Trolls
Ents
Eagles
Creatures of Middle Earth
No fantasy universe is complete without a menagerie of creatures
and species to populate it
and Tolkein's legendarium is no different
From the large, lumbering, servants of evil,
to the soaring, majestic creatures of the sky
there are a great number of fantastical species to explore.
While we won't go over all of them in this video,
and others have already been discusses in prior videos,
this should serve as an interesting overview of the creatures of Middle Earth.
First, we have Trolls.
Trolls were first created by Morgoth during the first age,
around the same time as Orcs.
Their exact origin is unknown to us,
although Treebeard, the Ent, stated that Trolls were created in mockery of Ents
much like Orcs were made in mockery of Elves.
Whether this actually means Trolls are corrupted versions of Ents is unclear,
but the do posess immense strength and size.
Morgoth used trolls throughout his battles
but much like the rest of his armies,
most were wiped out during the War of Wrath
Some survived however,
and either roamed the mountains or caves of Middle Earth,
or ended up serving Sauron in his army.
Aside from their limited intellect,
their major drawback is that they cannot endure sunlight,
much like most Orcs.
During the Third Age, Sauron created a new breed of Trolls
more powerful, and capable of enduring sunlight without turning to stone.
Speaking of Ents,
the Ents were created during some of the earliest days of Arda,
as a request by the Vala Yavanna
Since Eru Iluvatar had given life to Dwarves
and they were prone to cutting down trees.
She asked Eru to give life to something to protect the growing things
Thus, Eru created the Ents.
and they became shepherds of the trees,
to protect them from Dwarves, Orcs, and other dangers.
Ents are around 14 feet tall, with very thick skin resembling bark
and often look like the trees they were protecting
They posses great strength, they're stronger than Trolls
but were very slow and deliberate in thought.
The early Elves began to converse with the Ents, giving them a desire to speak
and teaching them Elvish
Later the Ents developed their own language, Entish
as well as gained knowledge of other languages.
Originally there were both Ents, and Ent-Wives.
But the Ent-Wives slowly started to move away from the Great Forest of the Ents,
because they preferred to look after smaller plants.
They later taught men agriculture,
but in time, because of wars and other events,
separation between the Ents and the Ent-Wives greatened,
The gardens of the Ent-Wives were destroyed by Sauron,
and they seemingly disappeared.
The Ents sing of the day when they will be reunited. :(
The mumakil, also called Oliphaunts by Hobbits,
are enormous animals resembling elephants that lived in the far South of Middle Earth.
They inhabited the jungles,
and were eventually tamed by the Haradrim of the South
to be used as massive war beasts.
The Haradrim would strap large structures to the backs of the Oliphaunts,
and send them charging into battle with archers and spearmen on top
The enraged Oliphaunts with their gigantic bodies and thick skin
were a tremendously viscious force on the battle field.
and the only known way to kill them would be to shoot them in the eye
as this would place an archer directly in the warpath, this was a highly suicidal task
The Oliphaunts most important battle was at the Pelenor Fields
during the War of The Ring
where they were eventually all slain.
Spiders are another creature that appear drastically larger in the legendarium
The first spider was known as Ungoliant
although she was originally some form of a great spirit
of unknown appearance
She came to Arda and dwelled where the shadows were the deepest
both hating light, and hungering for it.
She eventually took the form of a monstrous spider
and helped Melkor destroy the Two Trees of Valinor
After attacking Melkor for his betrayal,
the Baulrogs attacked her and she fled to the far south of Arda
before doing so however, she managed to infest many parts of Middle Earth with her offspring.
Whom also took to form of great spiders
The most notable of these lived on the borders of Mordor
and was known as Shelob
Shelob inhabited a series of tunnels near Cirith Ungol
meaning spider's cleft
Shelob feasted on many orcs of Mordor
as well as anyone else foolish enough to come near
Sauron and Shelob understood one another
And Sauron would occasionally send her prisoners to feed upon
in exhange for her securing the pass from any intruders.
Somehow, Golem managed to communicate with her while he was in Mordor,
and promised to bring her food if she released him.
Later, Golem led the Hobbits Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgy to Shelob's lair
where she attacked them
Amazingly, Samwise managed to fight back against the great spider
injuring her and causing her to flee
Years prior, Bilbo Baggins and Thorin's company encountered many of Shelob's offspring in Mirkwood Forest
on their way to Erebor
Aside from the obvious size difference,
the other notable difference between great spiders and normal spiders
is that Ungoliant's spawn appear to have a stinger, that can paralyze a victim
On the opposite end of the spectrum are the Great Eagles
The Eagles were large flying servants of the Vala Manwe
Who likely had an origin very similar to the Ents
The Eagles served as messengers and spies
to keep an eye on Morgoth and Sauron
and to occasionally assist the Elves and the Maiar
During the first age they helped the Elves during various encounters
And carried Fingolfin's body away after his duel with Morgoth
Most notable they assisted in the War of Wrath
to help battle against the winged dragons
During the Second Age, many Eagles lived on the island of Numenor
and even in the Capitol City
until the Numenorians became hostile to the Valar, and removed them
In the Third Age, the colony of Eagles lived in the northern parts of the Misty Mountains
and would occasionally disrupt the Orcs of Goblin-town
These Eagles wuld also later rescue Thorin and Company
after their encounter in Goblin-Town
They would go on to assist them in The Battle of Five Armies
being essential to them winning the battle
Several Eagles also carried Frodo and Sam away from Mount Doom
after the destruction of The One Ring
One of the odder creatures in Middle Earth is the Werewolf
Werewolves were created, or corrupted, by Sauron
who could also take their form
and were present mostly during the first age
although they were apparently in Sauron's armies during The War of The Ring
Werewolves were intelligent, and ferocious,
and capable of killing many men with their fangs and claws.
Werewolves notably tie into the story of Beren and Luthien
and will be discussed further in that video.
A possible offspring of the first Werewolves might be Wargs
great evil wolves that Orcs of the Misty Mountain would often use as mounts.
Wargs were sentient, and had their own languge,
Both Thorin and Company and The Fellowship of the Ring would end up being attacked by groups of Wargs
during their quests
and Wargs were present during The Battle of Five Armies.
Perhaps some of the strangest creatures existent in the legendarium are the
nameless things living in the very depths of The Misty Mountains
Their origin is completely unknown
and Gandalf claims they are older even than Sauron
and he knows them not
According him they exist far below the deepest delvings of Dwarves
and spend their time gnawing on the world
Their nature beyond this is unclear,
and Gandalf was very reluctant to speak about them.
So it seems there is still some mystery left in Middle Earth.
The Watcher in the water that attacked The Fellowship of The RIng
is possibly one of these nameless things
that came to the surface.
Again, this is not every creature inhabiting Middle Earth,
but these are the ones I thought notable to mention in this video.
I hope that once again this shows the depth of Tolkein's imagination,
and sense of wonder.
Between walking trees, and giant spiders,
Tolkein's ability to blend incredible stories
with creations fit for dreams,
has been a large part of his tremendous legacy.