Scariest Thing In All Of Tolkien's Creation...Ever - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

A Little Green · 09-02-2008, 12:34 PM

Indeed I must agree that probably the scariest things are those nameless ones in the darkness. Other than that...

Nazgûl in the Shire. I don't think they are scary when they are many and in a dark evil place and flying and leading armies and stuff - but they definitely freak me out in the Shire, in contrast to the peacefulness and seeming safety of the surroundings, and when the hobbits don't yet know what they are. "There were words in that cry..." *shudders*

Places like the Barrow Downs or Moria or Shelob's lair, where there is the atmosphere of a brooding evil somewhere but it's not yet known precisely what or where it is. They cease to be scary when the concrete evil or the "monster" of the place appears and becomes known.

Proud, ambitious, brilliant minds that fall into madness. It's a theme that repeats itself quite a lot in Tolkien's work, and also a theme I find really really scary.

And, finally, the white wolves that come over the Brandywine. Brrrr...

09-02-2008, 12:34 PM	#14
A Little Green Leaf-clad Lady Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 1,571	Indeed I must agree that probably the scariest things are those nameless ones in the darkness. Other than that... Nazgûl in the Shire. I don't think they are scary when they are many and in a dark evil place and flying and leading armies and stuff - but they definitely freak me out in the Shire, in contrast to the peacefulness and seeming safety of the surroundings, and when the hobbits don't yet know what they are. "There were words in that cry..." shudders Places like the Barrow Downs or Moria or Shelob's lair, where there is the atmosphere of a brooding evil somewhere but it's not yet known precisely what or where it is. They cease to be scary when the concrete evil or the "monster" of the place appears and becomes known. Proud, ambitious, brilliant minds that fall into madness. It's a theme that repeats itself quite a lot in Tolkien's work, and also a theme I find really really scary. And, finally, the white wolves that come over the Brandywine. Brrrr... __________________ "But some stories, small, simple ones about setting out on adventures or people doing wonders, tales of miracles and monsters, have outlasted all the people who told them, and some of them have outlasted the lands in which they were created."