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The Lord of the Rings series introduces all manner of magnificent and terrifying creatures, from dragons to goblins to Balrogs. Some of them are magical and help the world of Middle-earth feel more fleshed out, and others are considered evil and actually hinder the heroes in their quest to defeat Sauron and destroy the One Ring. Shelob the giant spider is one such creature.
Shelob is pretty infamous as a LOTR character, as a giant spider would be terrifying to anyone, especially those who are of a more arachnophobic nature. Shelob is one of the personifications of evil in the series and is a creature older than most other things in Middle-earth. But where exactly did she come from, and what happened to her during the Lord of the Rings series?
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Winged or not, the Balrog (literally meaning ‘demon of terror’ in the Eleven-tongue) is one of the most formidable creatures in Tolkien’s legendarium.
Where Did Shelob Come From?
Shelob's earliest history isn't exactly known, but she was a child of Ungoliant, a primordial being who took the form of a spider and was an ally to Melkor. Shelob was the greatest of her children, as well as the last of them. Not much is known about her until the Second Age, when it was recorded that she often ate her own children and had a lair in the Mountains of Shadow in Cirith Ungol after she fled from Beleriand.
She lived in that lair for thousands of years, creating a labyrinth of webs within the caves that would trap her prey, which included pretty much any creature that wandered into the mountains. Most of the time, she would only eat the living beings that got trapped in her webs, but she would occasionally venture out and pursue them instead if it was a particularly good piece of food. This quote from The Two Towers really highlights just how dark and horrifying she really was:
But still, she was there, who was there before Sauron, and before the first stone of Barad-dûr; and she served none but herself, drinking the blood of Elves and Men, bloated and grown fat with endless brooding on her feasts, weaving webs of shadow; for all living things were her food, and her vomit darkness.
Where Is Shelob in Lord of the Rings?
During the Third Age, Sauron became aware of Shelob and her dwelling, but he allowed her to stay where she was as she essentially acted as a guard for the pass of Cirith Ungol. He was actually quite fond of her and treated her like a pet, occasionally feeding her prisoners or servants who had crossed him. She would even sometimes eat the Orcs who were stationed to guard the pass, but since she was doing a better job of guarding it anyway, Sauron believed the Orcs to be expendable and didn't stop her.
After Gollum was set free from Mordor, he accidentally wandered across Shelob's lair, but avoided being eaten by offering to bring her other, much tastier meats instead. He fulfilled this promise when he brought the Hobbits Sam and Frodo to her, where she attempted to capture and eat them. Though Frodo was able to fend her off with the Phial of Galadriel that held the Star of Eärendil, she still eventually overpowered him as she paralyzed him with her venom and wrapped him in her web.
In an act of bravery, Sam was able to use Frodo's sword Sting and the Phial to fight off the spider, finally stabbing her in the abdomen and wounding her badly. It is not known whether or not Shelob recovered from her injuries, as the last mention of her is just that Sam hears her "bubbling" in her misery, but Tolkien never specified whether she succumbed to the injuries or managed to heal.
Shelob's Appearances in LOTR Adaptations
Shelob is probably most recognizable in her appearance in Peter Jackson's film version of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, as a giant CGI spider. Though she appears in The Two Towers in the book series, Jackson decided to put her in the third movie instead to give Frodo and Sam more to do during that film. Shelob's other appearances in Lord of the Rings properties are all in various LOTR video games.
Shelob is an optional boss in The Lord of the Rings: Aragorn's Quest (the Wii and PS3 versions) available in a side quest where Sam's son Frodo re-enacts the original encounter between Shelob and the Hobbits. Shelob also appears in The Lord of the Rings Online as the last boss in the Minas Morgul expansion. In this game, she has a mental link to her children and calls them all to her side after Sam wounds her. She is also much larger in this game than in other adaptations.
One of her most interesting appearances is in the game Middle-earth: Shadow of War, where she actually appears in a human form in the wraith world. In this game, she works alongside Sauron during his time posing as Annatar in order to trick the Elves over to his side, and the story implies that she was actually his lover before he eventually betrayed her. Shelob's many appearances throughout various Lord of the Rings media show her to be a much more complex character than she initially appeared, though her turn as a giant evil spider is still iconic enough on its own.
The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings is one of the most iconic names in entertainment. The franchise started with novels from J. R. R. Tolkien before being adapted onto the big screen by Peter Jackson in one of the most critically-acclaimed film trilogies of all time. There have also been numerous The Lord of the Rings video games of varying quality.
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