In the deepest, darkest places of Middle-earth, there lie creatures. Creatures that neither
serve the dark lord, nor fear him. Creatures both perilous…and evil.
Today, on Nerd of the Rings, we cover the Watcher in the Water and the Nameless Things of Moria.
The Nameless things that dwelt in the depths of the world are some of the most mysterious beings
in all of Middle-earth. Our first clue of their existence came even before we meet the Watcher
in the Water in the Fellowship of the Ring. It is in The Hobbit, Tolkien first gave us an indication
there were older and fouler things than orcs in the deep places of the world…
So the Nameless Things pre-date any orcs digging their passages through the mountains around Goblin
Town. But just how old are they? Well, as we learn in the History of Middle-earth volume
titled Morgoth’s Ring - the nameless things were likely there since the very creation of the world.
While Sauron was among the maiar and valar who were present at the creation of the world,
we are told that Sauron does not know of these ancient evil creatures. The Music of the Ainur,
in which Eru, the god of Tolkien’s world creates the world and everything in it,
apparently has some - for lack of a better term - byproducts unknown to
even the higher powers of Arda. Many believe that among these byproducts may have been
characters like the giant spider Ungoliant, Tom Bombadil, and yes - the Nameless Things.
While many remain an absolute mystery, there would be one dark creature from the depths
of the Misty Mountains we would learn a bit about - the Watcher in the Water.
This was some kind of water-dwelling creature and while we don’t get a full view of it in the books,
we know that it has long, pale-green tentacles that had fingered ends. The tentacles themselves
seem to have a glowing aspect about them. And they far outnumber any real-life squid or even the
fictional kraken - with 21 such appendages being visible when it appears in The Lord of the Rings.
On January 13, 3019, the Fellowship of the Ring makes their way to the Doors of Durin
in an attempt to traverse Khazad-dum. They come to the walls of moria,
where they see the River Sirannon, which had once flowed past the Doors of Durin down to
the elvish city of Ost-in-Edhil, had been dammed either by chance,
or design. Now, where once there was a flowing stream, there was a dark and ominous lake.
Personally, I believe this collection of water allowed for, or caused,
the opening of a connection between the lake and the deep underground waters beneath the mountain.
This allows for the passage and the emergence of one of these evil, nameless things - the Watcher.
Just as the fellowship finally succeeds in opening the doorway,
they are attacked by the Watcher. It grabs Frodo by the foot and attempts to drag him
into the lake. After Sam slashes at the tentacle that grabbed Frodo, he is released
and the group retreats through the doorway - pursued by several of these tentacles.
The Doors of Durin are slammed shut by the creature and judging by the sounds heard from
the other side, the Watcher blocked the doors by uprooting two great trees on either side.
Now within Moria, Gandalf draws attention to the fact that the monster had gone after Frodo
first of all the Fellowship - this seems to indicate that the creature itself
was influenced by the One Ring. As we know from the story of Isildur’s death,
dark forces such as orcs can indeed be drawn to the ring itself.
As the Fellowship makes their way through Khazad-dum, they finally come to the chamber of
Mazarbul, discovering the book where they learn this was not the first time the Watcher in the
Water struck out at the Door of Moria. As Balin’s expedition to reclaim Moria was overrun by orcs
and Balin himself killed, a group of dwarves make their way to the West Gate
in an attempt to find escape. An attempt that would prove deadly. Gandalf reads of it from the
Book of Mazarubul:
Thus, we learn that this evil tentacled creature had indeed killed Gimli’s uncle and with the
water all the way up to the doors themselves, any hope for the dwarves' escape was gone.
They were trapped between the Watcher and the orcs, forced to make their final stand
in the chamber of Balin’s throne, the chamber that now held his tomb.
In The Two Towers, we get one final insight into the Nameless Things after Gandalf returns as
Gandalf the White. He describes his fateful duel with the Balrog of Morgoth to the three hunters:
Here, Gandalf reiterates what we know about the nameless things burrowing in the deepest places
of the world - dark places of which Gandalf would not even speak in the light of day. Evidently,
the balrog, who had lived in these deep places for thousands of years
had come to know these dark tunnels, where dwelt the vicious and nameless things of Middle-earth.
Today’s video was a bit shorter, but be sure to join us tomorrow, December 19 for a Fellowship
of the Ring watch party stream - featuring some of my Tolkien friends and your comments
from the live chat! For more info on how this works - check out the link in the description!
As for the nameless things - I want to hear your theories! Let me know in the comments what you
think these creatures may have looked like! as always i want to say a huge thank you to
my patreon supporters who make this channel possible tom de bombadil 19 keller brimbore jim
lumber davis listen me the cinder mandu pandu sky carcass slide belts dane ragnerson saleem rahman
grand strategy nerd graham daricott the dark-haired one wyland and debbie if you enjoyed
the artwork in this video check out the artists in the description and purchase prints of their great
work for yourself thanks so much for watching and we'll see you next time on nerd of the rings