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

[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.

[Rumil]

Shelob!!

Ordinary sized non-poisonous (UK) spiders are bad enough, even when they are 100 times smaller than you. Now a Giant spider much bigger than you, with a pitch black lair and uncuttable sticky webs - er nasty!!! Not to mention the foul smells and orcs round the corner.

I suppose Ungoliant too but (thankfully) we don't get to see her close up,

brrrrrrr!!!!!!!!

[Thinlómien]

1. Ringwraiths, really. All that sniffing and chasing in the Shire, the lonely cry, the attacks of Crickhollow, Bree and Weathertop and the flight to the Ford... *shudders*

2. The Barrow-Downs are really scary too. The fog, the stones and the wights. Also, I find the story of the Barrow-Wights rather creepy yet very fascinating. And very sad too. I wish we knew more about it.

3. I have to agree about the nameless things and the Watcher in the Water. The mysteriousness and their ancient origin are very fascinating and scary. Also, Moria itself is a rather scary place and the Book of Mazarbul is just thrilling...

4. The Oath of Fëanor. All the bloodshed and madness it creates. Or actually, maybe I should nominate Silmarils instead. Scary things, anyway. (But again, very fascinating...)

5. The Ring itself just because of what it does to people, especially to Frodo and Boromir. (Or should I now nominate Frodo and Boromir? They are both pretty scary when the Ring gets hold of them...)

6. Númenoreans. Their pride and arrogance and cruelty scare me, as does their colonialist attitude. And what scares me most is probably the fact that they are not utterly unlike me...

7. Sauron's dungeons in Tol-in-Gaurhoth, the werewolves and Thuringwethil. They too are only vaguely mentioned and thus make me both a little scared and more than a little curious.

8. Mirkwood. Not the spiders, not the presence of Dol Guldur, not the river, not even the Elves (although Thranduil is quite scary in a way)... it's just the atmosphere. Something magical and somewhat unsettling, the dark, the eyes and the lights of the Elves.

9 .Wargs. Maybe because Tolkien describes the atmosphere of them roaming around and their howling so scarily.

10. Everything else that is scary, so: the Silent Watchers, the Palantíri, Huorns (and especially trees of the Old Forest and Old Man Willow himself), Ungoliant, Shelob, Glaurung, Morgoth, Sauron (mostly for the really ugly Eilinel&Gorlim thing), angry Valar, Eru (mostly because he seems not to care most of the time), the great eagles (yes, really, but they are cool too), Denethor, Minas Morgul, Cirith Ungol and Dol Guldur (if places count). And then all the scary stuff I've forgotten...