| Ungoliant | |
|---|---|
| Tolkien character | |
 The Dark Lord Morgoth facing Ungoliant, fan art | |
| In-universe information | |
| Book(s) | The Silmarillion (1977) The Two Towers (1954, mentioned) |
Ungoliant (Sindarin pronunciation:[ʊŋˈɡɔljant]) is a fictional character inJ. R. R. Tolkien'slegendarium, described as an evil spirit in the form of a giant spider. Her name means "dark spider" inSindarin. She is mentioned briefly inThe Lord of the Rings, and plays a supporting role inThe Silmarillion, enabling theDark Lord Melkor to destroy theTwo Trees of Valinor and darken the world.
Her origins are unclear, as Tolkien's writings do not explicitly reveal her nature, other than that she is from "before the world"; this may mean she is aMaia, an immortal spirit. Scholars have likened the story of Ungoliant and Melkor toJohn Milton'sParadise Lost, whereSin conceives a child, Death, bySatan: Sin and Death are always hungry. There are limited parallels in Norse myth: while there are female giants, they are not usually spiders, though the Devil appears as a spider in an early Icelandic tale, and a female giant in theProse Edda is namedNótt ("Night"), she and her brood dwelling in and personifying darkness.
Ungoliant means 'dark spider' in Tolkien'sinvented language ofSindarin. It is aloan word fromQuenya:Ungwë liantë[ˈuŋwɛliˈantɛ].[1]In early versions, recorded inMorgoth's Ring, Tolkien writesUngoliantë.[T 1]
Tolkien's original writings say that Ungoliant was a primeval spirit of night, named Móru,[T 3] who aidedMelkor in his attack upon theTwo Trees of Valinor, draining them of their sap after Melkor had injured them. She also consumed the reserves of light from the wells ofVarda. Afterward the light of the trees persisted only within theSilmarils ofFëanor. Ungoliant helped Melkor evade theValar by shrouding them both in the impenetrable darkness she produced.[T 2]
Melkor had promised Ungoliant to yield anything she wished in return for her aid, but betrayed this promise by withholding the Silmarils, and summoned theBalrogs to repel her.[T 4] Ungoliant fled to theEred Gorgoroth inBeleriand. At some point she gave birth to the Giant Spiders, including the characterShelob ofThe Lord of the Rings. InThe Silmarillion, it is stated that when she went into hiding her hunger was such that she would mate with other spiders only to devour them later, with her offspring used as food once fully grown.The Silmarillion suggests that Ungoliant's unremitting hunger may perhaps have driven her todevour herself.[T 4][2]
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According to the Tolkien scholar John Wm. Houghton, the story of Ungoliant andMorgoth is comparable to the account inJohn Milton'sParadise Lost in whichSin conceives a child, Death, bySatan. Both Sin and Death are always hungry; Satan says he will feed them, and leads them to the world.[3]
Joe Abbott, writing inMythlore, comments that Ungoliant and Shelob are similar monsters, "product of a singular concept".[4] He observes that they arefemale giants, something found in Northern folklore. Those are not usually in spider form, but he notes an early Icelandic example where "the Devil appears as a spider and has his leg cut off".[4][5] On Ungoliant's race, he notes Tolkien's remark inThe Theft of Melko (inThe Book of Lost Tales) that "Mayhap she was bred of mists and darkness on the confines of the Shadowy seas, in the utter dark that came between the overthrow of the Lamps and the kindling of the Trees, butmore like she has always been [Abbott's italics]; and she it is who loveth still to dwell in that black placetaking the guise of an unlovely spider."[4][T 3] He draws attention to Tolkien's suggestions that Ungoliant has always existed and that she is simply choosing to appear (in the "guise") as a spider, and states that this means she must be an immortalMaia, a spirit-being able to take on physical form.[4] He offers the parallel of Nott ("Night"), an Icelandic female giant in the "Gilfaginning" in theProse Edda ofSnorri Sturluson. Nott was dark, like all her kindred, just as Ungoliant and all her brood dwell in and "personify" darkness.[4]
InMythlore, Candice Fredrick and Sam McBride write that Ungoliant and the lesser spiderShelob signify purely irrational evil, "wholly preoccupied with their own lusts; they operate on the pleasure principle."[6] They contrast this with the Dark Lords Melkor and Sauron, who, while also wholly evil, possess the power of rational thought, "evil guided by rationality".[6] Thus, Melkor can think long-term, exploiting other beings to achieve his goals, whereas Ungoliant chooses "instant gratification".[6] They further assert that the spiders' irrationality required Tolkien to make them female, while the Dark Lords' analytical thought identified them as male.[6]
In a version ofOf the Darkening of Valinor written afterThe Lord of the Rings, and not included inThe Silmarillion, Tolkien added that "[Ungoliantë] would not dare the perils of Aman, or the power of the dreadful Lords, without a great reward; for she feared the eyes of Manwë and Varda more even than the wrath of Melkor."[T 5] Kristine Larsen, inMallorn, comments that this mention ofVarda's power over the great spider is unique.[7]
Ungoliant has been the subject of severalheavy metal music songs. Her conflict withMorgoth over theSilmaril was the subject ofBlind Guardian's song "Into the Storm", from their 1998 albumNightfall in Middle-Earth.[8] Austrianblack metal bandSummoning had a song called "Ungolianth" on their 1995 albumMinas Morgul.[9] On their 2006 albumThe Morrigan's Call, the IrishCeltic metal bandCruachan featured a song called "Ungoliant", as well as one named after Shelob.[10]
Ungoliant is mentioned in the 2012 filmThe Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, the first film ofPeter Jackson's film trilogy ofThe Hobbit, when the wizardRadagast the Brown conjectures on the origin of malevolent giant spiders endemic toMirkwood.[11]
Spiders, Gandalf. Giant ones. Some kind of spawn of Ungoliant, or I am not a Wizard. I followed their trail. They came from Dol Guldur.