The Warg and Warg Rider Appreciation Thread

[Eomer of the Rohirrim]

I know what drives many of you on the Downs. You yourself may not know the answer yet but you are about to find out. This site has not yet catered for the needs of those people fascinated by Wargs and Warg Riders. I can hear the collective gasp of you all right now as you mutter "My God, he's right! I feel the need to speak of Wargs! Right now! BUT HOW?"

Well fear no more loyal subjects! Eomer has taken it upon himself to create the most significant Warg-related thread in Downs history. Never again will you suffer such questions as "Who is more ferocious than the Warg Rider?" in silence again. (By the way, only Aragorn and Gandalf the White are imbued with more ferocity than our saviour, the Warg Rider.)

Any discussion is allowed (in keeping with the regulations of our glorious Moderators of course) that attends to the subject of Wargs and Warg Riders. Especially discussion which points out innacuracies in the film version of The Lord Of The Rings as well as the selective portrayal of Wargs in classic Tolkien art.

Thank you.

[Amariden Ravenhill]

THREE CHEERS FOR EOMER OF THE ROHIRRIM!!!!

[Firefoot]

"Who is more ferocious than the Warg Rider?"

You mean those lemming-hyena things in the movie they call Wargs? In that case, the bunny in my backyard is more ferocious.

[Eomer of the Rohirrim]

Ah, but you see, the Wargs in the movie were terrible. Where was the charm? Where was the wit elocution?

A shame.

[SamwiseGamgee]

Tis like a dream come true. Finally, an opportunity to share with like-minded individuals the joys of knowing a warg.
For so long I have wished to meet a man like you Eomer, and now my dreams have come true! Hallelujah! Where can I start with the warg rider. Such ferocity! On a scale of 1 to 100 I'd rate it at approximately 61- which is pretty darned high, let me tell you. And please, do let me tell you!
I ask you, Eomer, have you heard of the famous Colombian Male Voice Warg Choir? They were featured on the concept album by Shakira, known as 'Dirty Warg'. I enjoy them so. Such range and talent.
And how could I forget the time that I saw a warg and a yeti fight to the death! That was in the mountains of Bhutan, where I spent many long nights in search of the famous black mountain warg. What times they were.
And no man. NAY! NO MAN, has lived until he has seen the centuries old dance of the wargs of Bosnia. Based loosely on peasant traditions, intermingled with the customs of the wargs of that area. The Washington Post's Scott Cumming described it as 'the most stirring thing I have ever seen', while Neil Forbes of The Guardian likened it to 'watching God Himself dance among us.' I myself wrote in the Press and Journal that 'No mortal should end his life without having stood in awe of this spectacle.' The Evening Expresses Greame Walter, however, wrote 'It's nae very good, is it?' I can only tell you to ignore this review and go to Bosnia and witness the spectacle yourself.
Anyway, I have rambled on, but as you can surely see- I love wargs!

[Eomer of the Rohirrim]

I knew that if I could find just one other like-minded individual then it would have been worth it to start this thread. I hail thee SamwiseGamgee!

I have heard the Male Warg Voice Choir of Colombia, though not featured on any popular recordings. I was actually in Nigeria at the time and the Choir were travelling through Africa. It was a glorious destiny which brought us together, I am sure of it. Anywho, the Wargs were simply breathtaking in their delivery of traditional Colombian music. It brings tears to my eyes as I type this remembering the wonderful spectacle and the emotion felt among all who heard.

I have not heard of this Bosnian Warg dance but I will keep my eyes open. It sounds excellent.

As for The Lord of the Rings movies portrayal of Wargs, I was disappointed. They came across as very one-dimensional. I suppose Peter Jackson chose to ignore such tales as that of the Wargs of Rohan coming to the aid of the Elves in the Battle of Mirkwood. I will tell the full tale next time.

Until then, please delight me, Children of the Downs, with your own tales of Wargs. Thanks.

[SamwiseGamgee]

I now return, glad to recount tales of wargs and their exploits. I feel now is as good a time as any to tell the story of my time in Bhutan, and the famous sight I saw of Yeti and Warg, locked in mortal combat.
I was first sent to Bhutan as part of a BBC research team. We had been sent in order to seek out evidence of two of the greatest legends of all time: the yeti and the black mountain warg. I had spent 25 nights in Bhutan without ever having seen anything other than squirrels and bears. We had split our group up and I had camped out on a plateau known to the locals as 'Shuekwasho', that is 'the place of the warg'. It was on the 26th night that my luck perked up.
At about 2am I made my first sighting of a yeti. It was a huge creature. Nearly 9 ft tall and covered in short, coarse, black hair. It had features like a man, yet different in some slight, indistinguishable way. He came quite near my tent and was making intimidating noises. This continued for another half hour, and as it did so I became more and more tense.
It is a well known fact among the native mountain trackers of Bhutan that Yetis do not take fondly to humans. Legend would have them believe that any mortal who is not worthy to look upon the Yeti but does so will surely die. Just as the Yeti seemed to be preparing for its assault on my tent he was attacked by a warg. The warg was huge. At least 11 ft long, about 7ft tall and perhaps 6ft broad at the shoulders. His great black fur shone in the full moon of the mountains and his silvery mane flowed majestically down his spine! He plunged upon the Yeti like a great noble knight! The Yeti fought him off and in moments these two mythical warriors were embroiled in a battle, nay war, of titanic proportions. For the next hour the two fought each other viciously and without rest. There was blood aplenty and at one point the Yeti even lost his right eye- a specimen which I still have- in a particularly gruesome gouge.
The battle, however, could not continue forever. The warg was gaining the upper hand and the Yeti was in serious trouble. He soon realised that against a great black mountain warg there can be no victory, and so skulked off into the dawn mists to die alone.
The warg stood there, steam rising from his exhausted body, somewhere between a shadow and reality. A great, black silhouette against the breathtaking scenery of the Bhutanese Alps at dawn. There he stood, King of Beasts, Lord of Battle and Noble Protector. For there he stayed, laying down after a short while, until the voices of my trackers could be heard and he knew I would be safe from the murderous Yeti.
And so he passed into the forests and forever from my sight. I have told many my story, though few believe. I admit, even I may have formerly been a sceptic. However, when one has seen the great black mountain warg one knows that he is no mere mortal warg, he is as the Bhutanese locals say a 'Diuesal'- a protector from the gods.

[Eomer of the Rohirrim]

I am in awe of your tale Samwise. I really cannot say anything else except that I am so happy that you have experienced such a thing.

I am still compiling the full tale of the Battle of Mirkwood so I will post it next time. Until then, a word of advice Samwise. Your signature is very cool, but it is over large and you may irk the moderators by keeping it. Perhaps make it smaller?

[SamwiseGamgee]

After much research I have managed to uncover a couple more songs regarding wargs. Enjoy.

Paranoid Warg
Please could you stop the noise, I'm trying to get some rest
From all the unborn orcish voices in my head
What's that...?
What's that...?

When I’m dark lord, you will be first against the wall
With your ent who is of no consequence at all
What's that...?
What's that...?

Pipeweed makes you look pretty ugly
Kicking and squealing fat little hobbit
You don't remember
You don't remember
Why don't you remember my name?
Off with his head, man
Off with his head, man
Why don't you remember my name? I guess he does...

Snow down, snow down
Come on snow down on me
From Caradhras
FromCaradhras...
Snow down, snow down
Come on snow down on me
From Caradhras
From Caradhras...
Snow down, snow down
Come on snow down on me

That's it, elf
You're leaving
The crackle of manflesh
The dust and the screaming
The Rohirrim networking
The panic, the vomit
The panic, the vomit
Wargs love their children, wargs love their children, yeah!

Stairway to Wargy
There's a hobbit who's sure all that glitters is gold
And he's buying a stairway to Wargy.
When he gets there he knows, if the stores are all closed
With a word he can get what he came for.
Ooh, ooh, and he's buying a stairway to Wargy.

There's a sign on the wall but he wants to be sure
'Cause you know sometimes words have two meanings.
In a tree by the brook, there's a songbird who sings,
Sometimes all of our thoughts are of wargs.
Ooh, it makes me wonder,
Ooh, it makes me wonder.

There's a feeling I get when I look to the west,
And my spirit is crying for leaving.
In my thoughts I have seen rings of smoke through the trees,
And the voices of those who standing looking.
Ooh, it makes me wonder,
Ooh, it really makes me wonder.

And it's whispered that soon if we all call the tune
Then Wargy will lead us to reason.
And a new day will dawn for those who stand long
And the wargs will echo with laughter.

If there's a warg in your hedgerow, don't be alarmed now,
It's just killing an innocent passer by.
Yes, there are two paths you can go by, but in the long run
There's still time to change the road you're on.
And it makes me wonder.

Your head is humming and it won't go, in case you don't know,
Wargy’s calling you to join him,
Dear lady, can you hear the warg howl, and did you know
Your stairway lies on the breast of Wargy.

And as we wind on down the road
Our shadows taller than our soul.
There walks a warg who we all know
Who shines white light and wants to show
How everything still turns to gold.
And if you listen very hard
The tune will come to you at last.
When all are one and one is all
To be a rock and not to roll.

And he's buying a stairway to Wargy.

[Eomer of the Rohirrim]

One of the hazier days on the Zep tourbus I suppose....

[SamwiseGamgee]

I would suggest perhaps the greatest day on the Zep tourbus- the day Wargy was recognised in fair song!
How was your History of wargs exam, Eomer?

[Eomer of the Rohirrim]

I think it went rather well, certainly better than the first time around. I answered questions on the following subjects;

* Charles I and the theory that Wargs were to blame for his downfall.

* The French Revolution and the failed attempt of the Wargs to stop 'The Terror'.

*The rise to power of Lenin (who was, of course, tutored by a Warg).


There was an unsavoury moment after the exam however, as another student spotted me with my copy of The Lord of the Rings and promptly gave me a verbal battering for reading 'such junk' (I swear, that's what he said). Needless to say I went for him as swiftly as a crebain from Dunland, my hands around his neck before he could squeal his apologies. We were separated by the mob of students around us, and in the ensuing melee, I escaped and boarded the first plane to Japan.

I guess you also have a tale to tell regarding your exam, which also featured Wargs Samwise.

[Sleepy Ranger]

I can not believe I have never seen this thread before. I must now after going over your readings, say that I am not much compared to the rest of you in Warg Knowledge but I have done my fair share of reasearch on wargs and have gone on many expeditions (recorded and unrecorded) to seek out legendary wargs. On my last trip some two weeks back, I had a chance of visiting some of the forests of India and there hoped to spot and study The White-Bengali Warg. After hearing many tales about these legendary wargs I was all the more eager to encounter one of these. It took 5 days before we reached the spot where these wargs are generally seen and upon reaching there, I was left in awe by their magnifecence. They were far greater than any folk tale in those parts. It was a matter of chance that I had stumbled upon them on the eve of their celebrations of their monsoon festival. I was soon seen by them and they called upon me to join in. And I was surprised by their great hospitality and think more highly of them than before. After a few nights of feasting and storytelling I was invited as a guest to watch their season dances. Their splendaour left me in awe but then I recalled I had a plane to catch in 2 days and I thought I would miss it. I told one of their elders of my problem and he sent me along with a younger warg as a guide and I had arrived back in my hotel in less than a hour.

They invited me back for the winter festivel in December. I have many a more tales to share with yo. But they are for another time as I have some work to do now.

-Sleepy Ranger

[THE Ka]

Aw goddess, at least someone is the equal activists tonight. i was always wonderring when the Wargs would get the limelight.

As a child i believed that my angry-psedo 70-year-old neighbor next door had a Warg in his back yard. Turns out it was two very old and equally angry neighbor dogs that look exactly like Hyenas, except they liked cheeto's and belly rubs (Everyone on que say "Aww!")... i found that out on a mistake crossing into my neighbor's back yard. i don't know why, but i've had this creepy magnetic connection with animals. My friend thinks it is funny to go to the zoo and watch as the monkey's yell with enthusiasm and throw fruit at the glass wall in my direction ... i don't get it. I never harmed them...

[Nilpaurion Felagund]

If I have tarried long in fulfilling this promise, I apologise. I just found out how demanding the task of finding Wargish influence in the Filipino culture is. Wargs were once so ingrained in life of the early Filipinos, yet only traces of this fact remain today, like the dwindling settlements of Warg-worshippers in the mountains of Zambales, just a few miles north-west of Manila.

Now, in Tagalog* mythology, the first man, Malakas, and the first woman, Maganda, were imprisoned inside enormous bamboo stalks before being liberated by a wood-pecking bird. The true reason for their confinement remains unknown, but some say that an evil Warg-rider, Masama, with his Warg, Mabangis, were responsible for this. It seems that they envied and feared these creations of the great Warg chief, Bathala, who deemed that the Wargs needed someone to teach, and thus created the two humans.

Under the cover of night, Masama and Mabangis stole into the halls of Bathala, and took captive Malakas and Maganda. When their disappearance was discovered, Bathala ordered his best soldiers to storm the dwelling of Masama. There was a great battle, in which many of Bathala’s warriors were killed, but not before killing Mabangis. Masama, realising his defeat, planted two bamboo stalks into the ground near Malakas and Maganda, and cursed them never to awaken until the race of Wargs have faded. The stalks grew into two huge bamboo trees, using up Masama’s remaining strength to feed themselves. So Masama died, and the battle ended.

Bathala and his people were grieved at the great loss of Wargs, and the incarceration of his creation. Thus they slowly dwindled, until all but a few remained. So was Masama’s curse fulfilled, and Malakas and Maganda were liberated from their bamboo prison.

This is just one of the stories I have managed to trace to its unhappy conclusion, requiring the aid of some Warg experts in the University of the Philippines’ Department of Anthropology, and a few Warg-worshippers who still live in some remote parts in the central region of Luzon.
__________
* Tagalog is one of the main ethnolinguistic groups in the Philippines

[Eomer of the Rohirrim]

Wondeful Nilpaurion! And I had wondered where you had disappeared off to. No doubt, the time and effort put into your research has been great.

I will comment on the tale in time.

[SamwiseGamgee]

And so the Official Greatest Thread of All Time* breathes once again.

Once agian, Nilpaurion, your post is worthwhile and very educational. It has been too long since I have delved deep into the great lore of wargs.

In just over one week I shall be leaving for India, where some of the greatest wargs of all time have resided, such as the mighty Rajhamar. I shall tell his tale in due course.

*~ As voted for in a recent Channel 4 poll**

**~ This may be untrue

[Nilpaurion Felagund]

Some of the great Wargish influence crossed the oceans of the world from that lovely country.

I expect a great tale of Wargishness from you after the trip--which we'll surely get.

Bon voyage! A safe trip!

[High King Fingolfin]

After much time away, (darn school ), I have come back to this most excellent of threads.

Welcome to everyone new, I'm having trouble keeping track.

Wonderful stories Samwise and Eomer, in keeping with the greatest traditions of the thread.

Samwise- A wonderful site. I see that many people are turning into darkness and rejecting the mighty Wargs. As they said, may God help them.

[dancing spawn of ungoliant]

So Eomer, pray tell how you managed the feat of sponsoring a downs member- moreso one who has never posted on this illustrious thread?

Well, it is time for me to correct this horrible abuse.

I just have to wonder your great knowledge about wargs! I'm proud to be invited (or pressed *coughSamwiseGamgeecough*) to participate your discussion.

Originally Posted by Formendacil

I seem to recall a reference in the Book of Extra-Lost Tales that there was an alliance between the Wargs and the Gondolindrim.

I haven't read Extra-Lost Tales but I definitely remember and extract from the Undiminished Tails that would support the consept of an alliance of Gondolindrim. It's quite long but I thought you'd be interested to read it. Here it is:

"I have always known the storm would come...
Listen now, my young ones
This not a story I tell
of midnight, moon and sun...

Are you ready to walk the forbidden road
learn again what we tried to forget
The dark can now take over you

We have a common past, an ancient bond
The people once broke
We would only take what we need,
They would harvest our weak,

But they hunted us all,
We ended the last of them, thus far, ten lifetimes ago
In hopes of healing the sore, but the war still went on

Preying for the moon,
Hiding for the day
These might be our last times
I ain't gonna see you taken away...

Heading for the dawn
Of our way of life
You're welcome to give it your best try...
Look me in the eyes, oh, wolver
This ain't your fairy tale...

It took us many years to teach them
How to cry wolf
We made the people serve the purpose
Those ignorant fools... my young ones!

Teach the ones below you something you've learned.
And learn from the ones above you
Fear is your deepest wisdom
For these last days...


The ones who seek justice,
will pray for it all their lives... They can
and they will skin us all one day...
oh can you hear them cries As far as
the man can run from us we're following
the trail of blood So hunt my
young ones, the pack they have always feared is back

On your last day, remember, we never die
death does not exist for us.

They don't fear the wolf, but the wild within
no glory to the way this must end
This is a story I told
Unfolding before you."

The author of this uses "Sonata Arctica" as his pen name. Could this mean that these lines were written as early as in the First Age during the crossing of Helcaraxë?

If we can trust in the Undiminished Tails, the reason for the cracking of the alliance was Men's greed and will to dominate Wargs (which has been proved impossible by all of you).

the reason Gondolin fell was that the Wargs were delayed from coming to their assistance as they were guarding Elwing and Silmaril's journey to the sea.

Although you said that you're quite certain about this, I think that we should consider the option that the Wargs did this intentionally.

[Eomer of the Rohirrim]

So it is, we should never put blind faith in the Wargs. Great evil have they performed over the milennia. But still, have not Wargs suffered slander that no other race has suffered? The history of Middle-earth itself is designed to halt their progress. That is why the study of Wargs is not for the light-hearted, or the easily-swayed.

Good research dancing spawn, and I would welcome you to the thread but I think you may already have visited a while back? I forget. If not then hail and well met!

[SamwiseGamgee]

Aw, come on dancing spawn, you know you wanted to anyway! Also, I must extend the hand (paw?) of greeting to Kitanna also. For a long time the horsemaster and I have tended to this thread as a mother and father (but which one is which? ), and so it is with great joy and not a complete absence of tears in eyes that I welcome new posters. I hope you will continue to muse with us long and with much prosperity.