The Life of Shelob & the Spiders of Mirkwood | Tolkien Explained
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- čas přidán 24. 08. 2024
- Shelob was the dark terror of Cirith Ungol - consuming all unfortunate enough to cross her path. Not only did she serve as a guard of the passage into Mordor, but her offspring would bring terror to the forest of Mirkwood. Today, we cover Shelob's life. In the First Age, she lived in Nan Dungortheb - the Valley of Dreadful Death - where Beren would miraculously cross to eventually meet Luthien. Later, she flees to the mountains that would be her home, outside Mordor. We cover these early days through her fight with Samwise Gamgee and the possibilities of her ultimate fate.
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#shelob #tolkien #lordoftherings
What's the scariest creature/character in Middle-earth?
Turtle-fish
The balrog. Period. I wonder if they can understand elvish or common speech
Bard the bowman
Dwarven Women
@@Kansanite They're like banelings in Starcraft when you unburrow
I bet Shelob is glad that her mother, who almost killed Melkor himself, isn't around any more to see her defeated by a hobbit.
Yep.... Ruined the family reputation.
@@Enerdhil to be fair, he was a mighty gardener hobbit with the light of a Silmaril
@@azaram8133 mighty indeed. That Samwise.
Also the mother, died by devouring herself coz of hunger xD
@@azaram8133 yeah but her mom ate the trees which the light of the Silmarils are made from. Shelob really didn’t live up to the family rep. That phial would’ve been a snack for mommy.
The description of Shelob is absolutely one of the most disgusting monster descriptions I've ever read in any book. Brilliant picture painted by Tolkien. Always gets me.
As someone who is not a fan of spiders...I completely agree!
😂 same
Shadow of War Developers: *reads that description* "Soooo...a sexy lady?"
I was eating lunch while watching the video 😟
@@ThisAdamGuy I’m gonna give them every single benefit of doubt and say maybe they were inspired by Ungoliant being described as “taking the form of a spider” implying that she could maybe be a shapeshifter. Perhaps they figured her daughter would be the same. Or at least thought it would be a good excuse to include her as a character
"his cat he calls her, but she owns him not" clearly, tolkien understood the true relationship between cat and servent. or, owner.
Once again, I feel there is little doubt Sam is probably the most badass character in The Lord of the Rings. He kills Shelob, he dons the Ring and then freely gives it up, he carries Frodo up Mount Doom. He becomes the leader of the Shire for years, one of his daughters is Lady Arwen's personal handmaiden. And he sails into the West.
Not too mention he fights of Orcs & Goblins with a frying pan, takes on a bunch of Uruks at Cirith Ungol and wins, fights against ringwraiths, even threatens Strider when he first comes across him, and argues with Gollum / Smeagol regarding the etiquette of good food...brilliant. 'PO-TA-TOES, boil em, mash em, stick em in a stew'. 😂👏🔥⚔🎬
@@jamiebuzzeo4842 Yup, not bad for a gardener.
And not once be he droppin’ no eaves
Shelobs kill is unconfirmed, though. She may have survived.
@@johan.ohgren Better than anyone else ever managed to do to her
Shelob is scary as hell and I am convinced that Tolkien just put her in to flex how good of a writer he is, sewing such a vivid terror into our minds
He was a known arachnophobe, as well. I think he was bitten by a spider as a child and he feared them ever since.
Well, no. Shelob is a spawn of Ungoliant and thus ties into the mythology that Tolkien has been already writing since WW1.
@@macree01 Tolkien is bitten by a snake when he was little instead of a spider and bam... Shelob is a Snake as is Ungoliant
I thought Tolkien put spiders into The Hobbit just to scare his son Michael, who had a fear of them. Tolkien himself was bitten by a tarantula in South Africa when he was still a small boy. That may have helped to tap into the dark terror, but he himself did not develop any dislike of spiders, which I find remarkable.
@@edwardness7497 that is so very wrong
One of the most exhausting days I had while we were filming Lord of the Rings, was being "inside" Shelob's belly attacking Sam (yes, we built her belly full sized at Weta Workshop) controlling her stinger with both hands, while "palpitating" her underbelly with my feet. I sure earned my Lembas that day!
jesus that must have been amazing!!!!!!
If I was able to do that I could die happy
odd flex, whatev bruh
@@heyheytaytay - I have ZERO idea what that highly articulate response must mean?
@@DocTinfoil was it always the same ? or did you guys go through multiple takes with different models ?
Tolkien: So, she's 'spider-like', but has glowing eyes, horns, out thrust head with short stalk-like neck and a huge swollen bag of a body. Each leg ends with a claw, there's steel wire hair on the them and she's black with livid marks, except her belly which is pale and reeks. I mean, I could go on...
All Artists: Great big spider gotcha.
Tolkien: *sighs*
Yeah it's sad how boring the mainstream designs are
“Most like a spider” not ‘spider-like’, very different images. Plus he says the only difference between her form and regular spiders was her size. Nobody can know exactly what Tolkien had visioned her looking like, but I think it’s safe to say giant spider is pretty close and still conveys the terror and evil he was going for.
@@luke8536 I'm guessing Tolkien wasn't a big fan of Spiders. Of course I'm not either.
@@smithgdwg Tolkien actually didn't mind them, avoided killing them and tried to set them free outside his home. But being a good writer means he knew how to give the audience a depiction of something to be feared. Whether the person fear spiders or not is irrelevant when it is the size of your house and is not frugal in what it eats.
Well, when I was a child first watching the Peter Jackson movies, I remember noticing that spiders inject venom with fangs, not with a stinger like a wasp/ant, meaning the Peter Jackson interpretation isn't exactly 100% a spider technically either. I think it's okay for artists to mostly focus on making it a spider.
Do you think Sam had war flashbacks whenever Rosie asked him to kill a spider in their home?
imagine her asking him again, only for him to find Shelob in the living room sitting there like "listen here you little shit".
Sam: I've seen bigger
I imagine Sam grabbing the lamp and saying "you will not come here again... come on and finish it" (after scaring away the spider) "ha, back!" (with lamp feints) lol
No way, Sam would have picked up his pint-mug, grabbed a slice of parchment and then stabbed it to death with Sting.
I don't believe he would kill it, but more put it outside and have words, then send it on it's way. In all actuality he didn't actually go for the kill with Shelob and finished her off, he just badly wounded her then basically told her to f**k off. 🤔😂👍🎬
Props to the Woodmen of Mirkwood for living among horrors like the brood of Shelob. They must have been the hardest of the hard to have chased off the orcs of the gladden fields and lived on frontiers where giant spiders roam. I always picture them like the fur trappers of "Revenant" fame.
I've heard that Tolkien, as a child, was bitten by a tarantula back in the days when he lived in South Africa. Probably he never forgot.
To tell you the truth, Tolkien was never afraid of spiders, even as a kid. It was because of his son's fear of spiders, not his. Glad if helped.
It was a snake
Aracnophobia is one of the most common phobias on mankind, even more common than ophidiophobia (fear of snakes), despite snakes be far more dangerous than spiders.
On the contrary, he said he had no recollection of it.
@@ZDProds-c8p No, it was a tarantula.
I love how Sting got its name from defeating shelobs children, while ending up being the very same sword to almost kill her herself
It’s the spiders only weakness. The sword is made from mythril. And the light inside mythril never fades.
This is why the elves sought out the mythril from the dwarves.
The spiders devour and feed on light
But couldn’t consume the light from mythril.
Hence why it’s their only weakness.
A sword worthy of being wielded by a hobbit.
Shelob's lair is probably my favourite chapter of the books. Such a beautifully written sequence of suspense, terror and mystery
My favourite chapter of all 3 books of LOTR is Many meetings , the description of Imladris is just so enchanting 🤣 and the Shelob passages give off disgust and fear
As far as I know, the spider bite in his childhood wasn’t his source for all these eight legged monstrosity’s in middle earth. If I remember correctly ist was because his son Christophers fear of spiders, which inspired him to use these as villains.
Exactly
That's pretty gnarly as a dad move. "Hey, son, what do you hate most?" "Spiders." "Great! You're going to love this new scene I wrote in The Hobbit!"
Shelob was actually the first creature in a book that actually made me feel fear. Nothing will compare with the first time reading thr way Tolkien describes it and just the whole setting. Easily my favorite reading experience of all time.
Same here…not the balrog, the watcher in the water, the Nazgûl’s, not the wargs, or orcs scared me…But Shelob had me covering my eyes every time she was on scene when I was a child….It’s not just the fact she’s an evil disgusting spider….But how she is so quick, and sneaky, while being so huge and Monstrous!
I had always seen Shelob as a symbol on spider the black widow as the black widow shelob just like the black widow eats the male spider after they have given her the offspring.
Notice how Tolkien describes a cat as owning their "masters" "His cat he calls her, but she owned him not" Tolkien for a long time did not like cats, as others have mentioned Huan was set to fight an evil giant cat initially; however, at some point Tolkien's family took in a cat and his opinion of them changed. He even has a poem where he pays respect to the mentality of a cat. Not saying he came to love cats, but I think he understood them better.
The cat Huan fights in the original story was the Literary Predecessor to Sauron called Telvido.
Ooh, I didn't know the rest of the story! As a Tolkien fan and a cat lover I'm glad.
@The Cornered Luchador I do not like cats but I love the unknown the fear of it somewhat excites me to say this for the whole is to fall so short of a ladder unknown
No, that' not what he is saying. He's using "own" in the sense of "acknowledge or admit." Own up to. She didn't acknowledge him as her master. It goes without saying she didn't own him in the sense of possession.
One furrball to rule them all
"His cat he called her, but she owned him not"
Ah, I see Tolkien knew what was up ^.^
One of my biggest complaints about the movie adaptation, was that they did not make Shelob formidable enough. When you think of how small the hobbits were in relation to other races, and her size in relation to them, it did not look as if she was much bigger than a large bear. To the point where I think four or five orcs working together could have easily defeated her. Plus she was not that much bigger than the spiders depicted in The Hobbit trilogy which should have been much smaller.
Part of the 'adapted to fit your screen' mentality
Well also the light didn't affect her that much so that's compensation. The point was to make her believable while keeping the threat similar.
Appreciate your quality presentation of these creatures of nightmares.
Thanks to the videogame Shadow of War, we finally have an answer to the age-old question, “What if Shelob was *sexy*?”
Gotta say going into Shelob’s Lair in LOTRO was an amazing moment and a nice way to follow up to that untold portion of the story.
"....Such as beren had once fought in the mountains of terror in doriath". That reference itself is chilling as well as understanding how old shelob is and how long she has survived as the last child of ungoliant who fled ered gorgoroth
Shelob is also the word for a female spider. As Tolkien admitted in a letter to his son, Shelob "is of course only 'she + lob'", lob being , influenced by Old English loppe or "spider".
She's always hungry and orcs don't taste very nice now, do they precious?
She hungers for sweeter meats
Not nice at all 🤢
Yet gollum sings sweetly when he was fixing to eat a goblin that he had just killed with a rock.
Idk for some reason Carcharoth, the great wolf of Angband, always scared me the most.
Tolkien's description of him, especially of how he was raised, is both horrifying and incredible.
@@KeppyKep and how he wasn't afraid when Beren held up the Silmaril... Definitely a moment in the story that made me gasp
@@deew187 That moment when Beren lost his hand was obviously little bit copypasted from Norse mythology, with Týr and Fenrir
Its insanely beautiful how he writes tolkien.
Like it was a world that he found and write stuff like he never found out so he could use it later on in later stories.
Its beautiful.
Very intelligent man.
Shelob was the second most terrifying spider, but Ungoliant her mother was the number one most terrifying spider that even the second most powerful evil dark lord Morgoth was terrified of her.
Only after devouring the Trees though. Before that, he saw her as a useful tool he could control. But the massive influx of divine power from eating the trees made her even stronger than Morgoth temporarily.
@@custink22 Melkor was already severely weakened by then, but he was still the most powerful Valar.
@@fathel9221 he was still more powerful than Ungoliant until she ate the trees.
Morgoth was the first most powerful darklord
@@seamushayday1222 You don't say?
Great video. I love the direct reading from The Two Towers to illustrate the interactions of Sauron and Shelob. I'm very much looking forward towards your video of Ungoliant. She's probably the scariest terror in all of recorded history.
Indeed, be fascinating to know if Tolkien ever sorta explained what Ungoliant, and thus her offspring, actually were
@@MLaak86 Tolkien doesn't really explain what Ungoliant really was. Her true origin story is unknown. Not even the Valar knew where she originally came from. It is thought that she likely came from the Darkness itself surrounding Arda, but it's also possible that she was a corrupted Maia that came to Arda in the form of a spider. Personally I expect her to be like Tom Bombadil. Tom Bombadil's origin is also a mystery, but I feel he is most likely a result or by-product of the song of the Ainur. I feel that Ungoliant is the same but on the opposite, a result or by-product of the discord in the song started by Melkor. Tolkien does mention her ending; she likely killed herself by devouring herself to ease her ever-growing hunger.
@@jaimy_games I'd be most comfortable with her being a personification of 'eldritch' darkness, perhaps what 'was' before Eru began creation, especially since she was a threat to Melkor after eating the sap of the Two Trees - that just seems too powerful for even an empowered Maia to ever become.
I really like the depiction of Shelob in shadow of war because it makes her so much more complex and a very likeable character
Ew
That's the problem. She's not supposed to be humanized or likable. She's a monster. A beast incapable of reason. At best, she's a glutton, at worst she's aware of what she does and enjoys it. I like "Shelob" but the character in Shadow isn't Shelob from LOTR
Ah, yes. Sauron's cat. His giant, eight-legged, many-eyed, cat. The terror of arachnophobes everywhere. I'd rather face down a Giant Frostbite Spider from The Elder Scrolls than fight with Shelob.
Cat is goot metaphore for shelob, because she has her own will
I got a mod to replace those with bears because I am terrified of spiders.
Fun fact: Sauron literary predecessor was a Giant Cat called “Telvido the Prince of Cats”.
I'd rather die instantly than even look at those spiders XD
And as with a cat his "ownership" was more theoretical than actual
I'm late to the argument. But Sam's assault on Shelob is one of the most, if not The Most valiant acts in ALL of Middle Earth. Born purely out of Love, and HOPELESS in it's outcome....He defends His friend & master....to the DEATH. If death it must be. But Masterwise Sam Gamgee PREVAILS BEYOND HOPE, and rescues his friend & master. Of ALL the battles in Middle Earth.......this one....above all others.....brings me to tears.
To me. This is the mightiest battle ever fought in Tolkien's stories.
The only one that compares is Fingolfin taking on Morgoth, but we all know how that turned out.
Looking forward to the Ungoliant video (this one was great too)
Every time I watch one of your videos I am just overwhelmed with the sheer quality of everything you have presented. These videos are the absolute upper echelon of what lore videos can be in any and all topics. Superbly, masterfully, fascinatingly done, my dear friend.
Sam also stabbed her in one of her eyes, and cut off one of her claw-feet. Dude was straight gangster.
Samwise the Strong!!!
There really is just something so special about the way Tokien describes the monsters of Middle Earth...
Ten years between meeting Shelob and making good on his promise to bring her food? I guess to a multiple-millenia old beast, 10 years is nothing.
If Smeagol was nicknamed Shelob's Sneak by the orcs. I can imagine it probably happened more than once, why else would orcs even know of the ordeal.
Moreover the nickname itself.
Pretty sure he delivers her food several times before lord of the rings takes place because they have a meeting in two towers or return of the king where she tries to kill him but he says he's bringing her more than just food. Think it takes place during the secret stairs when he sneaks off.
I would love a video on the nameless things in moria and what they were, awesome video!
Always a great way to start my weekend! This is a perfect Halloween tale..
Thanks Matt!
Always a pleasure! Thanks for watching!
I find it hard to believe that King Ellesar would hear how Shelob nearly killed his beloved hobbits, and not react with decisive wrath. Had Tolkien written of the matter, I suspect Ellesar or Faramir would ride out at first good opportunity with a host of warriors, and burn out Shelob's den, making certain she was destroyed in the process.
They would’ve all been devoured or tricked.
Shelob was a lot like Medusa in deceiving men.
Despite being hunted, Aragorn survived for so long in his life as he was cautious. Doing something like that would get him killed pretty quick
Poor Shelob, stuck in the depths of despair for ages with no cat to keep her company, or maybe Tevildo is down there with her. 🕷️🐈
Not sure if you will see this as I'm sure you have many notifications for comments. But I must say thank you for this content. I have only recently found your channel and have been binge watching for days now. Please keep up the good work and thank you.
Don't know if Amazon's production covers this age but i'd LOVE to see a fight between Ungoliant and some balrogs brough to animation.
I think they're doing a Second Age series, aren't they? First Age was the age of Morgoth, as told in the Silmarillion, which I don't think anyone has acquired the rights for, so no films or shows about it. Second Age is the rise of Sauron, who had been Morgoth's lieutenant.
Wanna know how badass Morgoth was? He had an army of balrogs, dragons, and Sauron.
@@shaunholt The latest image for it shows the Two Trees of Valinor, so we might get flashbacks.
Shelob is the source of the only nightmare I remember.
We always appreciate your hard work and dedication towards these videos. Love you guys. Love from Sri Lankan fan of you from Sri Lanka 🇱🇰🤝🏴.
I love your vids
If only Frodo had a can of Raid Bug Spray.
Galadriel's idea of bug spray was the light of Ëarandil, apparently
The scariest creature of Middle Earth IMO:
1. Ungoliant
2. Balrogs
3. The Watcher in the Water
4. Shelob
Good list.... but I'd have Dragons after Balrogs. You can avoid the caves and the water but the Dragons can come to you!!
I'd say the creatures of the 'Dead Marshes' deserve to be on that list like...scary...👏🌃⚔🎬
@@jamiebuzzeo4842 I agree with you about the scary .. but 'The Dead Marshes' is remains of souls that died in a battle.... not creatures.
@@jamiebuzzeo4842 kinda like
'The Walking Dead'
...but kinda 'The Swimming Souls'
For me its
1. BALROGS
2. UNGOLIANT
3. DRAGONS
4. WEREWOLVES/WARGS
5. SHELOB
The reason I put Ungoliant second is that when she was at her "peak" just a few balrogs came and f$#ked her up. Literally sent her running into the shadows of Ered Gorgoroth. They sent many many many a creature running with their presence in battle. Yes Gandalf defeated one, but being weak from thousands of years underground and then having its fire quenched from the fall at the bridge and Gandalf using all his knowledge and magic to kill it, thus killing himself really sets up how powerful and terrifying Balrogs, even one let alone a squadron, really are.
Sam is really the guy, I'm not ashamed to admit that I'm afraid of big spiders.
I cant stand spiders in general after an ill fated camping trip, and especially not big spiders. But that said, id still fight shelob, because the only other choice is to lose my friend and die myself. Sam didnt have anywhere to run, and wasnt gonna leave frodo behind.
It was bittersweet and poetic justice that some of last remnants of the pure light from the Trees of Valinor would be used in battle against the last of Ungoliant's children.
Great video! I would love to see a Fingolfin video and his battle with Morgoth!
Definitely! Fingolfin is certainly on my list!
@@NerdoftheRings the best middle earth content out there! Keep up the great work!
@@NerdoftheRings Could you also make one about "The New Shadow" from Tolkien's letters?
I believe that the children of Shelob in Mirkwood were actually driven out, because I believe the much smaller spiders of today are the giants’ descendants, as do the eagles of today likely descend from the Greats.
Shelob was the most interesting character for me in the books as a child.
I think Ungolianth wasn't just mother of Spider-like creatures such as Shelob, but mother of all insects that roam Arda. This is my opinion because Tolkien did state Shelob did have many other Body parts from other Insects we in real life see thus making it interesting to suggest that every insect is a sub species of Shelob and her brood. And overall opinion of Insects in Arda just strikes me as Alien-like creatures that do not belong in this world.
You rock! Love these vids.
Thanks for watching & subscribing!!
Seriously misunderstood creatures, spiders are. - Hagrid
Imagine if we teleported Hagrid to shelob
*laughter* Oh, no question, it would be a case of love at first sight. At least for Hagrid.
"Harry, she's so *PRETTY,* ain't she a gurt big beauty!?!"
“A vast bloated bag swaying and sagging between her legs; it’s great bulk was black, blotched with livid marks”
Sounds like Shelob’s packing
As always, a great video. :)
It is perhaps worth mentioning, that during the confrontation between Shelob and Hobbits, something "higher" is going on (as usual in the Lord of the Rings). Before his final fight with Shelob, Sam sort of "prays" to Varda, the Vala who created the stars and the two trees of Valinor, despite the fact that he doesn't speak Sindarin - the words just come to him. Some higher power gives Sam strength and improves his will to fight.
The other important aspect, perhaps THE most important aspect in this scene, is the fact that the light in Frodo's phial is the light of the Silmaril and therefore the light of the two trees of Valinor (which frightens and hurts all evil beings). In other words: Shelob is beaten by the light of the trees her mother had destroyed. Isn't that a great story arc?
Fantastic content as always,I could watch your videos all day!
Definitely a Ungoliant video is needed, and one about the Great Eagles would be interesting too 🙂
Shelob is a demon in her own way, for real. Though I think I would rather face her than a Balrog any day. Congrats to Samwise the Brave for wounding her and annihilating our worst fears
I would rather face a Balrog. Yeesh, spiders creep me out!! 😖
@@Steel-101 indeed
I dont think Sam actually kills her though. But true I would rather take a literal fallen supernatural being than a spider
Also ,speaking of balrogs, how do they die? I thought they were immortal like Gandalf?
@@Mr_Doogz immortal means you cannot die of old age, you still can be slain, the only reason Gandalf survived is because the Valar sent him back to finish his job in Middle Earth, otherwise he would not have. So Balrogs can be slain.
Every time I get to Shelob's part in the books I get creeped right out. When I first saw Shelob in the movies I was disappointed because it was just a big spider. None of the malice She had in the books. I understand it's difficult to bring that into the movies but there was not even an attempt, it seems.
How to make people scared of Spiders by J.R.R Tolkien
Tolkien creates the best: Nature, Dog, Spiders, and more...and why shape how I see the world!!!
You are my favorite Lotr channel by far. Been listening to your podcast also, great stuff!
I just found this channel
Im like wow.
I am now extremely hyped about new lotr series.
Hope nothing less than game of thrones, but should be even better.
I'm reminded of Norman from _Mighty Max_ being deathly afraid of spiders.
Duuuude, I just finished reading The Two Towers last night. Perfect timing :)
“… and Debbie”
I live for that.
Shelob is part of why spiders are my favorite animal. Shelob is great.
"A terrifying monster, born from the darkness, with an appearance so horrendous and disgusting and that will never leave your brain until your death. It was feared by all of the Middle Earth and no one survived her encounter. But there is a truth that must be said. The story of the one time she escaped a gardener's raging heart."
I’m listening to this at 3 am before I get out of the car for work. Ducking petrified
Maybe in one of your later videos, you can discuss the earliest versions of the Legendarium? I really love The Book of Lost Tales, and they are some very interesting manuscripts (or typescripts ;D)! Great video as usual! :D
shelob is one of the coolest charc for me in lotr mainly because of the game shadow of war.
My favourite part is that they don't tell you what happened it feels more like I'm living in the age when it's like that
I found this and several other channels just looking for perspectives on Ungoliant, Shelob, and the great spiders.
amazing as always. youre the best tolkien channel my friend.
from start to end. the voices, the pictures, how long the quates/pics are, the number of ads during the video..
youre the best!
Informative video as always, so thank you Matt! I shall be waiting patiently for that Ungoliant video in the future. And speaking of Ungoliant, If I'm not mistaken, wasn't it only made possible for Ungoliant to overpower Melkor as easily as she did due to consuming the light of Telperion and Laurelin thus greatly amplifying her power and perhaps most importantly, Melkor having already become vastly diminished from infusing most of his power and essence into the very fabric of Arda and into his countless servants that followed him, including probably Sauron and his balrogs and quite possibly Ea as well during the beginning days of the world's creation prior to arriving in Arda? Or so I've read in Volume 10 titled Morgoth's ring from the History of Middle-earth series so if I'm inaccurate regarding the latter, please correct me on that front since I'm still relatively new to the Legendarium. I apologize for any grammar issues I may have made since English isn't exactly my Mother Tongue.
You are correct. Morgoth was weakened from his deeds and Ungoliant was bigger and more powerful from consuming
I remember playing the LotR games on gamecube and fighting Shelob. First time I was ever legit scared at something in a game.
I'm a recent subscriber but I've watched lord of the rings since I was a toddler and it amazing and you gave me that wonder and want to read the books again. Thank you
Make a video about beorn please, love these
I would love to hear your take on the version of Shelob seen in the game "Shadow of Mordor".
Please dont...
Shadow of War
Actually, if i remember correctly, shelob isn't "seen" in that game, but her description is pretty much the same as in the book...
@@thomashaeyen6942 The comment probably means Shadow of War, where Shelob is a sexy magic-wielding shapeshifter lady.
In the hungarian translation Shelob was referred to as "Banyapók", which essentially translates to "witchspider". That combined with her ability to speak made me imagine it as this half witch half spider entity. Similar to Quelaag from Dark Souls. Was kinda bummed when I learned it was just a big spider.
I had no idea shelob was so old! Great vid and keep up the good work also can u make a video on the people of forodwaith
I am very glad Jackson gave Shelob a stinger. Don’t think I’d have the nerves for watching Shelob bite into frodo
Thank you! You have the best videos!!
i love watching all these videos. such neat backstory presented really well :)
In one of Lord of the Rings online MMO latest raids' the hero/player gets to fight Shelob/Ungwetari after defeating an Ungoledain army and boss (spider-men, the last of their kinds), a grodbog queen, and Rukhor the pale herald, with the help of Celeborn, Legolas and a dwarf named Atli Spider-Bane after having hunted hints of a pact between her and a lieutenant of Sauron, Rukhor the pale herald (one of the raid bosses) which had planned to unleash her on the world. At the end Atli the dwarf severes one of her arms and she falls into an abyss, presumably dead for good. It is said that Celeborn had hunted the great spiders for years. All not proper cannon but interesting indeed.
"This tale does not tell" has the same sting as "Please stand by"
I love your videos man just found you scrolling and now my fav channel
As of this comment being written, this video is the last in the Third Age playlist, and having watched it, I've just finished with all three playlists on the Ages of Middle Earth.
This has been a really good introduction to the channel, and has helped me brush up on my Tolkien in preparation for another attempt at the Silmarillion (I got about half way through around six years ago).
I'll definitely be watching more videos not included in the three playlists, and I'll be keeping an eye out for future uploads! Keep up the good work!
I love the idea(non-canon) that the world was filled with absolutely giant animals and monsters prior to the first age.
Despite covering spiders, this guy's voice still sounds like an ASMR video.
Can you do one about the watcher in the water or the nameless things in middle-earth?
How can you talk about nameless things? They are unnamed and undescribed. You can't make a video about almost nothing, just a 3-minute video about the Watcher.
@@Enerdhil He could talk about them in a Ungoliant's video. Because both are know to be Melkor's envy.
The Watcher in the Water is believed to be one of the Nameless things of Moria.
@@josemigueldeohansel6062
Ungoliant is a named thing. The unnamed things are never described. We don't know what they are or what they look like. We have no idea if they are even evil at heart. You can't make a video of nothing but wild speculation and fan art fantasies. There is no point in making it, and even less point in watching it. What do you expect to see?
@@josemigueldeohansel6062
A three minute video on the Watcher?
Tolkien had and unconscious fear of spiders for a reason. As a baby growing up in South Africa while playing in the garden of his home. He reached under an overturned wheel barrow and found a baboon spider, which is a very large type of tarantula. It bit Tolkien in the hand and because of his young age the venom almost killed him. Tolkien has stated he had no memory of this,but the story was relayed by a housemaid/caregiver that witnessed the incident. This would explain WHY spiders play so much in Tolkien's works.
I think it's cause his son was scared of spiders and the Hobbit/LOTR was in part a fairy tale for his kids.
Nope.
"I knew that the way [for Frodo, Sam, and Gollum] was guarded by a Spider. And if that has anything to do with my being stung by a tarantula when a small child, people are welcome to the notion (supposing the improbable, that any one is interested). I can only say that I remember nothing about it, should not know it if I had not been told; and I do not dislike spiders particularly, and have no urge to kill them. I usually rescue those whom I find in the bath!" -- J.R.R. Tolkien
Cant wait for the Ungoliant video
Can we call her existence actually "life"?
She's the ultimate predator causing darkness, misery and her overall purpose is to end life.
I believe it was stated she actually hates life as a whole and to only serve her own good - or rather evil,
which is the reverse to live.
I just wish more was known to what her ultimate fate was - or if Sir Tolkien had an idea about her end.
Amazing!
I just finished listening to The Two Towers on Audible (first time in 20 years) today and texted my friend 'Sam is a BADASS' right before watching this. Shelob was no joke and Sam put the hurting on her. He also hacked off a claw IIRC.
Another great deep dive!
YOU ARE GREAT at WHAT YOU DO !!
Shelob in the Peter Jackson movie was scary like a tiger is scary, but not terrifying in the way that a centipede is; Tolkien's description had me expecting both. Movie-Shelob looked like a jumping spider, and they're adorable! I think it would have been better if she was *slightly* more anthropomorphized--just the littlest bit--and "uncanny," with the pallid underside, etc.
Sam decides to get into bug extermination after returning from destroying the one ring lol