Nameless Things
From the One Wiki to Rule Them All, the Lord of the Rings Encyclopedia.
The Nameless Things were a bizarre and interesting species of creature found underneath the Misty Mountains. Gandalf said in the Two Towers:
"Far, far below the deepest delvings of the Dwarves, the world is gnawed by nameless things".
Through the gnawed tunnels that the Nameless Things delved Gandalf pursued the Balrog.
[edit] What Were the Nameless Things?
There are many theories concerning this. The term 'Nameless Things' might be a metaphor for natural earth processes that formed underground tunnels, but this doesn't really make sense seeing that Gandalf, who fought a Balrog of Morgoth, was terrified of them. They seem to be conceptually similar to many of the monsters presented in H. P. Lovecraft's fiction, which was published contemporary to Tolkien's writings, although was not very widely-known yet.
There are four major theories concerning their origin.
- The Nameless Things were originally Ainur who entered Arda before Sauron arrived, hence the phrase, "Sauron knows them not for they are older than him", meaning they lived in the world longer than Sauron.
- They were specific spirits like Tom Bombadil and his wife Goldberry.
- The Nameless Things were species from the void, much as Ungoliant. They were most likely caused by Melkor's independant singing in the Music of the Ainur.
- The Nameless Things were among the creatures created in Utumno by the Dark Powers.
