The Warg and Warg Rider Appreciation Thread

Hearing all these wonderous tales, I have been inspired to tell you my tale, it is not a very long tale nor does it have a story to tell. Infact i just wanted to tell you all that during my extensive travels, i happened upon an outcast warg, shunned for not taking part in the slaughter of women and children. We came to an agreement to become partners, him allowing me to ride on his back while i protected his flank with my mighty recurve bow, and together we roam the lands killing whomever we please, good or evil. But we have drawn the line at killing women and children. Together we search, looking for our next prey. For those who frown upon us, take into consideration that we kill the bad guys too and if you still don't like us, stay out of the way. Simple as that. We are currently searching for other wargs and riders who share our feelings, so as to make a pack.

Just wanted to inform you all of that fact, so i shall take my leave now

[Eomer of the Rohirrim]

Debate currently rages in the N & N forum concerning that mysterious Tolkien character, Gothmog of the Third Age. The aim is to discover who this Gothmog was, for Tolkien gave us but small scraps of information concerning him (or indeed her - though I shall use the term 'he' henceforth). He was lieutenant of Morgul. He assumed control of Sauron's army after the death of the Witch-King. These are givens, and the rest is clever detective work.

For many suppose he was either Orc, Man, or Ringwraith. I think that Gothmog was none of these.

I believe he was neither orc nor (ordinary) man because he had to command orcs and men. Orcs would dislike following a man and vice versa. For such a major role a bigger character is required. Sauron surely thought this too.

Some believe that the answer is now simple: to lead the army, in the event of the Witch-King's death, another Ringwraith is needed. But I find this unlikely too. An interesting point concerns the name itself. No other Ringwraith is named personally; the Witch-King is a title; Khamul is mentioned but not in a finished work. This is probably to make the Ringwraiths more detached and impersonal; possessions of Sauron.

But what also gets me thinking is that Gothmog was not described at all. There would be no reason not to mention that another Ringwraith took the Witch-King's place. The compiler loved Ringwraiths, as is shown by other chapters of the book. I believe Gothmog was left out of the story as much as possible due to a grudge on the part of the compiler of the story (biased Hobbits).

Whom do Hobbits hate, and are powerful enough to lead armies of Orcs and Men? Gothmog was a Warg, I deem. We know that Witchy was Sauron's favourite, that's probably why Gothmog did not have full command regardless. Or it could be that Gothmog was actually a weak, wretched, corrupted Warg, able still to lead Orcs and Men but actually below the level of the top Ringwraith.

[Eomer of the Rohirrim]

In the Barrow-Downs section of the forum, Lalwendë has provided us with the link to a very interesting piece of equipment. Google trends gives information on search terms entered into Google, and arranges it by location. Thus we are able to discover places in the world where folk are particularly interested in Wargs! If I can copy a post...


Regions

1. Sweden

2. Poland

3. Finland

4. Germany

5. United Kingdom

6. Canada

7. Australia

8. Netherlands

9. United States

10. France



Cities

1. Stockholm, Sweden

2. Szczecin, Poland

3. Wroclaw, Poland

4. Poznan, Poland

5. Lodz, Poland

6. Krakow, Poland

7. Warsaw, Poland

8. Gdansk, Poland

9. Katowice, Poland

10. Goteborg, Sweden



Not to disparage famed Warg-appreciating lands such as Peru ( ) because of the language issue, but my goodness! My respect for the wonderful people of Sweden and Poland just increased tenfold!

[Nilpaurion Felagund]

You had no idea what I had to bribe Mandos with before he let me read this.

And then I had to bribe him some more to get him to translate it.

Praised to the highest be the One, the Father of all.

Praised to the highest be the creator of the Grawlar, the ever-discarnate, the offsprings of his spirit.

Seven Grawlar he created, the true Firstborn, the Wargs of Might, ere the Timeless Halls were builded.

Princedom he conferred upon Varsur, first of the Firstborn, mightiest of the created.

With precious stones he clad him, symbol of his office, mark of his authority.

Oushd afh Aghia [meaning unknown - translated from the Wargish by Námo]

This is not the entirety of the manuscript, but I ran out of Gummibärchen with which to bribe him.

It agrees, to the least detail, with the account in Olórin's manuscript that I found in Ingwë's house. But interesting were the words 'true Firstborn'. Later in the manuscript I found the words 'true Followers' preceding the word 'Ainur' (I learned a few Wargish words from atarinya, who is, after all, a Warg-friend.) May it be that Eru's creation of the two Children in Eä parallels that of the Grawlar and the Ainur?

But, alas, the Ainur are offspring of his thought, yet the Grawlar are of his spirit.

(Must find more Gummy Bears--apparently he likes the orange ones.)

[Morthoron]

With all the controversy swirling about the underappreciated wargish population, I thought this would be appropriate to repost here. It is an interview I did with a warg soon after the debut of The Two Towers:

The Dark Elf discusses the finer points of cinema with a warg

The Dark Elf: Mr. Warg, it has come to our attention that the wolfish population of Middle-earth has been set on its collective furry ear by the dramatization of wargs in the film The Two Towers; which is to say, you feel Peter Jackson characterized you rather badly. That is, not 'badly' in an evil sense, which you certainly are, *The Warg nods approvingly* but rather ineptly.

Warg: Yes, my dear chap. Having reviewed the suspect footage, I must say I found it to be wanting in every respect. I mean really, the only time I have seen such a sunken gut on one of my kin was when poor Uncle Lupine contracted worms. Nasty parasites, those.

TDE: Yes, I suppose so. Then you feel misrepresented?

W: Certainly! As if to be continually associated with those foul Orcs wasn't bad enough, we are now portrayed as if we've been cross-bred with snub-nosed, gangrel hyenas! It's all too much, really.

TDE: How so?

W: Hmmm...aside from the horridly distorted image of wargs presented by Peter Jackson in his flawed film, another mischaracterization from a plot standpoint deals with warg-kind used as saddled were-ponies, which of course is patently ludicrous! This is primarily due to Mr. Jackson’s incessant pillaging of a non-canonical source: The Hobbit.

TDE: Then your characterization in The Hobbit was incorrect as well?

W: Good Lord, Man…I mean Elf -- pardon the slip -- The Hobbit was originally published as a children’s story; whatever resemblance it had with the Middle-earth cosmology as a whole was at first merely coincidental. This sordid juxtaposition was accomplished later via manic editing by the author in order to marry the plot of The Hobbit – however awkwardly -- with the far more serious storyline of Lord of the Rings. Nevertheless, the plot is rife with fairy tale elements. It’s Brothers Grimm meets the Völuspá! Talking trolls with Cockney accents? It’s absurd! Have you ever spoken to a troll? They are as dumb as doorknobs! One can’t expect more than a few grunts and a good deal of flatulence from the lumbering oafs.

TDE: And this rewrite of The Hobbit concerns your species in what manner?

W: Let's look at this logically, shall we? No self-respecting warg of some 500 pounds has the ability or inclination to carry about some pusillanimous Orc enmeshed in 50 or so pounds of chain mail. Their scent alone is enough to make one gag! We are not pack animals like those pompous Mearas (although I must say they are quite delicious in a bordelaise sauce with a nice glass of port to wash them down). I think it is a bit much to expect one of the proud lineage of canis lupus megaterribilis to accept the stirrup and bridle. It is far too over the top, even for a ham-handed director of Jackson’s ilk, don't you think?

TDE: Most definitely. Are there any formal protests planned?

W: No. The pack felt that picketing would be, if you will excuse the pun, merely 'crying wolf'. As nocturnal predators, we feel more direct action is called for. We shall be stalking Peter Jackson’s home in Wellington, New Zealand. If the bloated blighter should even pop his head out the front door, he shall make a tasty treat. After all, there is enough of him to feed the whole pack!

TDE: Hmmm...but don't you think large wolfish creatures slinking about in a modern city, even at night, would be cause for alarm?

*The Warg rolls his eyes*

W: Silly, we shall be in disguise, of course.

TDE: Ah, sort of ‘wolves in sheep’s clothing', as it were?

W: Quite.

[Eomer of the Rohirrim]

Welcome to the Thread, Morthoron.

[Eomer of the Rohirrim]

There can be only one thread on which to make my 4000th post on the Barrow-Downs.

There is a thread going on these days in N&N about the images Downers have of characters in The Lord of the Rings, and whether they have been affected by the popular films or by other sources. A subject hit upon before, of course, but always interesting. I would like to turn it on its head, though, and ask the question from a different perspective:

Did The Lord of the Rings affect your image of Wargs?

In this age of Wikipedia, few people rigorously check their sources (don't get me wrong, I love wikipedia - an afternoon at work reading up on certain mediaeval battles is well spent). However, people accept what is presented to them without checking the ancient proofs. Old manuscripts and stone tablets detailing the exploits and wisdom of Wargs abound, yet the dominating presence of one particular, biased text is felt keenly.

The Lord of the Rings was written by a hobbit with a serious anti-Warg agenda. Why has the general population been taken in so easily?

So, has your image of Wargs and Wargdom been coloured by this hateful propaganda? Or do you place trust in the ancient, contemporary sources? I plan on looking at some of these sources in the near future and hopefully we can discuss them.