#ungoliant

[zishiyao]

The shadows of Telperion and Laurelin wavered upon the wall. Melkor showed the Darkness where they stood.

[kisses-in-the-void]

Good for her

[vildo]

This is the kinda shit I wanna see Ungoliant do

[outofangband]

There’s something so ominous about the repeated notes throughout Tolkien’s histories that Ungoliant took the form of a spider, the obvious implication being that she isn’t one, she’s something else, something worse.

In Morgoth’s Ring it says she takes the form of a spider so she can weave “webs of strangling gloom” to catch light.

We actually get similar language with Glaurung who is repeatedly described as a spirit in the form of a great, wingless dragon. But though this does raise fascinating questions about Glaurung’s nature and the precise mechanisms through which he was created, we do at least know he was created in Angband by Morgoth

With Ungoliant, there is so such detail. Her first mention in The Silmarillion speaks of her through heresay, what is believed of her without offering a definitive answer. It was said that she “descended from the darkness that lies about Arda” and while Melkor sought her service early, her lack of allegiance to him began long before the darkening. Indeed there are similarities in the way Ungoliant’s “unlight” and the Shadow Morgoth casts are described

Ungoliant’s horror comes primarily from her relationship to light and her hunger. The Unlight she creates is not just darkness, it is thick with a paralysing, venomous despair

It’s worth noting that this phrasing, that the Eldar knew not where she came from, is repeated in every draft of the darkening as well as the official Silmarillion. And of course this unknowing only adds to the horror she inspires

Anyways just something I’m thinking about; I really love entities like Ungoliant and the Watcher in the Water, and what their existence means about the larger legendarium

Related post

[modern-exorcism]

Morgoth Overpowered by Ungoliant

[riquenti]

never talk to strangers

[holy-marmalade]

Thuringwethil, Ungoliant and Fluithuin

Design notes :

Thuringwethil : Full on vampire lady, I was planning to give her black hair but the red won, maybe she’s copying Sauron. I went for some Italian Renaissance vibes with the hair horns and the gown, also some plague related motif. Unfortunately she was the last one colored so I was a bit tired by that point.

Ungoliant : Gave her six arms for the spider look, as well as some unnatural dark purple skin. And some galaxy hair, mostly for the void vibes. I went for a more modern design for her dress so she looks more out of this world.

Fluithuin : @goldenatreides wrote a fic about Fluithuin being Goldberry’s sister so I had to give her some river vibes. And blackberries. I had some trouble with her face so I gave her a translucent skin that let visible her skull and her wolfish jaw.

[ttrtru]

Did Sauron have Shelob as a middle-finger to Morgoth?

Like, I doubt Morgoth liked spiders in any form with all the Ungoliant stuff.

And here's Sauron taming a spider, "I'm superior to these creatures!".

Yes it's not as huge or powerful as Ungoiliant but I think he's saying something.