Werewolf (Middle-earth)

In J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium, werewolves were servants of Morgoth, wolf-like beasts "inhabited by dreadful spirits" that Sauron had imprisoned in the bodies.[1] Tolkien does not always distinguish between wolf and werewolf, in one place using both terms for the same creature.[2] Sauron commanded armies of werewolves in the First Age,[1] and on occasion took the shape of a werewolf himself.[3]

The first werewolf was Draugluin[2] (whose name contains the root draug, "wolf").[4] The greatest was Carcharoth, the guardian of Angband, a descendant of Draugluin as all werewolves were.[2]

Werewolves are mentioned by Gandalf, who tells Frodo Baggins that "not all of Sauron's servants and chattels are wraiths; there are Orcs and Trolls, there are Wargs and werewolves."[5]

Notes

  1. 1 2 The Silmarillion, p. 164.
  2. 1 2 3 The Silmarillion, p. 174.
  3. ↑ The Silmarillion, p. 175.
  4. ↑ The Silmarillion, p. 358.
  5. ↑ The Fellowship of the Ring, "Many Meetings", p. 234.

Works cited

  • Tolkien, J. R. R. (1954), The Fellowship of the Ring, The Lord of the Rings, Boston: Houghton Mifflin (published 1987), ISBN 0-395-08254-4
  • Tolkien, J. R. R. (1977), Christopher Tolkien, ed., The Silmarillion, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, ISBN 0-395-25730-1


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