Scariest Thing In All Of Tolkien's Creation...Ever

[Lalwendë]

Thuringwethil! Fascinating creature! What form did she take? But then I'm of a Gothic temperament and find Vampires quite thrilling, if nasty and to be avoided at all costs

I had Black Numenoreans and Gollum down but there are more scary things so they got demoted...

Dragons, no matter how evil, are never scary because dragons are without exception achingly cool.

[radagastly]

Have to include the Watcher in the Water. Clearly life-threatening, and yet, nobody sees it! Except for a tentacle or two. Of course, he might be included with the "Nameless things" under the Earth. That seems to be where he came from. Are they as bad as we think? They are only described by Gandalf, who had to be persuaded to leave Valinor because he was afraid of Sauron. Yet Ungoliant nearly bested Morgoth. Surely he knew that! Are they as bad as her? or worse? The creepiest thing is not knowing . . . !

edit!--forgot to mention Carcharoth:

But in the north of his realm his messengers met with a peril sudden and unlooked for: the onslaught of Carcharoth, the Wolf of Angband. In his madness he had run ravening from the north, and passing at length over Taur-nu-Fuin upon its eastern side he came down from the sources of Esgalduin like a destroying fire. Nothing hindered him, and the might of Melian upon the borders of the land stayed him not; for fate drove him, and the power of the Silmaril that he bore to his torment. Thus he burst into the inviolate wood of Doriath, and all fled away in fear. Alone of the messengers Mablung, chief captain of the King, escaped, and he brought the dread tidings to Thingol.

Apperently, even the Girdle of Melian didn't stop him, though it had protected Doriath from enemies for millenia.

Bare in mind, (no pun intended), I live in the American midwest, and, thanks to environmental efforts, partly inspired by Tolkien, wolves and bears have become a real threat. My mother's house, in Wisconsin, was attacked by a bear just two days ago, the siding torn from the house while she slept (tried to sleep,) and she lives in the middle of town, surrounded by a thousand other houses. As much as I love Nature, and all the wild creatures, I love my mother more. They already have a deer-hunt in town, are petitioning for a bear-hunt, and would like a wolf-hunt (the last won't happen, they're still endangered.)

Maybe it's just because they're just currently immediate for me, but wild animals at the door are pretty frightening. Little-Red-Riding-Hood and the Three-Little-Pigs better beware.

[Morthoron]

Hobbits running naked on the Barrow Downs. *shudders*

[Lindale]

Originally Posted by Morthoron

Hobbits running naked on the Barrow Downs. *shudders*

But why will they do that? Or is the "why" part of why they're scary?

[Nerwen]

It was after Tom rescued the hobbits from the Barrow-Wight. They didn't have any clothes... because the wight had taken theirs...

[skip spence]

Originally Posted by Morthoron

Hobbits running naked on the Barrow Downs. *shudders*

Now what even more scary is imagining the wight stripping them of all their clothes in the darkness of his tomb.

So...

1) Unspeakable acts in the dark
2) Bombadill singing and dancing
3) Aragorn drawing his sword in front of Éomer crying 'Elendil!'

[Nerwen]

Originally Posted by skip spence

Now what even more scary is imagining the wight stripping them of all their clothes in the darkness of his tomb.

...and then dressing them up like dolls...

[skip spence]

Originally Posted by Nerwen

...and then dressing them up like dolls...

Gawd, stop it! Now I'm so terrified I might have to sleep in mum and dad's bed tonight.

[Folwren]

The Barrow Wight itself was terrifying to me - the arm creeping around the corner...*shudder*

Also, the Nazgul.

I think the Nazgul are the scariest thing in all Tolkien's creation ever in my opinion. They're the only thing that kept me up at night while I was reading the book.