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"Out from the water a long sinuous tentacle had crawled; it was pale-green and luminous and wet. Its fingered end had hold of Frodo’s foot, and was dragging him into the water. Sam on his knees was now slashing at it with a knife.
The arm let go of Frodo, and Sam pulled him away, crying out for help. Twenty other arms came rippling out. The dark water boiled, and there was a hideous stench.
"
The Fellowship of the Ring, "A Journey in the Dark"

The Watcher in the Water was a horrifying and mysterious creature with many tentacles that lurked within a dark stagnant pool or lake beneath the western Walls of Moria, which was created by the damming of the Sirannon river. The water had gradually grown deeper and crept closer to the West-gate of Moria, leaving only a narrow walkway where once the Elvenway allowed traffic between Ost-in-Edhil and Khazad-dûm many years before in the Second Age. The full shape of the creature was unknown, but its visible parts were its tentacles, which were long, sinuous, pale-green, and luminous, with a fingered end.[1] Some said it was the creature itself who created the dam over many decades.[citation needed]

History[]

In TA 2989, an expedition led by Balin attempted to reclaim Moria. Their activity attracted the attention of Orcs, who began to attack the Dwarves. In TA 2994, the Dwarves tried to escape from the Mines but were stopped by the Watcher in the Water, who took Óin.[1]

On January 13 TA 3019, when the Fellowship of the Ring arrived by the pool of water, many immediately began to feel uneasy by the water. As they pondered the riddle of the Doors of Durin, the Watcher in the Water was disturbed when Boromir threw a stone into the dark waters, disturbing the Watcher in the Water. Moving towards the shore from the southern end, the Watcher in the Water attacked the Fellowship just as Gandalf managed to open the West-gate to enter Moria. It grasped Frodo Baggins by his ankle and attempted to drag him by his foot into the water. Samwise Gamgee used a knife to slash at the tentacle that was holding Frodo, causing it to release the hobbit but enraging it enough for it to attack with twenty other tentacles. The Watcher in the Water gave off "a hideous stench" and somehow made the lake boil. Gandalf then commanded that the Fellowship retreat through the doorway to escape the Watcher's wrath. The Watcher tried to follow them, using several of its tentacles to finger the cliff-wall. The creature possessed great strength, and just as the Fellowship got out of its reach into Moria, the Watcher's coiling arms hurled the enormous stone doors shut, somehow uprooting the ancient holly trees which grew on either side, barring the doors and trapping the Fellowship in Moria. When Frodo asked Gandalf what the creature was and if there were more, Gandalf revealed that he did not know, but speculated that it must have been drawn out from the deep places beneath the Misty Mountains. Silently, Gandalf noted to himself that the creature had seized Frodo first of all the members of the Fellowship,[1] possibly suggesting the influence of the One Ring.

When the Fellowship found the Book of Mazarbul in the Chamber of Mazarbul, Gandalf read Ori's account that "the pool is up to the wall at Westgate. The Watcher in the Water took Óin. We cannot get out". Gimli commented that at least for them, it was good that the creature was sleeping at the southern end due to the pool not being high enough.[2]

The fate of the Watcher in the Water is unknown, but the Dwarves succeeded in retaking Moria during the Fourth Age.[3]

Speculation[]

While Tolkien never elaborated on the exact nature of the Watcher in the Water, Gandalf theorized that the Watcher came from a dark lake beneath the Misty Mountains, possibly one of those beneath Moria. If this theory is true, it is possible that the Watcher may have been one of the "nameless things" said to have gnawed earth deep beneath the Mountains.[citation needed]

Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull have suggested that the description of the creature recalls that of a cephalopod, though they noted that this was unlikely since the Watcher "has at least twenty-one tentacles or arms rather than eight or ten".[4]

In David Day's A Tolkien Bestiary, the Watcher in the Water is described as a great kraken, being an ancient and terrible creature that was bred by Morgoth in Utumno before Varda rekindled the Stars. It is speculated that krakens dwelt in dark waters and were a bane to all of the Free Peoples. Some of these speculative krakens survived into the Third Age by hibernating in the farthest depths of abysmal seas. One kraken that dwelt beneath Moria awoke around the same time as Durin's Bane. It came to the river Sirannon, which it dammed, and built up the pool by the West Gate. It was the guardian of the West Gate, the Watcher in the Water, and none could pass without a challenge.[citation needed] David Day's speculation is unlikely because The Silmarillion specifies that all of Morgoth's servants loathed and shunned the water and would only venture on the sea in dire need. Though the Watcher appeared to be malicious, it is more probable that it may have been operating independently of the Dark Lord, similar to Smaug and other dragons in the same Age.[citation needed]

Adaptations[]

The Lord of the Rings (1978 film)[]

The Watcher in the Water is a green, multi-tentacled monster. Only the tentacles can be seen. It takes Bill the Pony (who, in the actual books, is revealed several books later to have escaped and somehow made his way back to Bree) and pulls the Doors of Durin shut once the Fellowship is inside the mountains.

The Lord of the Rings film trilogy[]

The Watcher 3

The Watcher going after the Fellowship with its tentacles in The Fellowship of the Ring (film).

The Watcher in the Water is portrayed in Peter Jackson's The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) as a highly computer-generated creature. The Watcher is disturbed by Meriadoc Brandybuck and Peregrin Took, who throw rocks in the water to pass the time while Gandalf tries to figure out the password to enters Moria. (This differs from the original story, in which it was Boromir who disturbed the water by throwing a stone.) By the time the riddle of the Door is figured out and spoken, the Watcher is already provoked. It emerges slightly, catches Frodo, and lifts him in the air, despite Samwise Gamgee's attempts to defend him. The rest of the Fellowship, attempting to injure the Watcher's many serpentine tentacles save him. The Watcher drops Frodo when it is injured, and he is caught by Boromir. Legolas shoots the Watcher in the eye as the Fellowship retreats into the Mines of Moria. Just as they enter completely, the Watcher tears down the doorway behind them, and the way out is blocked by falling rocks. The Fellowship is then forced to travel into the darkness of Moria.

During the scene in the Chamber of Mazarbul, the fact that the Watcher took Óin is omitted from Gandalf's reading of the Book of Mazarbul.

Although J.R.R. Tolkien described the creature to have twenty-one tentacles, Peter Jackson instead gave it twelve visible tentacles, due to the effects team finding that twenty-one tentacles were difficult to render properly.

Due to the popularity of the films, it has been common for the Watcher in the Water to be depicted as the kraken that Peter Jackson created - but it should be noted that Tolkien never described the creature's physical attributes aside from the tentacles.

Video games[]

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring video game[]

The Watcher in the Water is depicted as a sea serpent-like creature, with several thick tentacles that shoot out of the pool. The player, in the persona of Aragorn, needs to shoot them with a bow to stun the creature while Gandalf attempts to decipher the password for the West-gate.

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers video game[]

The Watcher in the Water appears in the mission "Gates of Moria", one of several missions in the game that portray events from the Fellowship of the Ring despite the game's focus on the events of The Two Towers. The Watcher is depicted virtually identically to the way it appears in the 2001 film The Fellowship of the Ring, though its tentacles are visible in the lead up to the Doors of Durin instead of solely harrying the party directly in front of the Doors. The player - who can be any of Aragorn, Legolas, or Gimli - must parry the Watcher's tentacle attacks, then slice off a parried tentacle, which will provoke the Watcher to rear its head above the water, where it can be actually damaged with ranged attacks. After a short period, the Watcher will dive back and under and attack with tentacles once more, and this process will repeat until either the player character or the Watcher perishes.

The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age[]

In The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age, the Watcher in the Water is the first real boss that Berethor's party has to face. Its attacks consist mainly of tentacle attacks and "Reeking Spout", a gust of foul breath and slime that deals significant damage to the whole party. After a brief but fierce battle, Berethor's company is able to anger the Watcher enough to clear the way for them to enter Moria. Shortly after, they end up fighting the Watcher again, this time in a huge lake that has flooded part of Moria. This time, they kill it for good.

However, this game is non-canonical to the book, and even to the movie, so the Watcher's fate is still unknown.

The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II[]

The Watcher 2

"The Watcher in the Water" in The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II.

In EA's The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II, the Watcher in the Water is a power to use in Isengard and the Goblins in the Evil Campaign or in a Skirmish. When it attacks, it uses its tentacles to smack any surrounding enemies. When picking up an enemy with one of its tentacles, it eats it and its health heals. It is a commander on the Good Campaign in Missions 2, 6 & 8.When it dies or its time is done it goes back into the water pool where it goes to its home until it is summoned again. In the Evil Campaign it cost ten power points, while in a Skirmish it costs 15.

The Lord of the Rings Online[]

The Watcher in the Water first features in the Moria introduction, where it drove off the Dwarves of the Iron Garrison in their first attempt to enter Moria. Upon beginning Volume II of The Lord of the Rings, the player enters Moria with his/her legendary, which can be named and tailored to a specific play-style, making the new weapons very innovative and much more powerful than regular weapons. Before entering Moria, the prologue has the player at the Walls of Moria. After completing Book I you may enter Moria. However, the first expedition goes wrong, and the watcher takes Bróin . While Bróin is not dead, several other Dwarves are killed and the group flees. Upon returning, you have been granted a legendary weapon, which is capable of hurting the watcher. After a prolonged fight of tentacle cutting and more hacking and slashing, the watcher retreats and you may enter Moria. After being driven out of the Black Pool before the Doors of Durin, it is encountered and driven off again in the Water-Works of Moria later in the Epic series. Its final appearance is in a twelve-man raid in which the objective is to finally put an end to the creature. This instances rewards one of the rarest and infamous trophies in the game. However, it takes a large group to do this raid, or a group of high level players. It is recommended that before starting Moria you are level 50 and have completed Volume I: The Shadows of Angmar (in which you aid Gandalf and the Fellowship by fighting the False king of Angmar's forces). It is also noted that the killing of the watcher was never confirmed in the books.[5]

LEGO The Lord of the Rings[]

In LEGO The Lord of the Rings: The Video Game the Watcher in the Water appears in a role virtually identical to that in the films, though the events of its encounter with the Fellowship is added onto for gameplay purposes.

Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor[]

In Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor, there is rumored to be another Watcher within the Sea of Núrnen, seemingly larger than the Watcher in the Water.

Gallery[]

Translations[]

Foreign Language Translated name
Afrikaans Bode in die Water
Albanian Vrojtues në Ujë
Amharic በውኃ ውስጥ ተጠባባቂ ?
Arabic المراقب في الماء
Armenian պահապան ջրի մեջ
Basque Uretan Behatzailea
Belarusian Cyrillic вартаўнік ў вадзе
Bengali পানিতে প্রহরী
Bosnian Posmatrač u Vodi
Bulgarian Cyrillic наблюдател във водата
Cambodian មើលនៅក្នុងទឹក
Catalan Observador en L'aigua
Cebuano Bantayan diha sa Tubig
Chinese (Hong Kong) 水中監視者
Chinese (Simplified) 水中的监视者
Croatian Stražar u Vodi
Czech Hlídač ve Vodě
Danish Iagttager i Vandet
Dutch Waker in Het Water
Esperanto Prizorganto en la Akvo
Estonian Vaataja Vees
Filipino Bantay sa Tubig
Finnish Veden valvoja
French Guetteur de l'Eau
Frisian Horloazje yn it Wetter
Galician Observador na Auga
German Wächter im Wasser
Greek Παρατηρητής στο Νερό
Gujarati પાણી નોંધક
Hausa Tsaro a cikin ruwa
Hebrew צופה על המים
Hindi पानी में चौकीदार
Hungarian A Tó őre
Icelandic Áhorfandi í Vatni
Italian Osservatore nell'acqua
Japanese 水中の監視者
Javanese Penonton ing Banyu
Korean 호수의 감시자
Latvian Vērotājs no Ūdens
Lithuanian Stebėtojas į Vandenį
Macedonian Cyrillic стражар во вода
Nepalese पानी मा हेरविचार
Norwegian Sjøens vokter
Vokteren i vannet
Pashto په اوبو کې څیړونکی
Persian نظاره گر در آب
Polish Czatownik z Wody
Portuguese (Brazil) Vigia na Água
Romanian Gardă în Apă
Russian Глубинный Страж
Serbian ватцхер у води (Cyrillic) Vidovita u Vodi (Latin)
Shona Mucherekedzi Mumvura
Sinhalese ජලය මුරකරු
Slovak Strážca vo Vode
Slovenian Stražar v Vodi
Spanish (Spain and Latin America) Guardián del Agua
Swahili Mlinzi katika maji
Swedish Bevakare i Vattnet
Tajik Cyrillic нигаҳбонашон дар об
Tamil நீரில் கவனிப்பவர்
Thai ร้ายที่อยู่ในน้ำ
Turkish Sudaki Gözcü
Ukrainian Cyrillic спостерігач у воді
Urdu پانی میں نگہبان
Uzbek Сувда Қоровул (Cyrillic) Suvda Qorovul (Latin)
Uyghur ۋاتچھەر ىن تھە ۋاتەر
Welsh Gwyliwr yn y Dŵr
Yiddish וואַטשער אין די וואַסער

References[]

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