- Joined
- Jul 20, 2004
- Messages
- 53
Hello, all...I just wanted to comment on something regarding professor tolkien.
I recently finished reading "The Silmarillion", quite a deep book I must say, was probably the most difficult read I've had, I've also read "The Hobbit".
Anyways, onto the point...Tolkien wrote quite alot about spiders, or should I say, wrote alot of spider-characters. The Silmarillion acts as a sort of prequel to "The Lord Of The Rings" and "The Hobbit". There were atleast one spider-character in every book that I've read of his thus far, and I also recall hearing that when he was an infant, a spider, possibly a Tarantula climbed on him, and tromatized him for life it seems. I'm not sure as to if the spider bit him, I honestly doubt it, but whatever it did, certainly influenced Tolkien in his writings and I've decided to post some examples and some photographs/illustrations as well.
In "The Silmarillion", everything that is written, happened and had to happen first in order for stories like "The Hobbit" and "The Lord Of The Rings" to exist...it is for lack of a better term, "The Bible Of Middle-Earth". So, in "The Silmarillion", there is a giant spider who I believe began as an evil spirt, of a woman(no I'm not being sexist ladies lol) and if I recall correctly, she decided to take the form of an evil-looking-spider, so to speak.
This creature was Ungoliant, and she was a spider of tremendous size and had quite the frightening attributes. Anyways, I think that some elves created "The Two Trees Of Valinor", and their light lit quite a bit of land, very cool stuff...anyways, the evil dude, Melkor/Morgoth take your pick, decided he didn't like the Two Trees Of Valinor, and wanted to extinguish their glow, so he basically hired Ungoliant the giant spider, to help him in these deeds. Ungoliant would answer to no one as her master, she was completely self sufficient...And she agreed to help Melkor in destroying the Two Trees Of Valinor, but only under the condition that she be allowed to have some of, if not all of the silmarils, which were glowing jewels of light created by the elves if I recall correctly.
So, Melkor and Ungoliant snuck up, and attacked the Two Trees Of Valinor...Melkor impaled them with a giant spear, and Ungoliant also impaled them with her large razor sharp fangs and poisioned their roots, thus ending the light of The Two Trees Of Valinor forever. However, when all was said and done...Melkor denied Ungoliant any silmarils, so Ungoliant being naturally quite upset, decides to attempt an attack on Melkor, only to be quickly discouraged by a couple of servants of Melkor, the Fire-Balrogs of Morgoth. Giant demons, of fire with flamed-whips bodies wreathed in flame. The balrogs wounded Ungoliant and drove her away, no one knows exactly what happened in the end, but it is said that Ungoliant devoured herself.
So, then onto the story "The Hobbit"...there is a part in this story where Bilbo Baggins and the dwarves, end up in Mirkwood Forest, a dark and haunted place with many evil things. While in Mirkwood, the Hobbit and the dwarves run into some spiders, named basically "The Spiders Of Mirkwood", and they ensnare all of the dwarves with their sticky webs with the intentions of eating them later on. Well, since Bilbo Baggins has the ring that he took from Gollum's cave, he puts the ring on and disappears...and in doing this, just so happens to fight off and kill alot of the spiders of mirkwood.
Well, then in "The Lord Of The Rings - The Two Towers(book), Return Of The King(movie) Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee run into a giant spider, SHELOB(she-spider)...Shelob is a daughter of Ungoliant, and one of the many offspring, of the Spiders Of Mirkwood forest....So, next time you watch "The Lord Of The Rings" just keep in mind, thats not "just a spider", that is "a spider with about 2-4 hundred thousand years of pre-history behind it, with deep significance."
AND HENCE, THE IMPORTANCE OF ARACHNIDS/SPIDERS/TARANTULAS(or well, atleast for me heh).
-Sincerely, Matt Green
I recently finished reading "The Silmarillion", quite a deep book I must say, was probably the most difficult read I've had, I've also read "The Hobbit".
Anyways, onto the point...Tolkien wrote quite alot about spiders, or should I say, wrote alot of spider-characters. The Silmarillion acts as a sort of prequel to "The Lord Of The Rings" and "The Hobbit". There were atleast one spider-character in every book that I've read of his thus far, and I also recall hearing that when he was an infant, a spider, possibly a Tarantula climbed on him, and tromatized him for life it seems. I'm not sure as to if the spider bit him, I honestly doubt it, but whatever it did, certainly influenced Tolkien in his writings and I've decided to post some examples and some photographs/illustrations as well.
In "The Silmarillion", everything that is written, happened and had to happen first in order for stories like "The Hobbit" and "The Lord Of The Rings" to exist...it is for lack of a better term, "The Bible Of Middle-Earth". So, in "The Silmarillion", there is a giant spider who I believe began as an evil spirt, of a woman(no I'm not being sexist ladies lol) and if I recall correctly, she decided to take the form of an evil-looking-spider, so to speak.
This creature was Ungoliant, and she was a spider of tremendous size and had quite the frightening attributes. Anyways, I think that some elves created "The Two Trees Of Valinor", and their light lit quite a bit of land, very cool stuff...anyways, the evil dude, Melkor/Morgoth take your pick, decided he didn't like the Two Trees Of Valinor, and wanted to extinguish their glow, so he basically hired Ungoliant the giant spider, to help him in these deeds. Ungoliant would answer to no one as her master, she was completely self sufficient...And she agreed to help Melkor in destroying the Two Trees Of Valinor, but only under the condition that she be allowed to have some of, if not all of the silmarils, which were glowing jewels of light created by the elves if I recall correctly.
So, Melkor and Ungoliant snuck up, and attacked the Two Trees Of Valinor...Melkor impaled them with a giant spear, and Ungoliant also impaled them with her large razor sharp fangs and poisioned their roots, thus ending the light of The Two Trees Of Valinor forever. However, when all was said and done...Melkor denied Ungoliant any silmarils, so Ungoliant being naturally quite upset, decides to attempt an attack on Melkor, only to be quickly discouraged by a couple of servants of Melkor, the Fire-Balrogs of Morgoth. Giant demons, of fire with flamed-whips bodies wreathed in flame. The balrogs wounded Ungoliant and drove her away, no one knows exactly what happened in the end, but it is said that Ungoliant devoured herself.
So, then onto the story "The Hobbit"...there is a part in this story where Bilbo Baggins and the dwarves, end up in Mirkwood Forest, a dark and haunted place with many evil things. While in Mirkwood, the Hobbit and the dwarves run into some spiders, named basically "The Spiders Of Mirkwood", and they ensnare all of the dwarves with their sticky webs with the intentions of eating them later on. Well, since Bilbo Baggins has the ring that he took from Gollum's cave, he puts the ring on and disappears...and in doing this, just so happens to fight off and kill alot of the spiders of mirkwood.
Well, then in "The Lord Of The Rings - The Two Towers(book), Return Of The King(movie) Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee run into a giant spider, SHELOB(she-spider)...Shelob is a daughter of Ungoliant, and one of the many offspring, of the Spiders Of Mirkwood forest....So, next time you watch "The Lord Of The Rings" just keep in mind, thats not "just a spider", that is "a spider with about 2-4 hundred thousand years of pre-history behind it, with deep significance."
AND HENCE, THE IMPORTANCE OF ARACHNIDS/SPIDERS/TARANTULAS(or well, atleast for me heh).
-Sincerely, Matt Green
