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I would say Ungoliant is a being of power somewhere between the Valar and the Maiar. It's pretty clear that sufficiently strong Maiar could defeat a Valar. Eonwe (Herald of Manwe) "whose might in arms is surpassed by none in Arda" So even the great warrior Tulkas could not defeat Eonwe.
At any rate, the Silmarillion describes Ungoliant as descending "from the darkness that lies about Arda, when Melkor first looked down in envy upon the Kingdom of Manwe, and that in the beginning she was one of those that he corrupted into his service." So, she was one of the spirits that entered the world after its creation.. just like the other Maiar and the Valar.
It's a pet theory of mine that lesser spirits (less than the weakest Maiar) explain creatures like the Eagles, Huon, Tom, and even (perhaps) Ents. These lesser spirits descent into the world but are not corporeal. They join the bodies of non-intelligent creatures and make them "more." The Eagles are HUGE. Huan can speak. Ents move about and speak. Melkor appears to do something similar with Carcaroth where "he became filled with a devouring spirit."
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