Balrogs

Words cannot fully describe the terror and awe of the sight of the great balrogs (S: "Demons of Might"; properly pl. as "Belryg"; Q. "Valarukar"; sing. "Valaruko"), those evil Spirits of Fire that who were among the first allies of Morgoth in the early days of Arda. The Red Book of Westmarch describes the Balrog of Moria as:

"..a dark form, of man-shape maybe greater..flames roared up to greet it, and wreathed about it...its swirling mane kindled and blazed behind it. In its right hand was a blade like a stabbing tongue of fire; in its left it held a whip of many thongs...the shadow about reached out like two vast wings...Fire came from its nostrils..." - The Lord of the Rings

This fell creature was one of the last of its kind, for it is certain that although Morgoth may have won the loyalty of many of these dread Spirits of Flame in the earliest days, many were destroyed in the wars against Elves and Men. Also, there are some among the Wise who claim that there were never many of them: "No more than seven", was the opinion of one old saga. Yet Balrogs, unless slain by some mighty force, are immortal, as they are true Maiar, lesser beings of the kind that made the Dwarves and caused the stars to shine. Little wonder, then, that they command such power and such awe. The powers and abilities of Balrogs are legion: their force of will and their very presence is so great that all must quail before them, if only for a moment in the case of the valiant; they can wield a weapon in either hand so that each strikes as if wielded by a gigantic Master of Arms; they can seize control of a foe`s will and mind, forcing him to do their bidding or shattering his mind beyond repair; they can burn with a fire as fierce as that of a volcano under almost any conditions, and only total immersion in a large quantity of water can douse the flames, which immediately rekindled as soon as the Balrogs reaches a drier environment; they can throw certain spells with the skills of the most powerful Magician. Their specific areas of spell mastery are those of fire (of course), detection, and contacting other evil spirits and beings. Balrogs` thought processes are not for the mortal and basically Good to fathom, but it is known that they are fiercely loyal to the Black Foe of the World and that they have long memories for spirits and insults against him.
They are immensely proud and have a certain aesthetic bent that reveals itself whenever they have the opportunity to be in charge of constructing a fortress or other building. The throneroom of the Balrog of Moria is a good example: a vaulted cavern is lit from above by the eerily beautiful flickering of living flame from the heart of the world and furnished with columns in the shape of flaming dragons (one of few other types of creatures that Balrogs respect) and arching red bridges of the magical glass called laen. Spirits of Fire, the Balrogs display the character and power of the most fascinating of destructive forces in evey facet.


Here are the two most famous and terrifying Balrogs of Arda:

Gothmog, Lord of Balrogs and High Captain of Angband
All Balrogs are terrifying and awesome, so it is virtually impossible to adequately describe Gothmog, the most powerful of all the Balrogs that ever burned in Arda. Gothmog was of such might and majesty that a persistent rumor that has echoed down the Ages has portrayed him as the son of Morgoth Himself - an unlikely thought at best. In any case, Gothmog was responsible for a great part of the misery of Arda in the First Age. Many were the Elven heroes who fell to his whip (among those he slew were Feanor and Fingon) and blade before he was killed in mortal combat with Ecthelion of the Fountain in the siege of Gondolin in the First Age 5II.

The Balrog of Moria
This mighty creature was perhaps the last of his kind. Certainly no Balrog had been seen in Arda since the Great Battle that ended in the First Age, and only the Elves and the Wise (including the Istari) knew them beyond the oldest tales and dimmest rumors. The Dwarves that reentered Moria near the end of the Third Age had dug deep, perhaps more deeply than had any mortal creature before, and uncovered this menace from its self-induced coma in hiding in the roots of Moria. Aroused and rested, the Balrog once again felt its power and pride; perhaps, too, it felt the Power its Lord`s lieutenant, Sauron of Mordor, reaching into the world. It killed two of the Dwarf-kings and gathered to itself a mighty army of Orcs and Trolls from the surrounding area by the force of its will alone. With these troops it drove the surviving Dwarves from Moria and established itself as Master.
What it would have done if it had captured the One Ring? It is doubtful that it would have surrendered it to Sauron. Would it not rather have wielded it itself, confident that it was a better pupil of the Foe of the World than the Lord of Mordor? The answers are unknown, since Gandalf the Grey, an Istar and thus a Maia himself, fought and vanquished this awful Lord of Moria - sacrificing his Fana in the prosess.




Barrow-Wights

These strong yet miserable remnants commonly haunt their own tombs in areas affected by and afflicted with evil power. They appear dark, shadowy forms with glowing lights for eyes. They attempt to capture living beings and sacrifice them them to whatever evil power they now worship (in Middle-earth, usually Morgoth), thus gaining the life energy of the victims, which is what Wights "feed" on. As they draw energy, they become more corporeal, showing hands like claws and faces like skulls. If seen with magical means, they appear as faded, pale versions of their former living selves. They posess a 60-ft radius "Fear" spell that is an intrinsic facet of their beings; in addition, they can either paralyze or use sorcerous sleep on their victims to keep them immobile while the Wights drain 5 constitutions points per round. When all of the victim`s constitution is gone, he dies. Barrow Wights can use the actual weapons and magical items buried with them; unlike lesser undead beings, they will remember to do so, and quite effectively, too.




Bats

Of the many creatures that Melkor the Dark Enemy bred in darkness from the birds and beasts of Middle-Earth, the blood-sucking Bat was one. No story tells wether they where made from bird or beast but they were always known to be servants of evil. The lusts and habits of the Bat were well suited to evil purposes, and tales tell how even the mightiest of Morgoths servants used Bat shape in times of need. Such was the form of Thuringwethil the Vampire, and Sauron himself changed into a great wide-winged Bat when he fled after the Fall of Tol-in-Gaurhoto. The Red Book of Westmarch also tells how, at the Battle of Five Armies in the third age, black storm clouds of these creatures advanced in open war with legions of Orcs and Wolves to battle against Men, Elves and Dwarves.




Black Demons

Black Demons are lesser Maiar who have allied themselves with Morgoth. Their forms vary infinitely, as do their abilities. They can sometimes be persuaded to aid Men or Elves in evil deeds (or even in good ones, if heavily constrained by a Good power of great might), but unless the evil-doer requesting this service has protected himself or herself carefully and laid the strongest constraints on the Demon, little good will come of such bargains in the end. Demons often partake of some of the characteristics of natural forces: Balrogs as spirits of Fire are a very good example. This is, no doubt, because of Eru`s original plans for these spirits as directors and guardians of these natural forces.





Boars

The hunting of Boars was always a sport among Elves and the Men of Arda. Even Erome the Valarian huntsman, who was Lord of the Forest, would chase these tusked beasts of the woodlands with hounds and Horse. Most famous of the tales of the hunted Boar is the one recorded in the Annals of the Kings and Rulers, which tells how a king of Rohan died on a wild Boars tusks. Folca the Rohirrim was a mighty warrior and hunter, and thirteenth in the line of kings, but the beast named the Boar of Everholt thathe pursued was fierce and huge. So, when the contest was joined in the Firien Wood beneath the shadow of the White Mountains, there was loud battle in which both hunter and hunted were slain.




Crebain

Tales tell of a breed of large black crows that lived in Dunland and the Forest of Fangorn in the Third Age. These birds were named Crebain in the language of the Grey-elves, and they were servants and spies of evil powers. During the War of the Ring they searched far and wide over the lands of Middle-Earth for the bearer of the Ruling Ring.




Crows

Crows were always the chief carrion birds of Middle-Earth and they had a reputation of being allied with Dark Powers. Men called them birds of ill-omen, for it was thought they spied over the land and brought tales to evil beings, who plotted deeds of ambush and slaughter. So it was that these carrion birds profited by bearing tales, for on the bloody work of these evil armies the Crows often feasted. As was common among birds of Middle-Earth, the Crows spoke a dialect of bird-thounge, although it was the opinion of Dwarves, who knew the language, that their discource was as ill-disposed as that of the evil race of Orcs.




Dragons

The Origin of Dragons

ALittle is known of the beginnings of Dragons. While their origins are tied to the breeding pits of Utumno (Q. "Hellish Chasm-hold"; aka "the Underworld"), where Morgoth wrought the first Cold Drakes, the Dragon-race achieved its splendor later in the First Age. Fire-drakes (Q. "Uruloki or "Fealoki"; sing. "Uruloke" or "Fealoke") and the great Winged Drakes (Q. "Romaloki"; sing. "Romaloke") - the Dragons of lore - were born of fire and magic in the halls of Thangorodrim (S. "Moutains of Tyranny") in Angband. Since that time, many lesser, more specialized species have appeared, although none in such numbers as to destroy the Balance of Things.
According to Sauronic scribes, Iaurloke the Cold was the first true Drake. He was born in Angband (S. "Iron Prison") during the long struggle between Morgoth and the Eldar of Beleriand.
He sired Glaurung, the Father of Dragons and the first of the fire-drakes, but Glaurung consumed him in an ireful duel less than a century later. Soon afterwards, Glaurung burst forth from Thangorodrim and wreaked havoc on the Elves of Dorthonion and Hithlum (in Beleriand). He burned the fields of Ardgalen in his youthful display of raw power. Because Glaurung was only half-grown, though, Fingon and his archers drove the young Dragon back to Angband. Morgoth was incensed, for Glaurung`s rash assault destroyed any hope of surprising the Free Peoples with the full might of a Fire-drake. So ended the world`s first encounter with a true Dragon.
Two centuries passed before the Worm of Morgoth appeared again. Then, at the Battle of the Sudden Flame (S. "Dagor Bragollach"), Glaurung successfully led the forces of darkness in the struggle to break the siege of Angband.
He slaughtered hundreds of Elves and razed large areas of the eastern Beleriand before the campaign ended. Returning home triumphant, Glaurung began a long repose.
Glaurung endured the ensuing peace by breeding and procuding a brood of lesser Dragons. When they came of age, he guided them into combat. This was the first time a group of Drakes ever appeared together. During the Fifth Battle of the First Age, the "Battle of Unnumbered Tears," they decimated a combined army of Elves and Men. Only the valor of the Dwarves of Belegost averted the complete defeat of the Free Peoples.
In subsequent years Glaurung and his offspring helped secure the lands conquered by the armies of the Black Enemy. They used their powerful incantations to bind the minds of their defeated foes and bring them under Morgoth`s sway. Glaurung eventually assailed the Elf-city of Nargothrond, slaying all of its inhabitants save its Warlord, Turin Turambar. Glaurung`s power was such that he first bewitched Turin and drove him off, leaving the city open to assault.
Turin vowed revenge, but Glaurung`s plottings bore another evil before the two came together again. The awful Worm placed a spell on Turin`s sister, Nienor, and stole her memory. This curse led to her unfortunate and ill-fated marriage to Turin.
Turin tracked Glaurung down at Cabed-en-Aras and drove the great sword Gurthang deep into the Dragon`s underbelly. As the Fire-drake died, he lifted his spell...letting Nienor recover her memory. She commited suicide following the terrible revelation that she had married her brother and carried his child. Grief-stricken and burning from Glaurung`s caustic black blood, Turin perished as well.
Glaurung`s death marked the end of the first and longest chapter in the story of the great Drakes of the North. While he was the Father of Dragons and exceptionally powerful, Glaurung was not the greatest Drake ever to enter Arda. That distinction goes to Ancalagon the Black - the mighty Winged Dragon known as "Rushing-jaws".
Like Glaurung, Ancalagon was a Fire-drake; but unlike his predecessor, the Black Dragon was far larger and possessed the power of flight. He was the first and most awesome of his kind. His wings darkened the skies, while hurricane-winds swept the plains before he unleashed his unstoppable fire. Undoubtedly the greatest monster born in Middle-earth, Ancalagon was the culmination of Dragon-breeding.
Fortunathely, Ancalagon proved relatively short-lived. He was slain soon after he first appeared, during the War of Wrath. There he dueled with the Great Eagles, who were led by their King, Thorondor. The skies turned black with smoke, and thunder ripped though the clouds as the giant avians dueled. In the midst of this unparalled aerial fray, the warrior Earendil - who came out of the West on the flying ship Vingilot - cut the Dragon down with a remarkable bowshot. Ancalagon fell, creating an upheaval that shattered the peaks below. His fellow Dragons fled amidst the turmoil.
Acalagon died at the very end of the First Age, just as cataclysm struck, sinking Beleriand and the beginning Endor`s reshaping. Many of the other Dragons escaped the destruction and, like their brethren in Utumno and the Underdeeds, went elsewhere in Middle-earth. Some settled in the Grey Mountains, while others ventured further east and south. As the Second Age dawned, Morgoth`s legacy spread. Dragons remained to haunt virtually every corner of Endor.

The Nature of Dragons

Physically, these so-called Giant Worms vary in size and appearance. Some slither or crawl; others run, jump, or fly. Most have vision that surpasses that of the most keen-sighted of birds, while others can percieve smells better than a North Bear. All share a common heritage, though, and have scaly hides, two to four horns, and long, serpentine bodies. Those with limbs have four appendages, although two may be modified to support wings. Razor-like talons crown their nimble digits.
Dragons are enchanted beats. Magic flows through their caustic blood, and many Drakes are powerful spellcasters. Some utilize their skills to crush their foes, while others wield enchantments in more subtle ways. All Dragons bask in power and enjoy dominating other creatures, and many know an array of potent mindmanipulation spells. Coupled with their sharp intellect, these incantations can drive a stalwart Man or Elf to lay down his arms or even wage war upon his brethren.
The dragons fondness for word-games, riddles, and other contest of the mind is legendary. All Drakes enjoy using their intellectual prowess. Puzzles and riddles fascinate them. They are skilled in myriad tongues and capable of conversing and word-dueling in many languages. Their wicked eyes, audacious presence, incredible vocal-strenght, and perceptive ways make them formidable (if not overwhelming) foes in a debate. Schooled in the arts of verbal illusion and capable of sensing the slightest changes in sound pitch and emotion, they see deep into the words of those who are unfortunate enough to meet them. Few can conceal their true feelings in the face of such utter power.
Dragons, however, have certain weakness when it comes to battles of logic or wit. Vain, wrathful, deceitful, self-centered, and astoundingly boastful, Drakes have a very delicate temper. Filled with hubris and easily flattered, they task in other adoration and enjoy complements even when they know the speaker is simply hoping to delay his own doom. A Dragon will toy with a foe whose soothing words are effectively delivered far longer than he will tolerate a pugnacious adversary. To a Drake, a false flatterer is wise and an armed challenger is simply foolhardy fodder. Dragons despise disrespect.
Regardless of their species, Dragons live and hunt alone. They jealously guard their territories, and will confront or kill other Drakes that infringe on their everexpanding domains. Their realms, of course, reflect their origins, for wherever a Dragon goes, he lays waste to the lands. They do not concern themselves with subjects or the works of lesser creatures; they seek only power and the booty that testifies to their triumphs.
All Dragons live in lairs of some form, returning in a way to the womb-like earth from which they came. They spend an inordinate amount of time in these underground (or underwater) abodes, reclining on beds of treasure. Even when active, they rest or sleep for ten to a hundred hours on end. During hibernation, a Dragon might sleep for a thousand years. Many a Drake has slept so long that chunks of his treasure become imbedded in his armored scales.
Dragons can mate but, like other monsters, they have no inclination to form unions or reproduce. Only an outside will can compel them to produce offspring. In a sense, then, Drakes must be bred.
When Dragons do mate, they follow elaborate courtship rituals. The male makes the invariably long journey to his mate`s home, where he combats any rivals or pretenders. He subsequently engages in dance, a stormy but acrobatic display of frightening frenzy. Mating follows and may last as long as ten days. The male then departs for 10-100 years. Six months or so later the female lays 1-10 eggs in a hatchery pit deep within the earth. After another six months pass, the newly-developed young use their sharp horns to break out of their tough, leathery shells and begin their lives in Arda. Those that are perceived to be weak, however, are eaten by their mothers.
Drakes subsist on virtually any kind of food. They can consume anything from meat to mithril, swallowing as much as a thousand pounds in a single gulp. When they feed, it is often in the form of an unbroken orgy of consumption lasting two to forty days. During this time, they slaughter and eat herds of cattle or wild Lassanakoni. Their unusual metabolism enables them to store most of this food and allows them to hibernate with impunity.
Virtually immortal, Dragons have never been known to die of old age or disease. They grow and age, though, getting larger and in many cases slower with the passing years. Their enchanted blood gets increasingly caustic and corrosive, while their armor becomes thicker and tougher and their horns get longer and more heavily ribbed. In time, a Drake`s overlapping scales become almost impenetrable, and even their relatively soft underside becomes capable of deflecting all the best of weapons.
However, Drakes have a flaw in their defenses. Known as a "birth spot" it is an imperfection of unknown origin or purpose which some chroniclers attribute to the wrath of Eru. Here, scales fail to develop. With the exception of the Dragon`s eyes, it is only vulnerable point on the creature`s body. If found by a lucky opponent (e.g, Bard the Bowman), this flaw can spell the Drake`s doom.
Of course, just getting close to a Dragon is a considerable feat. Dragons have gigantic, multi-rowed teeth and claws as hard and sharp as a lance-head. Some have whipe-like tails that can bash or slash an opponent to death in a single, precise sweep. Others have huge bat-like wings that can stir the air into a spout or drive it into a galing wind. Those that possess breath weapons, like the fearsome Fire-drakes, can use this wind to enhance the strenght and speed of their flames - flames that can scour a whole valley in minutes.
The Dragon`s horns are special tools used for boring and dueling. Their size and rib pattern symbolizes a Drake`s power and denotes his stature in the hierachy of the species. These horns are essentially unbreakable. Prized for their value as musical instruments and bow-making material, they can be ground to produce a host of enchanted potions. In a strange way, they embody the strenght and magic of these exceptionally special creatures.

Dragon Families

Like all of Arda`s creatures, the Anguloki are tied to the Music of the Ainur. Although they are the offspring of Melkor`s discordant harmonies, Dragons still reflect the elemental themes born out of Eru`s thought. They remain tied to Eas five "physical" elements: Air, Earth, Fire, Light, and Water. All Drakes can be classified accordingly. When discussing the nature of Dragons, many Elda chroniclers prefer to use these categories, for they reflect the origins and habitats of the Anguloke families.


Air-drakes (Q. "Vilwaloki"): Air-drakes include all winged Cold-drakes. As their name implies, they reside high in the mountains and spend most of their waking hours in flight. Their habits mirror those of avian raptors, although they are nocturnal in nature. Like their archfoes, the Great Eagles, they gracefully glide through the skies scanning the ground for prey. Then, they swoop downward, capturing their prizes with the long talons of their powerful rear legs. An Air-drake`s initial strike is usually lethal, for the impact is sufficient to kill a stout Troll; however, many Dragons bite off the heads of their prey... just in case they survive the sudden rendezvous.

Earth-drakes (Q. "Kemenloki"): Earth-drakes include Cave-drakes and the three wingless varieties of Cold-drakes: Land-drakes, Ice-drakes, and true Cold-drakes. Together, they constitute the oldest and most varied of the Dragon families.

Fire-drakes (Q. "Uruloki"): Comfortable even in molten rock pools, Fire-drakes often nest deep beneath the earth. There, they hibernate and replenish their considerable powers. Fires invigorate them, stirring their blood and stoking the embers of their fiery breath. No other Dragon-line rivals the power of the Uruloki, for they are the true descendants of Glaurung the Father, the Worm of Morgoth.

Light-drakes (Q. "Kalaloki"): By far the least numerous of the Dragon families, Light-drakes are unusual, wingless Worms equipped with whip-like tails that sport serrated spines. These spines house retractable membranes, each of which is filled with an electrically charged fluid. The Kalaloki prefer to fight with their tails, striking their prey with the knife-like spines and at the same time delivering a "sting" analogus to the impact of a lightning bolt.

Water-drakes
Water-drakes include Rain-drakes and true Water-drakes. The latter, the "Sea Serpents" of lore, dwell throughout Arda and constitute the most numerous family among all Dragon kind. Much rarer, Rain-drakes are exclusively freshwater creatures that inhabit the depths of remote lakes and rivers. Some scholars also (mistakenly) include Marsh-drakes in this category; but they neglect to note that the swamp-dwelling Loegangwai are Fire-drakes who, while hatched under scalding conditions, later repose amidst warm, noxious waters and gases instead of fiery lava.




Dumbledors
An old Hobbit poem involves telling of a ferocious race of winged insects. They are named Dumbledors, but nothing has come to Men of the origin and history of these vanished creatures.




Ents

The Ages of The Trees
"No one knew whence they (Ents) came or first appeared. The High Elves said that the Valar did not mention them in the 'Music'." (L248) Also, their own traditions sharply distinguish the Ents (and Entwives) from the other Speaking Peoples by that they attributed their origin not to the design of the gods but to another species.
"Elves began it, of course, waking trees up and teaching them to speak, and learning their tree-talk. They always wished to talk to everything, the old Elves did." (TT) So Treebeard recalls the earliest history of the Shepherds of the Trees. Later records say that "they were known to the Eldar in ancient days, and to the Eldar indeed the Ents ascribed not their own language but the desire for speech." (LP) However, very probably we should rather read "Quendi" here than "Eldar", for the memory of the Ents seems to begin only in the time when Morgoth, known to them as "the Great Darkness", was imprisoned and then "came in the North" (TT), i. e. established himself in Angband. Of his earlier dwelling in Utumno even their oldest member, Treebeard, does not reveal knowledge.
But during this period there were no Eldar in Middle-earth. If the Ents awoke in the Ages of the Trees and during Morgoths imprisonment, the "Elves that cured us of dumbness long ago" (TT) would have been Umanyar, those who stayed behind. Then the most likely candidates are probably the Nandor, the Green-Elves. They were reported to have gained deeper knowledge of trees than any other of their kind (S). Their activity may not even have been restricted to trees: perhaps those Elves "who always wished to talk to everything" were also responsible for the "awakening" of various beasts which became capable of rational speech.
The Ents, however, were distinct from these: together with Elves, Dwarves, and Men, they were afterwards reckoned as species of rational creatures. An old poem which Treebeard had learned in his youth by whom he does not tell: the Nandor most likely - lists the Free Peoples, maybe in their apparent order of appearance:
"Learn now the lore of Living Creatures!
First name the four, the Free Peoples:
Eldest of all, the elf-children;
Dwarf the delver, dark are his houses;
Ent the earthborn, old as mountains;
Man the mortal, master of horses." (TT)
This would further limit their awakening to the period before Mens awakening in the East.
Their place of origin, however, was not in far Rhun but seems to have been West of Anduin. This was the region where the Entwives first "made gardens to live in" (TT). We may perhaps expect the awakening to have occurred in the precise region which later was called Fangorn Forest which in that time, however, "was all one wood ... to the Mountains of Lune." (TT)
The First Age
"The first Ents that walked in the woods before the Darkness" (TT) were "not quite the same" as those of the Third Age: "less wise, less strong, shyer and more uncommunicable (their own language simpler, but their knowledge of other tongues very small)" (L248). Slowly they started to grow and multiply, and to become more aware of their world. Young generations were born: They gave birth to little Ent children, or Entings. In the First Age of the Sun, "when the Darkness came in the North, the Entwives crossed the Great River, and made new gardens, and tilled new fields." (TT) The male Ents migrated and expanded westwards from the places of their origin until they found Beleriand where some solemnly walked in Dorthonion and Nan-Tathren. The history of the Elder Days mentions them only once: An Ent-host crossed the Mountains of Lune to assist Beren who "intercepted a dwarf-army that had descended from the mountains, sacked the realm of Doriath and slain King Thingol ... It seems clear that Beren, who had no army, received the aid of the Ents - and that would not make for love between Ents and Dwarves." (L248)
The Second Age
In early SA, the doom of these ancient beings grew nearer. "After the Darkness was overthrown the land of the Entwives blossomed richly, and their fields were full of corn. Many [pre-Numenorean] men learned the crafts of the Entwives and honoured them greatly; but we [Ents] were only a legend to them, a secret in the heart of the forest." (TT) But then, after the Downfall of Numenor, the Entwives "disappeared for good, being destroyed with their gardens in the War of the Last Alliance (Second Age 3429-3441) when Sauron pursued a scorched earth policy and burned their land against the advance of the Allies down the Anduin ... They survived only in the 'agriculture' transmitted to Men (and Hobbits). Some, of course, may have fled east, or even have become enslaved: tyrants ... must have an economic and agricultural background to their soldiers and metal-workers. If any survived so, they would indeed be far estranged from the Ents, and any rapprochement would be difficult - unless experience of industrialized and militarized agriculture had made them a little more anarchic. I hope so. I don't know." (L144)
Treebeard was despaired after crossing the Anduin and finding the gardens of the Entwives "wasted: Men call them the Brown Lands now. ... it was all burnt and uprooted, for war had passed over it. But the Entwives were not there." (TT) Their loss roused the Ents more than any event after till their march against Isengard; but what their response was we do not know. Perhaps they took revenge and had a part in deciding "the wars of Sauron and the Men of the Sea" (TT) as Treebeard remembered the War of the Last Alliance. It was then reported that members of almost any species of Arda fought on both sides (RP). But whether that happened is not recorded in any account.
The Third Age
During the Third Age the now solitary Ents started to dwindle and become "tree-ish" (TT). In late TA, there was only a small number left.
After the overthrow of Sauron, King Elessar granted them "room to spare west of the mountains, where once you walked long ago" (RK).
Treebeard, however, remained sceptical that Ents had a future in Arda.
The Origin
The Eldest and the Firstborn
The statements about origin and age of the Ents are mysterious. Of course, no one would doubt that the Elves are indeed Iluvatars "Firstborn", and they would have to be so to "cure" the Ents from dumbness. But why then are the Ents notoriously called "the most ancient people surviving in the Third Age" (LP) and "oldest of living creatures" (L131)?
This can only interpreted that way that there were Ents before there were talking Ents. The first specimen probably were but mute and "dumb" or yet "unawakened" beings, looking and behaving just like another kind of tree. But of course, they were not ordinary trees.
It cannot be doubted that Elves cannot just pass along and teach a tree at the wayside to talk and move, not to mention turning a forest into another Free People! There must have been an inherent potential of rational thought to the proto-Ents which only Iluvatar could have given to them and which was but waiting for the outside impulse to get active.
Lothlorien recorded a unique hypothesis of their origin: "Some (Galadriel) were [of the] opinion that when Yavanna discovered the mercy of Eru to Aule in the matter of the Dwarves, she besought Eru (through Manwe) asking him to give life to things made of living things not stone, and that the Ents were either souls sent to inhabit trees, or else that slowly took the likeness of trees owing to their inborn love of trees. ... The males were devoted to Orome, but the Wives to Yavanna." (L248)
If this was true, it would set real Ents far apart from "talking beasts", animate but soulless. No doubt, those spirits were sent before the Elves awoke but had to lie dormant till their proper time, so not to turn down the intended order in which the Children of Iluvatar would appear. This had not been allowed even to Aules Dwarves!
Are Ents Maiar?
Based of this statement it was often suggested that Ents were in fact Maiar. But there is much which speaks against.
First, there is the usage of words. "Soul" in the sources is usually a crude translation of Elvish, a kind of spirit very much distinct from a maia (MR). Maiar are very much above: Would it have been possible for even the greatest Child of Iluvatar to cure but one Maia from dumbness? The Wise of Middle-earth indeed believed or hoped that the "Ents and their wives being rational creatures would find some 'earthly paradise' until the end of this world: beyond which the wisdom neither of Elves nor Ents could see. Though maybe they shared the hope of Aragorn that they were 'not bound for ever to the circles of the world and beyond them is more than memory.'" (L338) Galadriel seemed to have known or sensed even more: Her farewell to Treebeard "until the lands that lie under the wave are lifted up again. Then in the willow-meads of Tasarinan we may meet in the Spring" (RK) indicates her belief or conviction that Ents - like Elves and Men (and Dwarves) - might possess an immortal component. However, a Child of Iluvatar derobed from his fana or body becomes a free fea, but certainly not an Ainu!
Second. The entish language is a further indication against them being Maiar. Real Maiar probably would not have bothered about developing any since they already possessed one: Valarin or a descendant thereof. Yet "the language they had made was unlike all others" (LP), even Elves had a hard time to learn "their tree-talk" if at all. The few examples of Entish recorded from hearing indeed do not resemble any other spoken in Middle-earth, least of all Valarin.
Third: After the initial impulse of awakening was given to the Ents, they were capable of (consciously or unconsciously) awakening more trees. "Most of the trees [in Fangorn] are just trees, of course; but many are half awake. Some are quite wide awake, and a few are, well, ah, well, getting entish. That is going on all the time." (TT) Treebeard also remarks that "some of my trees are limb-lithe, and many can talk to me" (TT). Among those he had known "some good old willows down the Entwash". When he approaches Wellinghall, Merry and Pippin witness two unidentified trees capable of motion: they "lifted up their branches, and all their leaves quivered and rustled."
However, those secondarily awakened trees were classified as Huorns, not as new Ents. Evidently, many trees, though not any tree, had the potential to do so: trees that seemed to be half awake or "quite wide" are also to be met in the Old Forest, notably Old Man Willow, (FR) and in Mirkwood (H). Without Entings they still were doomed to extinction ÃÆ’¢â‚¬â€œ and with them the Huorns, for apparently no other species had any more the power to awaken them. By the late Third Age even the youngest Ent was already over 3000 years old.
The surprising notion that the awakening of trees was not a one-time event but a permanent process is the strongest argument against the "Elves are Maiar" hypothesis. If all awakened trees harboured a Maia within that would have required a constant influx of Ainur from Valinor or outside of Aman to Middle-earth  many of which never again were awakened! An unlikely proposal. It may be assumed that Huorns rather resembled the talking beasts and thus were distinct from Ents by lacking the soul or fea. But what should we make then out of the "spirit" (FR) that inhabited Old Man Willow?

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Evil Huorns and Trees

These wild animated trees come in many forms. Most are simply vile plants twisted by Morgoth and his minions. The trees of Mirkwood are prime examples of his hideous handiwork. Like predatory animals, they kill their fellow Olvar, using secretions from their roots or strangling tendrils. Many of these trees also secret a misty air that puts travellers to sleep.
Evil Huorns were in charge of the Ents for the most part, although some of them, particulary the evil, "black-hearted" ones, went away from Fangorn Forest and the protection and direction of the Ents. Many of these wayward Huorns settled in Mirkwood, where they maliciously preyed upon living beings out of some perverse need, for Huorns do not eat, any more than Ents do. Huorns come in as many different forms as trees do.

Old Man Willow
A powerful Huorn of the Old Forest, this evil animate tree had much power over the other animate trees of the Old Forest of Eliador (in Cardolan, near the Shire). It hated all living, fire-using creatures and sought to destroy them. Old Man Willow had a "singing" magic produced by waving its fronds and branches, causing the air to sigh and whistle through them. It generally used this sounds as a sleep spell of 15th level, persuading victims to fall asleep within reach of its twining roots or the gaping cracks in its trunk. Then it disposed of them by throwing them into the nearby River Withywindle to drown or by drawing them into its trunk and crushing them, thus providing itself with fertilizer. Alternatively, it could use Confusion or Fear spells to distract or drive off its foes.

The Bearer`s Sleeping Root
A beautiful, reddish, spruce-like root, this evil plant is the enchanted remnant of a giant tree which once stood on the shores of eastern Endor. This 600 foot tall tree was planted by Morgoth`s minions and sprang from a cursed seed of Telperion, the Silver Tree of Valinor. Poisoned by the foul secretions of Ungoliant, it sent out a network of roots that comingled with and dominated every plant within a league. Fortunately, it was cut down by the Elf-lord Ingwe« before it slaughtered or perverted all of the local Olvar and made easternmost Endor unliveable.
The Istari Alatar discovered the Sleeping Root around T.A 1200 and foolishly nurtured it out of dormancy in order to understand its nature and borrow its strength. The Root`s power is immesurable and, if given the chance to grow again, the danger it presents is beyond comprehension. Sentient and exceedingly evil, the foul Root seek to control all its fellow Olvar, seeding new trees that share its awful purpose.
The Sleeping Root is but a shadow of its former self. Located in a 120 foot deep pit, it is a mass of entangled subterranean limbs about 300 feet across. It is sheltered from the elements, since the opening to the pit in only 6 feet in diameter.




Flies of Mordor
In the Black Realm it was said there lived only Orcs, Trolls and Men, who were thralls of Sauron the Dark Lord. The only beasts in Mordor were the evil swarms of bloodsucking flies. These where grey, brown and black insects; they were loud, hateful and hungry, and they were all marked with a red eye upon their backs. So the Dark Lords power had spread even to the smallest evil in his land.




Giant Spiders

All of the Giant Spiders of Arda, at least the webspinning sort, are descendants of Ungoliant, the Demon of the Void. The lesser Giant Spiders of the kind generally found in Mirkwood and other gloomy locations are intelligent, but not particulary bright by the standards of the Free Peoples. They can speak both the common tongue (Westron) and Black Speech after a primitive fashion and cooperate in hunting and trapping victims (when they are not fighting among themselves). They bite their entrapped victims in order to inject them with a paralysis-producing poison that affects the muscles and leaves the victim woozy and dizzy even after the use of the limbs is regained. The first poison is to keep the victims quiet and "in storage" for a while until the Spider needs to eat. Then the vile creature injects its victim with a second poison that gradually dissolves its flesh, bones, and organs into a stew of juices that the toothless Spider can ingest.
Greater Giant Spiders are far more intelligent. They range from smallish monsters no larger than their lesser cousins to huge, demonic beasts, throwbacks to their horrifying foremother Ungoliant. Many can utiliza magic and await their prey, tempting their victims with spells or treasure.

Ungoliant, Demon of the Void
Habitat: Enchanted/magical places, Cross-over points between dimensions.
Frequency of Encounter: Absurd.
Size: Variable but usually 36 ft. across.

Ungoliant (Q. "Great Spider-monster") is a Great Enemy, the most powerful Demon ever to enter Arda. She was a spirit of the Void (Nothingless), the incarnation of Darkness, and the embodiment of utter Destruction. One of Morgoth`s earliest allies, Ungoliant rebelled against his service, for she became obsessed with light, wanting only to devour it and turn it into her own special Darkness, the Unlight, that destroyed all Light and Good things. When Morgoth later desired the Silmarills (Great Jewels), it was no hard task for him to persuade Ungoliant to join in a raid on Valinor, for when she heard of the Jewels, she desired them for herself. She cloaked both herself and her master in her Unlight and wove webs of Darkness for them to climb into Valinor, and so they came upon the Blessed Realm in a time of festival. They then poisoned the Two Trees and fled with the Jewels.
When they reached their dark refuge, they quarreled over the spoils, and Ungoliant grew in rage to such a size and might that Morgoth himself was terrified and cried out to his Balrogs to save him. The Spirits of Fire chased Ungoliant with their flaming whips, and she fled into a dark valley. There she found other creatures of her own sort, but less great, and she and they were of the shape that the Free Peoples call spiders. There she lived and mated and reproduced. Shelob (see above) was one of her brood, and there were many others, some lesser and some nearly as great. No one knows what became of Ungoliant, but some of the Wise claim that her hunger at last became too great for her, and having already devoured her woeful mates, she proceeded to consume herself.

Shelob, Guardian of the Ephel Duath
Immortal daughter of a demonic mother, Shelob occupied the caverns of Cirith Ungol for two full Ages, serving as a guard for Mordor. She owed no loyalty to Sauron, but rather operated on her own initiative in a way that served his needs, much as the desires of a cat to kill vermin serve the needs of the man whose house she chooses to occupy. Indeed, Sauron often would send otherwise useless prisoners to Shelob as a man would give his cat the giblets of a hen he had slaughtered for his own table, yet "his cat he calls her, but she owns him not" (the Redbook of Westmarch, commenting on Shelob`s relationship to Sauron). Indeed, Shelob had precious little use for Sauron beyond considering him a source of occasional treats.
Shelob`s bulbous body is some 20 ft long. Each of her armor-plated legs is 18 ft long at full extension and ends in an iron-hard claw. She constantly exudes a foul odor like rotting carrion, forcing all who come near her to fight immobilizing nausea. Her body is suprisingly flexible, and her tough hide consists of many overlapping folds, enabling the giant she-spider to fit through amazingly small passages. This overlapping hide is a tough as plate armor, leaving her two clusters of glowing white eyes her only weak spots. Her legs, however, are somewhat more vulnerable than her body. Both her eyes and her legs will regenerate, given sufficient time, even if severely damaged.
Shelob is also mistress of many spells. Her one true vulnerability, other than her delicate eyes, is that she cannot bear full sunlight or the equivalent.

Enna San Sarab, Daughter of Shelob
This great Spider is the daughter of the infamous Shelob, guardian of the pass of Cirith Ungol in the Ephel Duath, the northern wall of Mordor. Enna San Sarab dwells in the depths of Dol Guldur, the Hill of Sorcery in southern Mirkwood. Southwestern Mirkwood is full of her large, unusual offspring, which are known as the Ennerlings. These Spiders are rarely larger than the palm of a Man`s hand, but they spin strong, nearly invisible webs. Ennerlings inject a mild poison that causes pain and swelling, but their bites are not dangerous unless they accumulate. If more than 12 are received within 1 hour, the victim becomes paralyzed or dies.




Kraken

According to the most ancient tales, Melkor, that most evil of powers, in his kingdom of Utumno in Middle-earth bred many terrible creatures for which there are no names in the Time of Darkness before Varda rekindled the Stars. In the following Ages these creatures were a bane on land and in dark waters to those who lived peacefully in the World.
Some of these beings of Melkor`s survived below the thunders of the deep far beneath the abysmal seas in ancient, dreamless, uninvaded sleep even into the Third Age of the Sun. The "Red Book of Westmarch" tells that when a fiery Balrog was loosed in the Dwarf-kingdom of Moria, another being came out from the dark waters that lay below the great mountains. This was a great Kraken, many tentacled and huge with a slimy sheen. It was luminous and green and an inky stench came from its foul bulk. Like a legion of serpents it lay in the black water beneath the mountain. Eventually it came to the clear water of the River Sirannon, which flowed from the West Gate of Moria. There it built a great wall in the river bed and made for itself a black pool, hideous and still. The Kraken was guardian of the West Gate and none could pass without challenge. For this reason, in the "Book of Mazarbul" it was named Watcher in the Water. During the Quest of the Ring, this evil beings was awakened by the Fellowship of the Ring, who managed to escape to Moria.

Mumakil

The huge, fearsome, and majestic Mumak (W. "Oliphaunt"; P. "Tembo"; pl. "Tembovi") is a close relative of the Andamunda (Elephant) and is often referrred to as the Gorsandamunda (Q. "Giant Elephant"). It is the "lord" of Endor`s southern wilds. Growing up to thirty feet in length and standing up to 17 feet in height at the shoulder, they have few foes. Fortunately for their rivals, though, Mumakil are vegeterians. They rest in the midday heat and occasionally relax at night, but most of the time they roam in search of nutritious roots, leaves, shoots, twigs, and fruits. Using their agile trunks and huge tusks, which grow as long as they can reach through narrow clefts and dig through the toughest soils. These social beasts travel in herds and adapt well (albeit reluctantly) to domestication.
When aroused though, they can be deadly fighters. Both the sakani and the Mumakani have long prized them as mounts for war. Unlike lesser elephantine beasts, the Mumak relish battle and bloodshed. The Haradrim build great fighting towers to place on the backs of these largest of domesticated beasts and decorate the legs and tusks of the Mumakil as well. A Mumak fully arrayed for battle is an awesome, glorious, and terrifying sight. The thick hides of Mumakil make them almost invulnerable to arrows, except for their eyes, but when blinded in this fashion, they often run mad with pain, trampling and destroying everything in their paths.




Nazgul

In the twenty-third century of the Second Age of the Sun, in Middle-earth there arose nine mighty wraiths who in the Black Speech of Orcs were named the Nazgul, which is "Ringwraiths". And of all the evil servants and generals of Sauron the Ring Lord, these Nazgul proved to be the greatest.
It is said that the Nazgul were once powerful kings and sorcerers among Men and they were each given a Ring of Power by Sauron. These Rings were nine of the magical nineteen Rings that Celebrimbor and the Elven-smiths of Eregion forged for Sauron. For many centuries these Men used their Rings to fulfil their own desires, yet all were ruled by the One Ring that Sauron made. Though these chosen Men lived by the power of the Rings far beyond the span of ordinary mortals, their forms faded. By the twenty-third century they were wraiths entirely, and thralls that thought only how they might serve Sauron the Ring Lord. So they roamed the World committing terrible deeds. They wore great cloaks, black and hooded, and hauberks of mail and silver helms, yet beneath were the grey robes of the dead and their bodies were invisible. Any who looked into their faces fell back in horror, for nothing seemed to support helm and hood. Yet sometimes there appeared, where faces should be, the glow of two luminous and hypnotic eyes or, in rage and power, a red and hellish flame.
The weapons of the Nazgul were numerous: they carried swords of steel and of flame, black maces and daggers with magical poisoned blades. They used spells of beckoning and spells of blasting sorcerous fire, and the curse of their Black Breath was like a plague of dispair and the curse of its terror froze the hearts of their foes. The Nazgul were untouchable to mortal Men, for arms could not harm them unless blessed by Elvish spell, and any blade that struck them withered and perished.
So for a thousand years of the Second Age of the Sun the Nazgul, on nine black Horses, swept over the lands of Middle-earth like a nightmare of terror. And in all that time, they fared in the wars as did Sauron the Ring Lord himself. They did not perish until the realm of Sauron`s Mordor fell and the seven-year Siege of Barad-dur was broken by the Last Alliance of Elves and Men at the end of that Age. Isildur, the Dunedain lord of Gondor, cut the One Ring from Sauron`s hand, and the Nazgul, with the Ring Lord, were swept away to the Shadows and the waste places in the eastern lands of the World where they had no form or power.
The Nazgul were both formless and powerless for thirteen centuries in the Third Age of the Sun. Yet the One Ring had not been destroyed and Sauron was able to make himself a shape again. So in the fourteenth century he summoned again his great servants, the Nazgul, out of the shadows. The nine Black Riders arose in the East and the greatest of these came to the north of Eriador, where he made the kingdom of Angmar and built a great citadel in Carn Dum. He called forth Orc legions and the evil Hillmen of the Ettenmoors. For more than six centuries there was continuous war in Eriador. This Nazgul lord, who was at that time called the Witch-king of Angmar, made constant war against the Dunedain of Arnor and out of Carn Dum came much evil. One by one the great provinces and cities went down until 1974, when the last - the province of Arthedain and the city of Fornost - fell to the barbarous hordes. Yet the Witch-king`s possession of the Dunedain Kingdom of the North was short-lived, for in 1975 his army was routed and destroyed by the Elf-lords Cirdan and Glorfindel and by Earnur, the king of Gondor, at the Battle of Fornost. But still the Witch-king and his master Sauron counted this as a great deed, for they were little concerned with the slaughter of Orcs and Hillmen, and the destruction of the power and the kingdom of the Dunedain of the North in Arnor was indeed a great victory by the Dark Powers.
The Witch-king of Angmar, called the High Nazgul, deserted the ruined lands of Eriador and returned to Mordor. And though Sauron was not yet come, but hid still in Dol Guldur in the darkness of Mirkwood (where the Nazgul called Khamul, the Black Easterling, was his chief lieutenant) there were in Mordor other Nazgul who had come secretly three centuries before. In that time they had laboured to rebuild the evil power of that land and had gathered Orkish hordes about them.
In the year 2000 the Nazgul came out of Mordor to fight the Dunedain of the South in Gondor, and two years later the eastern citadel, Minas Ithil, the "tower of the Moon", fell. The Nazgul made this place their own and renamed it Minas Morgul, the "tower of the black wraiths", and sometimes the Tower of Sorcery and the Dead City. The High Nazgul, the Witch-king of Angmar, was now called the Morgul Lord and wore a crown of steel. It was he who slew Earnur, the last king of Gondor, and for a thousand years he made war on the Men of Gondor with both sorcery and the might of his army, and he eroded their power, laid waste their and ruined their lands.
It was not, however, until the year 2951 that Sauron the Dark Lord declared himself and came to Mordor. It is said that Sauron feared to declare himself openly before that time lest someone possessed the One Ring, which could destroy him. And it was not until later still that even the wisest among Men knew that he commanded the wraiths of Morgul, and that these wraiths were the Nazgul of the Second Age.
In the year 3018 of the Third Age the War of the Ring had its beginning. For in that year Sauron learned where the One Ring was hidden and such was his desire that he sent all nine Nazgul to take it. Yet they were thwarted in their errand. When they came to the borders of Rivendell the nine Black Riders were unhorsed at the Ford of Bruinen and were driven away by the Elvish powers that commanded the river.
The search for the One Ring brought the Nazgul to the Shire, where their suspicion fell on the Hobbit Frodo Baggins. Rightly, they suspected Frodo of being the Ring-bearer and pursued him and his companions. On serveral occasions they nearly succeeded in capturing the Ring-bearer. Indeed, on Weathertop, the Witch-king wounded Frodo Baggins with a poisoned dagger. Still, the Ring-bearer and his companions managed to take refuge by entering the kingdom of Elrond Half-Elven.
Yet they reappeared in still mightier forms, on steeds as dreadful as themselves. These steeds were the Winged Beasts for which Elves and Men had no name. They were ancient beings that had come into the World before the Count of Time began. Though they had beak and claw and wing, they were not birds, nor even Bats: they were serpentine beings like Dragons, yet older. They were made by Melkor, Sauron`s master, in Utumno`s foul pits, where serpent, Kraken and other vile creatures of hidden places had arisen. Fed on the cannibal meats of the Orcs and grown larger than all creatures of the Air, the Winged Beasts carried the Nazgul high over the lands with the speed of the winds. Despite their might and fierceness, in the War of the Ring the Nazgul were in deadly peril, because the One Ring was in the hands of their foes. In the Battle of Pelennor Fields, the Morgul Lord, who could not be slain by the hand of Man, was brought to an end by the shield-maidenÃÆ’‚ Eowyn of Rohan and the hobbit warrior Meriadoc Brandybuck. Though eight of the Nazgul remained they, too, were soon destroyed. As they rose to fight the enemy at the Black Gate of Mordor, there was a great alarm within Mordor itself. Sauron commanded the Nazgul to hasten to Orodruin, the Mountain of Fire, that is called Mount Doom, for there stood the Hobbit Frodo Baggins. On their Winged Beasts the Nazgul flew like the wind to Sauron`s aid, but to no avail, for "Frodo Baggins dropped the One Ring into the Fire of Mount Doom" (Correction: It was Gollum who fell down into the lava with the One Ring in his hand, after having a struggle with Frodo Baggins, the Ring-bearer). In that moment Sauron and all his dreadful world were destroyed. As the Black Gate collapsed, the Dark Tower toppled, and in the midst of their flight the mighty Nazgul fell shrieking in flames that ended them for ever.




Neekerbreekers

Noisy, cricketlike insects that are found in marshy areas in the northerly regions of Endor (e.g., Arthedain), Neekerbreekers are little more than a major nuisance. Their name is derived from their noisy, incessant night cry. Those experienced with and accustomed to travel in these regions soon learn to tolerate the sound of Neekerbreekers, but travellers carrying dried grains, flour, or waybread are well advised to keep these supplies tightly wrapped in areas where the hideous "neek-breek, neek-breek!" can be heard, since Neekerbreekers have been known to infest and devour such food.
Neekerbreekers are found in particularly foul swamps. Gigantic relatives of the mosquito, these carnivores prefer solid meat. So, while it does not suck blood, a Neekerbreeker will appropriate small chunks of a man`s flesh. Any wound inflicted by a Neekerbreeker has a chance of being infected with Yellow Rheum, a 0 level illness.




Orcs

Within the deepest Pits of Utumno, in the First Age of Stars, it is said Melkor commited his greatest blasphemy. For in that time he captured many of the newly risen race of Elves and took them to his dungeons, and with hideous acts of torture he made ruined and terrible forms of life. From these he bred a Goblin race of slaves who were as loathsome as Elves were fair.
These were the Orcs, a multitude brought forth in shapes twisted by pain and hate. The only joy of these creatures was in pain of others, for the blood that flowed within Orcs was both black and cold. Their stunted form was hideous: bent, bow-legged and squat. Their arms were long and strong as the apes of the South, and their skin was black as wood that has been charred by flame. The jagged fangs in their wide mouths were yellow, their tongues red and thick, and their nostrils and faces were broad and flat. Their eyes were crimson gashes, like narrow slits in black iron gates behind which hot coals burn.
These Orcs were firece warriors, for they feared more greatly their master than any other enemy; and prehaps death was preferable to the torment of the Orkish life. They were cannibals, ruthless and terrible and often their rending claws and slavering fangs were gored with bitter flesh and the foul black blood of their own kind. Orcs were spawned as thralls of the Master of Darkness; therefore they were fearful of light, for it weakened and burned them. Their eyes were night seeing, and they were dwellers of foul pits and tunnels. In Melkor`s Utumno and in every foul dwelling in Middle-earth they multiplied. More quickly than any other beings of Arda their progeny came forth from the spawning pits. At the end of the First Age of Stars was the War of Powers in which the Valar came to Utumno and broke it open. They bound Melkor with a great chain, and destroyed his servants in Utumno and with them most of the Orcs. Those who survived were masterless and went wandering.
In the Ages that followed were the great migrations of the Elves, and, though Orcs lived in the dark places of Middle-earth, they did not appear openly, and the Elven histories speak not of Orcs until the Fourth Age of Stars. By this time the Orcs had grown troublesome. Out of Angband they came in armour of steel-plate and linked chains, and helmets of iron hoops and black leather, beaked like hawk or vulture with steel. They carried scimitars, poisoned daggers, arrows and broad-headed swords. This brigand race, with Wolves and werewolves, dared, in the Fourth Age of Stars, to enter the Realm of Beleriand where the Sindarin kingdom of Melian and Thingol stood. The Grey-elves knew not what manner of being the Orcs were, though they did not doubt they were evil. As these Elves did not use steel weapons at that time, they came to the Dwarf-smiths of Nogrod and Belegost and bartered for weapons of tempered steel. Then they slaughtered the Orcs or drove them away.
Yet, when Melkor returned to Beleriand in the last Age of Stars, out of the Pits of Angband, the Orcs came, rank upon rank, legion upon legion, in open war, and this was the beginning of the Wars of Beleriand. Because in the valley of the River Gelion they were met by King Thingol`s Grey-elves and Denethor`s Green-elves. In the First Battle the Orcs were decimated and driven shrieking in flight to the blue Mountains, where they found no refuge but only the axes of the Dwarves. None of that army escaped. Yet Melkor had sent forth three grand armies. The second army of Orcs arose and overran the Western lands of Beleriand and besieged the Falas, but the cities of the Falathrim did not fall. So the second army of Orcs joined the third army and marched north to Mith-rim, to slay the newly arrived Noldorin Elves. But the Orcs were little prepared for these Elves. In strength of body the Noldor were far beyond the darkest dreams of the Orcs. The eyes of these Elves alone seared the flesh of the Orcs, and the fierce light of Elven swords drove them mad with pain and fear. So the second Battle of Beleriand was fought against the Noldor whom Feanor led, and this battle was called the Battle under Stars, the Dagor-nuin-Giliath. Though the Noldor king Feanor was slain, the second and third armies of Melkor were entirely destroyed.
A second Noldor army led by the lord Fingolfin came out of the West and the great light of the Sun mounted the ramparts of the sky as if with a great shourt that brought fear to every servant of Melkor. So the First Age of the Sun began and for a time the ambitions of the Orcs were checked by the new light of the Sun. Soon, however, under cover of darkness Orcs came in yet another grand army, more numerous than the other three and more heavily armed, hoping to catch the Noldor unaware. In the Glorious Battle, the Orcs legions were slaughtered again. At this time the Siege of Angband was begun and, though Orcs at times sallied forth in bands, for the most part they were held within Angband`s walls. Yet Melkor`s might grew, for by dark sorcery he bred more of the Orc race and also Dragons, and about him were Balrogs, Trolls, Werewolves and monsters many and great. When he deemed himself ready the mighty host came into the Battle of the Sudden Flame, and this broke the siege of Angband and the Elven-lords were defeated. From this mighty battle is counted the reign of terror that the Orcs remember as the Great Years.
At that time Tol Sirion fell and the kingdoms of Hithlum, Mithrim, Dor-lomin and Dorthonion were overrun. The Battle of Unnumbered Tears was also fought: this was the Fifth Battle in the Wars of Beleriand and the Elves and Edain were completely defeated. The evil Orc legions of Angband then marched into Beleriand. The Falas fell to the Orcs, as did both the cities of Brithombar and Eglarest. The Battle of Tumhalad was fought and Nargothrond was sacked; because of his disputes with Dwarves and the Noldor, Menegroth was twice overrun and the Grey-elf lands were ruined. Finally Gondolin, the Hidden Kingdom, fell. So Melkor`s victory was all but complete; his Orc legions went wherever they wished in Beleriand. All the Elven kingdoms were ruined; no great city stood and the lords and the greatest part of the Elves and Edain were slain. Such is the tale of days that are joyful to the black hearts of the Orcs and their allies.
Yet the terror of that Age finally came to an end. For the Valar, the Maiar, the Vanyar and the Noldor of Tirion, all came out of the Undying Lands and the Great Battle was joined. In it Angband was destroyed and all the mountains of the North were broken. Beleriand with Angband fell into the boiling sea; Melkor was cast out into the Void for ever more and his servants the Orcs were exterminated in the northwest of Middle-earth.
Still the Orcs survived, for part of the race lay hidden in foul dens beneath dark mountains and hills. There they bred and multiplied. Eventually they came to Melkor`s general, Sauron, offering their services, and he became their new master. They served Sauron well in the War of Sauron and the Elves and in his battles until the War of the Last Alliance, when the Second Age ended with the fall of Mordor and with most of the Orkish race again being exterminated. Yet in the Third Age of the Sun as in the Second, those Orcs hidden in dark and evil places lived on. Masterless, the Orcs raided and ambushed for many centuries, but made no grand schemes of conquest until more than a thousand years of the Age had passed, when as a great and evil Eye, Sauron re-appeared in the dark realm of Dol Guldur in southern Mirkwood. As in the Second Age of the Sun, the dark destinies of Sauron and the Orcs were again made one, and for two thousand years of the Third Age Orkish power increased with that of their Dark Lord.
Their power first grew in Mirkwood, then in the Misty Mountains. In 1300 the Nazgul re-appeared in Mordor and the realm of Angmar in northern Eriador, and the Orcs flocked to them. After six hundred years of terror Angmar fell, but the evil realm of Minas Morgul arose in Gondor, and there again the Orcs increased, with those of Mirkwood, the Misty Mountains and Mordor, for the next thousand years.
Yet it was said that Sauron was not fully pleased with his Orkish soldiery and he wished to increase their strength. And though no tale tells of it, it was believed that Sauron through terrible sorcery made a new breed of greater Orcs. In the year 2475, those creatures, the Uruk-hai, came out of Mordor and sacked Osgiliath, the greatest city of Gondor. These were Orcs grown to the height of Men, yet straight-limbed and strong. Though they were truly Orcs - black-skinned, black-blooded, lynx-eyed, fanged and claw-handed - Uruk-hai did not languish in sunlight and did not fear it at all. So the Uruk-hai could go where their evil brethren could not, and, being larger and stonger, they were also bolder and fiercer in battle. Clad in black armour, often carrying straight swords and long yew bows as well as many of the evil and poisoned Orcs weapons, the Uruk-hai were made elite men-at-arms and most often were the high commanders and captains of the lesser Orcs.
In the centuries that followed, the Uruk-hai and the lesser Orcs made alliances that they might ruin all the kingdoms of Men and Elves that were in the Westlands. Therefore the Orcs made treaties with the Dunlendings, the Balchoth, the Wainriders, the Haradrim, the Easterlings of Rhun and the Corsairs of Umbar to achieve their aim. The Orcs came even to the realms of the Dwarves. In the year 1980 Moria was taken by a mighty Balrog demon. With him were the Orcs of the Misty Mountains, who had come out of their capital of Gundabad in great numbers to inhabit the ancient Dwarvish city, heaping contempt of the Dwarf people and slaying whoever came near this most ancient realm.
Yet in the North this was to be the undoing of the Orcs, for the Dwarves were so enraged that they cared not at what cost they would have revenge. So it was that from 2793 to 2799 there was waged a seven years` war of extermination called the War of the Dwarves and Orcs. In this war, though it cost the Dwarves dearly, almost all the Orcs of the Misty Mountains were hunted out and slain, and at the East Gate of Moria the terrible Battle of Azanulbizar was fought. The Orcs were destroyed and the head of their Orcs general, Azog, was impaled on a stake. So it was that for a century the Misty Mountains were cleansed of this vile race, yet in time they returned to Gundabad and Moria.
In the year 2941 a second great disaster befell the Orcs in the North. After the death of the Dragon Smaug, all the Orc warriors of Gundabad came to the Dwarf-realm of Erebor and the Battle of Five Armies was fought beneath the Lonely Mountain. The Orcs were led by Bolg of the North, son of Azog, and he wished to have vengeance on the Dwarves, but all he achieved was his own death and that of all his warriors.
In the War of the Ring, the last great conflict of the Third Age of the Sun, the Orkish legions were everywhere, as the "Red Book of Westmarch" relates. From the Misty Mountains and the shadows of Mirkwood the Orcs came to war under banners both black and red. Fearless Uruk-hai with shields and helmets carrying the emblem of the White Hand came out of Isengard, where the rebel Wizard Saruman ruled. In Morgul both greater and lesser Orcs were marked with a white moon like a great skull; and under Sauron`s command were the countless Orcs of Mordor of whatever breed, who were marked with the symbol of the Red Eye. All of these prepared for war and many others as well. They fought numberous skirmishes and ambushes, as well as Battles of the Fords of Isen, the Battle of the Hornburg, the Battle of Pelennor Fields, the Battle under the Trees and the Battles of Dale. In these assaults thousands on both sides fell, and, though in many of these battles the Orcs were utterly vanquished, it is told that Sauron held back the greatest part of his force within Mordor until the enemy came to the northern gateway of his realm.
Yet in the War of the Ring, all was to be resolved in one last battle before Morannon, the Black Gate. All the dreadful forces of Mordor were gathered there and at Sauron`s command they fell on the army of the Captains of the West. However, as that very moment, in the volcanic fires of Mount Doom, the One Ring of Power which held all Sauron`s dark world in sway, was destroyed. The Black Gate and Black Tower burst asunder. The mightiest servants of Sauron were consumed in fire, the Dark Lord became black smoke dispelled by a west wind, and the Orcs perished like straw before flames. Though some survived, they never again rose in great numbers, but dwindled and became a minor Goblin folk possessed of but a rumour of their ancient evil power.




Trolls

It is thought that in the First Age of Starlight, in the deep Pits of Angband, Melkor the Enemy bred a race of giant cannibals who were fierce and strong but without intelligence. These black-blooded giants were called Trolls, and for five Ages of the Sun they committed deeds as evil as their dull wits allowed.
Trolls, it is said, were bred by Melkor because he desired a race as powerful as the giant Ents, the Treeherds. Trolls were twice the height and bulk of the greatest Men, and they had a skin of green scales like armour. As Ents were to the substance of wood, so Trolls were to stone. Though not so strong as Ents who could crush stone, Trolls were rock hard and powerful. Yet in the socery of their making there was a fatal flaw: they feared light. The spell of their creation had been cast in darkness and if light did fall on them it was as if that spell were broken and the armour of their skin grew inwards. Their evil, soulless beings were crushed as they became lumps of lifeless stone.
The stupidity of Trolls was so great that many could not be taught speech at all, while others learned the barest rudiments of the Black Speech of Orcs. Though their power was often brought to nought by the quick-witted, in mountain caverns and darkwoods Trolls were rightly feared. They desired most a diet of raw flesh. They killed for pleasure, and without reason - save an undirected avarice - hoarded what treasures they took from their victims.
In the Ages of Starlight they wandered Middle-earth freely and with Orcs made travel a great peril. At this time they often went to war alongside Wolves and Orcs and other evil servants of Melkor. But in the First Age of the Sun they were far more wary, for the great light of the Sun was death to them and only in darkness did they go forth in the Wars of Beleriand. It is told in the "Quenta Silmarillion" that in the Battle of Unnumbered Tears, Trolls in great numbers were the bodyguard of Gothmog, Lord of the Balrogs, and, though they fought neither with craft nor skill, they fought fiercely and knew nothing of fear. Seventy of their number were slain by that one great Edain warrior called Hurin, yet other Trolls came on and at last took him captive.
After the War of Wrath and the First Age of the Sun, many of the Troll race remained on Middle-earth and hid themselves deeply under stone. When Sauron the Maia arose in the Second Age, he took to himself these old servants of his master, Melkor. Sauron also gave the Trolls craftiness of mind born of wickedness, and they became more dangerous than before. Freely and fearlessly, these monsters wandered in dark places of the World.
In the Third Age of the Sun, when Sauron for a second time arose in Mordor, there were still many evil and slow-witted Trolls who haunted Mortal Lands. Some of these were called Stone-trolls; others were Cave-trolls, Hill-trolls, Mountain-trolls and Snow-trolls. Many tales of the Third Age tell of their evil. In the Coldfells north of Rivendell they slew the Dunedain chieftain Arador.
In the Trollshaws of Eriador, for centuries, three Trolls fed on village folk of that land. By Troll standards these three Trolls were mental giants, for they spoke and understood the Westron tongue of Men and had an elementary, if faulty, knowledge of arithmetic. None the less, by quickness of wit, the Wizard Gandalf was able to turn them to stone. In Moria the Balrog commanded many huge Cave-trolls.
Yet it is said Sauron was not yet pleased with the evil of these servants and sought to put their great strenght to better use. So it was that, towards the end of the Third Age, Sauron bred Trolls of great cunning and agility who could endure the Sun as long as Sauron`s will was with them. These he called the Olog-hai, and they were great beasts with the reasoning intelligence of evil Men. Armed with fangs and rending claws and stone-scaled as others of the Troll race, they also carried black shields, round and huge, and swung mighty hammers that crushed the helmets of foes. So, in the Mountains of Mordor and the forest about Dol Guldur in Mirkwood where the Olog-hai were sent to war by Sauron, a great evil was loosed upon Sauron`s foes.
In the War of the Ring on Pelennor Fields and before the Black Gate of Mordor, the terror of these savage beings caused terrible destruction. Yet they were held by a mighty spell, and, when the Ring was unmade and Sauron went into the shadows, the spell was broken. The Olog-hai drifted as if their senses were taken from them; they were like mute cattle wandering dark fields and for all their great strength they were scattered and slain.

Vampires of Morgoth

Melkoric Vampires are not the blood-drinking undead spirits of Men; rather they are mighty Demons. These Spirits were once the patrons of harmless normal Bats, but under Morgoth`s tutelage they became great doers of evil and sources of terror. They are mighty fliers, and in early times Morgoth frequently used them as messengers. Appearing as gigantic Bats with the faces of hideous Men or Women and the feet of enormous birds or prey, the Vampires were well-equipped to deliver the orders of Morgoth and to spy for him. Vampires can assume other forms by means of their magical shaping cloaks. (These cloaks could also give others the power to take on the shape of Vampires.)

Thuringwethil, Messenger of Angband and Tol-in-Gaurhoth
This female Vampire was a favorite of Sauron and served as his messenger during the Quest of the Silmaril in the First Age. It was her shape that Half-maia Luthien used to gain entrance to Angband, for Thuringwethil (S. "Woman of the Secret Shadow") lost her powers and her cloak of shaping when Tol-in-Gaurhoth (S. "Isle of Werewolves") fell and Sauron fled, he himself taking the form of a Vampire.




Werewolves

Morgoth originally produced Werewolves by magically altering his minion`s forms so that they became huge, enchanted Wolves. He created others by placing his minion`s spirits in the bodies of great Wargs.
These creatures can alter their form so that they can stand upright and use their clawlike hands, but they cannot transform themselves into Men. While Werewolves possess the intelligence of the Secondborn - and though they can speak, use tools, and cast spells - they remain Wolf-like in their nature.

Caran-Carach, Guardian of Dol Guldur
Caran-Carach (S. "Red Fang") was a descentant of Draugluin. He helped guard the fortress of Dol Guldur, the home of the Necromancer (Sauron in the mid-Third Age). Fed the remains of the Evil One`s prisoners, this hideous beast learned to savor live flesh. He was later let loose to hunt prominent the Wood-elves and Wood-man of southern Mirkwood.

Carcharoth, Mightiest Wolf of Arda
Carcharoth (S. "Red Maw") was bred by Morgoth to slay Huan, the Noble Hound of Valinor. Morgoth took one of the cubs of Draugluin and fed him with his own hand upon living victims, until Carcharoth grew so huge that he could not fit into the dens of the great Werewolves but instead crouched at his Master`s feet. Yet Luthien still able to ensorcel him. Later, however, when Beren and Luthien fled with the Silmaril, Carcharoth bit off the hand of Beren that held the Great Jewel and swallowed them both. Mighty was Carcharoth, but his innards were not proof against that flame that emanated from the Silmaril. Crazed with pain, he ran amok throughout Doriath, until he was finally slain by Huan in the Hunting of the Wolf. Yet the Great Hound also was killed, for Carcharoth gave him mortal wounds. After the Great Wolf was killed, the Silmaril was ripped from his belly by those who had hunted him.

Draugluin, Greatest of the Werewolves
This servant of Sauron was the sire of most of the Werewolves of Angband. He guarded Sauron`s fortress in the First Age and was slain by Huan the Hound (see above) when that noble beast accompanied Luthien to the fortress to rescue Beren from the Island of the Werewolves. Draugluin fled when he realized that his end was near and died at his Black Master`s feet, warning him that the Great Hound was there.