witchofthekorcari:

Ossё is a vassal of Ulmo, and he is master of the seas that wash the shores of Middle-earth. He does not go in the deeps, but loves the coasts and the isles, and rejoices in the winds of Manwё; for in storm he delights, and laughs amid the roaring of the waves. His spouse is Uinen, the Lady of the Seas, whose hair lies spread through all waters under sky. All creatures she loves that live in the salt streams, and all weeds that grow there; to her mariners cry, for she can lay calm upon the waves, restraining the wildness of Ossл. The Numenуreans lived long in her protection, and held her in reverence equal to the Valar.

She is the lover of all things that grow in the earth, and all their countless forms she holds in her mind, from the trees like towers in the forests long ago to the moss upon stones or the small and secret things in the mould. In the form of a woman she is tall, and robed in green; but at times she takes other shapes. Some there are who have seen her standing like a tree a tree under heaven; crowned with the Sun.

I don’t think most people realize how much of a badass Galadriel is. She endured and overcame tragedies worse than we see in Lord of the Rings before Elrond was even born. She is nearly as old as the whole race of Elves, and when all others of her generation had been killed or sailed away to Aman, she stayed behind to watch over Middle Earth and to remain queen of her own country.

tolkienmiddleearth:

Ancalagon the Black was the first and greatest winged dragon ever to walk Middle Earth. His size and wingspan were so massive that his wing span blocked out the sun, and when he fell from the sky his impact shattered Thangorodrim, an artificial volcanic mountain range. He was considered the Father of all dragons, and led the entire host of Morgoth’s winged dragons in the war of wrath in an attack so fierce it managed to drive back The Host of the Valinor. Ancalagon was eventually slain by Earendil, aided by Thorondor and his host of eagles, who battled Ancalagon for an entire day before his defeat. Though the method in which Ancalagon is never recorded, his significance to Morgoth’s army was so great that Ancalagon’s death marked the end of Morgoth’s final resistance.

When I was in high school, we were given a creative writing project to describe and draw a dragon. Having just read the Silmarillion, mine looked basically like this. Everyone else drew riffs on Puff the Magic Dragon. That was an awkward day.

tolkienmiddleearth:

Carcharoth was the greatest Werewolf who ever lived, following the line of Draugluin. Created as a defense against Huan the hound, Carcharoth grew to uncomparable size and strength. His eyes burned a fiery red and his massive teeth were poisoned as the legions of orc armies’ spears led by Morgoth and was stationed as the guard of the gate to Angbad. Charcaroth was put under the spell of sleep by Luthien on Beren and Luthien’s quest to obtain the silmarill but was reawakened at their exit, where he bit off Beren’s hand containing the stolen silmarill as Beren help up the silmarills light in defense. After being driven mad by the silmarill burning his insides, he passed through Beleriand where he arrived in Doriath and was eventually slain by Huan the Hound and Beren, gravely injuring both of them in the process.

In this scene, Luthien is saying, “Stay away from my lover and my dog, you filthy hellbeast!” Carcharoth should have listened.

tolkienmiddleearth:

Glaurung was the first of the fire breathing dragons in middle earth. Though he was not part of the winged race that would later come, he still managed to terrorize and burn many elven lands until he was driven back by Fingon and his archers. After Being contained in Angbad for another 2 centuries, Glaurung had become even more powerful and had fathered a brood of Dragons to wreak havoc upon the elves of beleriand. After deceiving Turin of Turambar into marrying his sister, Nienor, whom he had put under the dragons spell, he frequently attacked near the home of Turin, provoking him until Turin had finally set out to defeat Glaurung. Setting out with three men, one had fled out of fear and the other was crushed by rocks, Turin had managed to plung his sword, Gurthang into Glaurungs belly. Just before Glaurung died, he released his spell from Nienor, causing her to realize Turin to be her brother and cast herself into the river below and Turin to throw himself upon his sword.

Nienor the most tragic figures in Tolkien’s books. Hands down. In all the ways that Luthien fights for her love and refuses to allow her life to be run by fate and her father, Nienor allows life to steamroll over her. It’s not entirely her fault of course, there’s more than just the dragon stacked against poor Nienor.

Also, if you’re impressed by Smaug, you should know that all of the dragons in The Silmarillion make him look like a pathetic worm.

tolkienmiddleearth:

Sauron was created by Ea originally as one of the many Maiar and Ainu Spirits. Sauron managed to remain good and uncorrupt, resisting the corruption that was instilled in many of the Ainu through Morgoth’s discord in the creation of Arda. After travelling to Arda, Sauron aligned himself with Aule the smith, where he learned and mastered the craft. Though Sauron sought to do good, he saw in Morgoth the will and power that would help him achieve greater things quicker than if he had pursued them himself. Once his allegiance was made to Morgoth, he fell deeper into his corruption and eventually became a lieutenant and was lord of the Werewolves and Vampires, directing the war against the elves. Sauron was later defeated by Luthien and Huan the wolf-hound and went into hiding for most of the First age until the defeat of Morgoth. After lying dormant and hidden for 500yrs, Sauron began revealing himself as Annatar “The Lord of Gifts” where he deceived the elves to forge the rings of power, while Sauron forged in secret the ring of power. Through the second age, Sauron gained power and called himself “Lord of the Earth”. After losing his body in a failed attempt to destroy valinor, Sauron came forth in the Battle of Dagorlad but was defeated by Isildur and still lived through the power of the ring. Though in ethereal form, Sauron sought to form his armies and take physical form again but was later destroyed after Frodo Baggins cast the ring into mount doom (Y’all know the damn story).