The Lord of the Rings (1978) & The Return of the King (1980) Also, Thorin Oakenshield is captured as well by spiders (as also in The Hobbit trilogy), while in the book Thorin is captured instead by Thrauduil's Elves after the Dwarves intruded on the third and final feast. Unlike in the books, these spiders can speak plainly without Bilbo putting on the Ring. In The Hobbit (1977), the Dwarves and Bilbo are captured by giant Mirkwood spiders. Mirkwood Spider (1977) The Hobbit (1977 animated film) From this they are portrayed negatively, always appearing as antagonists. Her fate is unspecified.Ĭontrary to popular belief, the reason that Tolkien featured spiders so prominently in his stories was not because he was bitten by a tarantula when he was young, but rather because his son was afraid of them. Sam used Sting to attack Shelob and wound her, which caused her to flee. Frodo was ambushed by her twice, and paralyzed by her poison on the second encounter. įrodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee encountered the lone, giant spider Shelob in her lair, within caves near Cirith Ungol, as they were trying to enter Mordor in their quest to destroy the One Ring. Only Bilbo's magic Ring and his Elven blade ( Sting) allowed them to escape from being eaten. They managed to capture and entangle in webs each of the thirteen Dwarves. The hobbit Bilbo Baggins and his thirteen Dwarf companions encountered giant spiders in Mirkwood on their Quest to the Lonely Mountain. Her fate is unknown, but it is said that, always hungry, Ungoliant ended by devouring herself. She was described as surrounded by "an aura of darkness". Her offspring were a great bane on the world in later years. Ungoliant was subsequently driven off by Melkor's Balrogs, and she ultimately wandered across Middle-earth, consuming anything that gave light such as gemstones and often mated with other large spiders. Melkor refused and she attempted to kill him. Ungoliant, who had an insatiable desire to devour light, demanded the Silmarils. The first Dark Lord, Melkor, used Ungoliant to help him destroy the Two Trees of Valinor and steal the Silmarils. Ungoliant was the progenitor of giant spiders After the shadow of Sauron fell upon Greenwood the Great, many spiders came and lived there, and the forest became known as " Mirkwood". They lived in the south of Middle-earth in the First Age, having descended from spider-creatures of the Ered Gorgoroth, but by the Third Age they spread to other areas far away.
Like Orcs and Goblins, they detested the light, yet thirsted for and sought to devour it. These spiders could speak to one another, as shown in The Hobbit.
4.7 The Lord of the Rings Minecraft mod.4.2 The Lord of the Rings (1978) & The Return of the King (1980).