This is the story of the
giant spiders that live in the forest of Mirkwood. This is a
continuation of the spiders’ story from The Hobbit. All of the stories in my
project will be
derived from existing stories and characters in The Hobbit. The spiders will be
followed through their
lives during the War of the Ring. This
is the story of evil spiders, but my stories will be about the good and
the
evil characters. I chose to include
this story because I think it is very important to learn more about the
giant
spiders of Middle-Earth. The giant
spider Shelob was influential in the story of Sam, Frodo, and Gollum
from the Lord
of the Rings: The Two Towers.
I am
writing this story, as it would be told in tales in the future.
Seeing as how I created large portions of
this story based on existing information, I tried to keep it as
accurate as
possible. If any mistakes are found
feel free to tell me, and I will gratefully fix them.
Now Ungoliant ravaged Middle-Earth, consuming everything
insight, until she eventually settled in the dark valley of Ered
Gorgoroth
where it is said that she remained until hunger overcame her and she
consumed
her own bulk, thus ending her days.
When Ungoliant settled in Ered Gorgoroth she found a mate and
created a
brood of evil spiders. Seeing as how
her mate was of a lesser size, her children were a smaller, yet just as
evil,
version of herself. In her never
ceasing hunger she consumed all of her mates and the
children that did not
escape her grasp.
One child that we know of escaped her grasp.
Her name was Shelob. Shelob
traveled far in Middle-Earth, eventually residing in Cirith Ungol west
of Mordor.
She guarded the pass and its tunnels throughout the evil reign
of
Sauron. Sauron encouraged her and even
sent prisoners as food. He called her
his “cat” and sent her tasty morsels to quench her hunger.
Like her mother, Shelob took many mates and had many
children. She also ate all of her mated
and many of her children. Many of her
children did escape, and traveled north to settle in the southern
regions of
Mirkwood Forest. For many years they
lived and
reproduced many children.
These children were even smaller than Shelob due to inbreeding
and interbreeding
with smaller species. Through many
generations a large part of southern Mirkwood was infested with Giant
Spiders.
After the first fall of the Dark Lord Sauron, darkness
fell upon the southern region of Mirkwood called Dol Guldur, the “hill
of black
magic.” This area became the residence
of a creature called the Necromancer, the “black magician.” The Necromancer inhabited the south of
Mirkwood, and drew all sorts of evil creatures to his territory. The Giant Spiders were easily drawn to his
power and bent by his will.
During the Third Age the White Council of Wizards
expelled the Necromancer from Mirkwood.
After he was expelled the Council soon realized that the
Necromancer was
non-other than the Dark Lord Sauron.
Sauron was still weak when he was expelled from Mirkwood, and
could not
travel to Mordor alone. He needed
protection on the long journey, and for this purpose he recruited the
Giant
Spiders of Mirkwood, the descendants of Shelob.
He gathered a company of spiders to travel the long road
to Mordor. They ravaged a trail
southwest towards Isengard, the realm
of Sauromon. Sauromon lived in the Tower
Orthanc, and was an Allie to
Sauron. Here Sauron could rest and
prepare for the final journey southeast around the Dead Marshes towards
the
Black Gate of Mordor. The journey was
fairly uneventful because the land had long been barren, due to the
last
war. Once they reached Mordor, Sauron
found his faithful servants, the Nazgul, to protect him and restore him
to
power.
From this very moment Sauron started to rebuild his
realm, preparing to try to take over Middle-Earth.
Seeing as how the spiders are of no use in rebuilding towers and
fortresses, Sauron sent them to help Shelob guard Cirith Ungol. Shelob resented this, but cunning as she
was, she welcomed the spiders into her lair.
She gained their trust and lead them one by one to a large room
at the
end of a long tunnel. Here she weaved a
thick web and trapped the spiders. One
by one she consumed her captives, there by, ridding Middle-Earth of a
Giant
Spiders.
References JRR Tolkien
The Hobbit (1937) The information about the
spiders of Mirkwood and the Necromancer.
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (1955) The
information about Shelob and Cirith Ungol.
The Silmarillion (1977) The information about
Ungoliant and Melkor. Web pages: The
Encyclopedia of Arda http://www.glyphweb.com/arda
Basic information about the characters and places were
obtained from this source. Ted
Nasmith: All stories on
these web pages are © Copywrited by Johanna K. Best.
The
Spiders of Mirkwood
By: Johanna K. Best
Introduction
The evil giant
spiders have
an extensive history, which leads back to the creation of Middle-Earth. This story starts with the Ainur god
Melkor. Long ago during the creation of
Middle-Earth Melkor grew selfish and he wished to rule Middle-Earth. His desires for domination consumed him, and
he became angry and jealous of the other Ainur, for he did not want to
share
power with them.
Melkor created and
nurtured many evil creatures in Middle-Earth. One creature above all
other
caused the most damage to Middle-Earth, and her name was Ungoliant. Melkor took Ungoliant to the Two Trees of
the Valar in Valinor, which at the time were the only light source for
Middle-Earth. Ungoliant consumed the
Two Trees of the Valar and thus robbed Middle-Earth of light, which
caused
plants and creatures alike to die.
During this dark period Melkor created many more evil creatures
including, but not limited to orks, goblins, dragons, wolves, and more
spiders. These creatures were fostered
in the dark, and therefore feared the new light that the Ainur created
for
Middle-Earth. They took to hiding in
the mountains, forests, and only traveled at night for the remainder of
their
existence.
All images link back to their original location , which contains
artist information and full size versions.
The Spiders of
Mirkwood