders in the movies or pictures, I do still find them to be creepy, but not as much as the ones I pictured while reading the text.
ReplyDelete