LotR -- Book 2 - Chapter 04 - A Journey in the Dark

[Lalwendë]

I hadn't previously thought about the significance of the wolf attack, beyond finding it frightening, but I'm glad this has been brought up as I've now noticed a few things about it. Gandalf brings the group within a ring of stones for protection and forbids the creatures to come within it - this is a very 'magical' image, reminiscent of a priest using the protection of a circle of standing stones, or of the circle of protection which Wiccans use.

This image I find powerfully 'magical':

There was a roar and a crackle, and the tree above him burst into a leaf and bloom of blinding flame. The fire leapt from tree-top to tree-top. The whole hill was crowned with dazzling light.

What is really odd about this event is that not only have the fallen 'wolves' disappeared completely, but the arrows are found lying on the ground, as though they have been removed from the bodies of the creatures. To me, it as though these are not mere wolves or wargs, but something else, something which could indeed be werewolves. These are creatures which could possibly have not only removed their dead kin, but have removed the weapons which killed them.

I've removed my normal signature for this post, being as it's about wolves; it might have been a bit confusing!