[Lalwendë]

Gandalf talks of 'something nasty in the woodshed' that dwells in Moria:

Far, far below the deepest delvings of the Dwarves, the world is gnawed by nameless things.

Now there's another example of a hinted at Monster or horrible thing. What's more, not even Gandalf knows what they are called, though he has seen them. He doesn't tell what they are either, that's a nasty secret he has to keep to himself.

Something very like this is the Nidhoggr of Norse myth, also a mysterious creature, which gnaws at the roots of Yggdrasil. Nidhoggr is its nature - but not its name. Maybe these Nameless Things are part of the evil that Morgoth caused to be part of the very fabric of Arda? There's an uncanny, and quite scary resemblance there.

Originally Posted by Mister Underhill

That visual of a lightning strike suddenly illuminating a valley crawling with silent Uruks sent a tingle down my spine. There's something so insectile about it. Ugh. I shiver just thinking about it...

That's a great example as its so visual. Did you notice that in the film, Peter Jackson seems to have replicated exactly what Tolkien described here? Text as vivid as that must seem like a gift to a film director.

Originally Posted by Laitoste

Firstly, between this thread and my English class, I no longer have the appetite to finish the Pride and Prejudice re-read I started...it is FAR too tame and mundane to follow the romantic and marital difficulties of Elizabeth Bennet when I could be rejoicing in deliciously gruesome descriptions!

How could you just up and abandon Mr Darcy?! The Horror of it!

Originally Posted by Laitoste

Oh, and one more thing: dragons! How are they horrific? In their description, or their cunning, or malicious personality? Did Smaug frighten anyone? I personally was not scared by him, but was intrigued by his way of speech.

I too don't personally find dragons horrific, in fact I find them really exciting (I also love Pirates though Johnny Depp might have summat to do with that) and even hinted at (and got) the kids' Dragonology book for Christmas. Maybe Smaug was less frightening because it was a children's book. If Tolkien had left room for dragons in LotR I think we'd have seen some truly frightening ones, though he drew a line under the chance of having this by killing off the most powerful dragon in The Hobbit (I can imagine Tolkien kicking himself there).

There are the 'Wild were-worms in the Last Desert' though. Now there's a question. Does anyone else find the words "worms" or "wyrms" somehow more frightening than "dragons"?