Wereworms

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Wereworms were mythical creatures in Middle-earth.

History

In the stories of hobbits, [1] [ self-published source? ] the were-worms were supposedly terrible monsters that made their home in the Last Desert very far east of the Shire. In the tales of The Hobbit , the Wereworms were likened to Dragons and serpents. To Hobbits they were memories of creatures that stalked the Earth during the Wars of Beleriand. [2]

Contents

In the early drafts of the book, J. R. R. Tolkien had associated these wereworms with the Gobi Desert. [3] John D. Rateliff's The History of The Hobbit links this reference to Mongolian death worms.

Adaptations

These creatures appeared in The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies . Apparently they were used only for tunnelling and not for fighting because they did not take part in the ensuing battle. They were thought to have tunneled through the Misty Mountains and the Blue Mountains (Ered Luin), although tunneling is known to be mostly the work of Dwarves.

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References

  1. ↑ A Tolkien English Glossary A Guide to Old Uncommon and Archaic Words Used in the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings. Lulu.com. p. 14. ISBN   9780557255788.
  2. ↑ Tolkien: The Illustrated Encyclopaedia. Simon and Schuster. 1991. p. 229. ISBN   9780684839790.
  3. ↑ Robert B Durham. Modern Folklore. ISBN   9781312909694.


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