The Warg and Warg Rider Appreciation Thread

[Eomer of the Rohirrim]

Was Tom Bombadil a Warg? Sounds like a fantastic debate and one which I am looking forward to.

Concerning the Wargs of Rohan. They moved into Rohan during a harsh period for the Men of Rohan. Their numbers were dwindling and they were constantly threatened by nearby Orcs. No-one knew where the Wargs came from. All they knew was that they acted friendly towards the Men and protected them from many evils. The Elves of Mirkwood did not know about this relationship because communication between Mirkwood and Rohan was tricky in those days.

I do wonder if Wargs can be considered Bombadil-esque. If we consider it, we can see that the origins of Men and Elves and Dwarves and Ents are given explanation. Even Hobbits are explained better than Wargs are, being linked closely to Men. To not explain the origins of Wargs (especially considering how potent their powers are) was a strange ommision by the Good Professor.

Without putting much thought into, my initial guess would be that Wargs are simply servants (?) of the Valar. Feel free to challenge this claim.

[SamwiseGamgee]

Have you, pray tell, Eomer, ever heard the story of the wargs of the Brown Lands, who pursued a brutal quest of honour against the elven folks. If not let me know and I shall share the story. It is one of treachery and deceit which reduces one's faith in the warg while similarly increasing one's respect. It's a paradoxical tale which I look forward to sharing.
Here's a good one: if wargs are servants of the Valar then perhaps they are Maiai, and couldn't that theoretically make a warg as powerful as Sauron? An interesting thought.

[Amariden Ravenhill]

Hail and well met, Eomer of the Rohirrim and Samwise Gamgee! I have been reading at length the stories aforementioned. I have not had the excitement of having such journies nor do I know many of the Elven folk (save one) for my friends and neighbors would think it unseemly for any Hobbit to do so....alas!

[SamwiseGamgee]

Welcome, Ravenhill, to the inner sanctum of we warg-lovers (non-carnal).
Surely you have heard stories of wargs in your long travels. They need not have anything to do with elven folks, that is purely incidental. The most important thing is that they are about wargs. Surely you can think back. Go on, Ravenhill!
The story of the wargs of the Brown Lands is coming just as soon as I am assured there's an appetite for it, by the by.

[Eomer of the Rohirrim]

It is indeed delightful to hear of another Downer who is enthralled by Wargs, hail Amariden Ravenhill!

Samwise, please share this tale of the Wargs of the Brown Lands. If you do not post it soon then I may explode with anticipation.

On another point, I think that if Wargs were Maia then their powers had to have been concealed, much like the Istari. There is certainly no tale of a Warg ever challenging Sauron for mastery of Middle-earth that I have heard of. Speaking of the Istari, has anyone ever considered the possibility that Allatar and Pallando were Wargs? I have. Several times.

Maybe Sauron himself was an evil Warg. Though perhaps thats a bit far fetched.

[SamwiseGamgee]

For many years the elves of the Brown Lands had been defended by the valiant elves of Rivendell. Few knew why, but stories and legends suggest thet the Rhun Hills possessed some kind of great magical power, dark and evil.
The attackers of this noble cause were a motley crew of orcs, dark knights, mumakil, mountain trolls and evil ents. This band of evil warriors was led by one whose name you may have already heard: Gorgomoth. He was a great general of Mordor, cruel and unusual in his methods. However, even the great tactical mind of Gorgomoth was ineffectual against the stalwart nobility of Elrond's elves.
It was stalemate.
One evening, though, while his troops were beating another helpless captive and he feasted upon the flesh of another it came to him. There was one weapon he could use. A great power which few dare to even think about. With great haste Gorgomoth sent out the word: 'Call for Kharak the Cruel.' Even the orcs were afraid.
Within days the call was answered, and into the orc encampment stalked Kharak the Cruel. He was a massive creature, dwarfing all around him and sending their blood into the lower echelons of the temperature range. His fur was grey and his mane sparkled silver in the moonlight. His left eye was a scar, closed forever by Beorn the Cursed, as Kharak had named the defender of the Carrock. His single eye was glowing black. A vast abyss of pain and suffering which Gorgomoth felt must be like looking into the Great Red Eye. What was this creature- Kharak the Cruel? A warg. But no mere warg, he was Kharak the Cruel, King of the Wargs of Moria, and he was as death.
Gorgomoth presented his case to Kharak, and the great King was intrigued. Many years before the elves of Imraldis had killed his son and heir to the throne while he hunted. Kharak had never slept since, pouring all his malice and pain and loss into making the elves pay for their treachery. Long ago Kharak's forefathers had saved the elves from an orcish attack in Mirkwood, and this is how the honourless pointy ears repayed the wargs!
Kharak let out a howl, cold and terrifying. It was as the heinous wailing of a child watching his mother being beaten by a robber. To the orcs it was fearful and stirred in many of them the memory of that fateful night many years ago in Mirkwood, and for Gorgomoth it made him wonder if he had made the right decision.
Over the valley, though, the elvenfolk heard the cry and remembered! They were glad! At last, the heirs of Mhuruk the Magnificent, the famous King of Wargs who had saved the elves in Mirkwood, had returned to save the elves. There was joy and rejoicing as a great host of wargs appeared on the crest of a hill and ran toward the elves.
As the host of wargs came closer, though, many elves realised this was no friendly committee- this was the warhost of Kharak!
The wargs plunged into the elves and tore them to shreds as warm knives through butter. There was pain and suffering and upon that night many an elf lost his life, the brutal justice of the warg judge, jury and executioner known as Kharak being felt in its full wrath! Some elves escaped and fled north. Kharak and his host tarried for a while, making sure that every elf had been killed and made to pay.
Kharak then called to him his most trusted brothers and they numbered one and twenty. This kingshost then plunged north in pursuit of the elves who had escaped. The trail of death and punishment stretched through South Rhun, North Rhun, the Withered Heath and finally it came to an end on the slopes of Erebor, deep in Esgaroth. With the kingshost behind them the remaining elves realised that they had been caught in a great trap, and there on the borders of North Mirkwood stood the remainder of the warg warhost. The elves were caught and the revenge of Kharak was swift and decisive. His vengeance was furious and filled even his fellow warg with a great pain and fear. Kharak last feasted on the flesh of the elven general and went home to his halls in Moria through Mirkwood, though it was an elven stronghold, in safety, for even the great elvenfolk of Mirkwood were afraid to incur the wrath of a warg.

[Eomer of the Rohirrim]

Why on Earth did the Elves kill Kharak's son?