#giant spiders

[charnel-grounds]

Alfred Kubin (1877–1959), “The Spider”

ink on paper, 1902

source

[rebelbikerdude]

BIKERS VS SHELOB FROM LOTR

https://rebelbikerdude.blogspot.com/2026/01/bikers-vs-shelob-giant-spiders-of.html

This biker picture was created by me, RebelBikerDude, using AI, and is excerpted from my own blog, RebelBikerDude’s AI Biker Art blog, containing thousands of AI-generated biker pictures & video clips, accessible at: https://rebelbikerdude.blogspot.com/

[buggestofbugsandbattestofbats]

I've started a TMA x LOTR crossover fic and it's 4 chapters in

https://archiveofourown.org/works/88410261/chapters/234491381

Somewhere Else Is LOTR... in a Spider Cave

ArcSilverfishTheBugWriter

Summary:

Jon wakes up Somewhere Else to find he's in a hauntingly familiar place but he doesn't know why. Then he sees Frodo trying to escape a giant spider and realizes he's entered the world of Lord of the Rings and he's at Shelob's lair.

Annabelle is thrilled.

If you ship JMart and Sam/Frodo and love Jon whump and Frodo whump you might like this fic 🤣

[bestiarium]

The Aasivarluit [Inuit mythology]!

The oceans have fascinated humans for millennia. As such, it is no surprise that a great many cultures from around the world have their own stories about scary and dangerous creatures from beneath the waves. One such being is the ocean-spider, or Aasivarluit, a massive monster from Inuit mythology.

As the appellation ‘ocean-spider’ implies, the Aasivarluit resembles a spider, albeit an unnaturally large one. It is a dangerous, giant animal and it was known to prey on unsuspecting kayakers by waiting underneath the surface of the sea and then pouncing upwards when a suitable victim appeared. In the absence of human prey, the monster was known to hunt walruses and seals for sustenance. 

It doesn’t appear to be a common creature in Inuit mythology, in fact, all references I could find only mention one single story about the Aasivarluit:

A man was kayaking near the coast of Nuuk, the capital of Greenland (although it was called Godthåb back then). Suddenly he saw a massive object beneath the waves, which confused him greatly because he was familiar with this location and he knew that there was no shoal nearby. He then remembered stories about giant aquatic spiders, and quickly deduced that this must be the thing that suddenly appeared beneath his kayak. Indeed, he looked down into the water and saw a giant eye.

But the man was a skilled kayaker and he managed to get away safely. It is said that a less experienced kayaker would certainly have perished in his situation. 

The idea of a giant oceanic spider that eats people might have originated as a cautionary tale (as in, don’t venture too far from the coast or the giant spider will eat you). While stories about giant animals are not uncommon in Inuit culture, the Aasivarluit is certainly a rather strange monster, considering that there are no marine spiders in real life (although there are freshwater spiders). Technically, sea spiders do exist, but they are spiders in name only: they belong to the class Pycnogonida whereas real spiders are Arachnida. They only share a vague resemblance (though there are some really pretty and weird sea spiders out there, I recommend googling them).

Sources: Rink, H., 1974, Tales and Traditions of the Eskimo, Montreal, McGill-Queen’s University Press, first published 1875, 473 pp, p. 471. Christopher, N., 2013, The Hidden: a compendium of arctic giants, dwarves, gnomes, trolls, faeries, and other strange beings from Inuit oral history, 191 pp, p. 134-135. (image source: @another_maker on Instagram)

[tarzanwriter]

When "Tarzan Triumphs" 91943) became a box office hit, producer Sol Lesser followed it with "Tarzan's Desert Mystery" (1943), casting Nancy Kelly as a traveling magician--in reality, a secret agent working to foil a Nazi plot--who enlists Tarzan's aid. For more about this film see "Tarzan on Film."

[smbhax]

From "The Beasts!" in Journey into Mystery #36, July 1956. Paul Hodge pencils & inks. Photoshop color reduction.

Info from Grand Comics Database.

[mater-argento]

Japanese poster for b-movie "The Great Spider Invasion" (1975)

[nidamae-paint]

Bones USA -- 7051: Giant Spider (2)

Bones Classic -- 77025: Giant Spider (2)

I think these are the newer USA material but I'm not sure. I decided to go fun and unique with my color choices for these. Also makes it easier for the GM to track hit points when using more then one.