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"Tell me what you want done, and I will try it, if I have to walk from here to the East of East and fight the wild Were-worms in the Last Desert."
Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit

Were-worms were creatures told of in the stories of hobbits. Though possibly mythical, Were-worms were believed to inhabit the Last Desert, said to be located far to the east of the Shire.[1]

For a hobbit to declare himself prepared to fight Were-worms was a sort of proverbial way of saying that he was ready to do anything.[1]

Etymology[]

The prefix were- originates from wer, the Old English word for "man".

In The Complete Guide to Middle-earth, Robert Foster suggests that Were-worms may have been misremembered dragons among Hobbits, noting that "worm" is often used as another name for dragons and that the usage of "were" is similar to "Werewolves", suggesting that Were-worms may have a relation to them.

Other versions[]

In the first version of The Hobbit, Bilbo mentioned to Thorin and Company that he was capable of walking to "the Great Desert of Gobi and fight the Wild Wire worm of the Chinese" there; Tolkien subsequently made the term plural.[2] In the second version of The Hobbit, the phrase was changed to "...the last desert in the East and fight the Wild Wireworms of the Chinese".[3] The Were-worms of the Last Desert may have, therefore, been based on the legend of Mongolian death worms in the Gobi Desert.

In adaptations[]

Middle-earth Role Playing[]

In the 2012 second edition of the 1994 Creatures of Middle-earth module of Middle-earth Role Playing, Were-worms are shapeshifters that evolved from wingless and legless Dragons. There are two breeds: Sand-drakes and True Were-worms. Sand-drakes are beasts which mimic anything they touch while True Were-worms were intelligent creatures that wielded sorcery.

The Hobbit (2003 video game)[]

Were-worms were monsters appearing in the 2003 video game as large, fearsome worms that live in underground dens. They are first seen after the Troll-hole boss fight. They look like caterpillars and when Bilbo kills one, another comes forward to take its place. They are blind and can be snuck up upon. They make a fearsome snarling noise that sounds similar to dogs.

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

The Wyrms that appear in The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II may be based on Were-worms.

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies[]

Wereworms

In the third film of The Hobbit film trilogy, Were-worms make a brief appearance before and during the Battle of Five Armies.

Wereworm tunnel

A tunnel made by Were-worms

Tunnels dug by the creatures first appear as Azog and Ragash inspect the path their armies will travel. After Thorin II and Thranduil hear a rumbling noise below the battlefield, several Were-worms suddenly burst through the ground near the hills surrounding the Lonely Mountain, only to disappear again soon after. As they appear, Gandalf in horror identifies the creatures as Were-worms. Here, they dig tunnels for reinforcements of the Dol Guldur Orc army. They look somewhat like colossal rainworms with rock-like skin and massive jaws. They don’t appear to be used for combat, and they don’t take part in the actual battle. Despite a short appearance, the worms remain among the largest creatures in the live-action films along with Smaug, who was said to be over 140 to 152 meters (462 to 498 feet) in length.[4] The Were-worms resemble Carnictis from King Kong (2005); the worm-like creatures which devoured Lumpy, portrayed by Andy Serkis. For Peter Jackson's self-homage to his King Kong, there were more scenes of similarity in the franchise; during the battle under the Lonely Mountain, Thorin landing on Smaug's nostril resembled Ann Darrow falling on the tip of Vastatosaurus Rex's jaws during the battle between Kong and the dinosaurs, and the facial structure of a War Troll in the extended edition of the third film strongly resembles that of King Kong. These Were-worms also resemble the Nydus worms[5] of the Starcraft series.

Middle-earth: Shadow of War[]

Were-wyrm - SoW

Uruks facing a Were-wyrm in The Desolation of Mordor

In the The Desolation of Mordor DLC, Were-worms, referred to as Were-wyrms, appear as native to the plain of Lithlad in The Desolation of Mordor DLC, an expansion to Middle-earth: Shadow of War. Their appearance is similar to how they appear in The Hobbit film trilogy, though the creatures vary greatly in size.

See also[]

Translations[]

Foreign Language Translated name
Chinese (Hong Kong) 噬地獸
Czech Zeměžrouti
Danish Kæmpeorme ("Spøgelsesdrager")
German Werwürmer
Norwegian Vârorm
Polish Robołaki
Portuguese (Brazil) Homens-dragões (book)
Vermes-gigantes (film)
Grãs-serpes (book²)
Russian Червеоборотни

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 The Hobbit, Chapter I: "An Unexpected Party"
  2. The History of The Hobbit: Mr Baggins and Return to Bag-End, "The First Phase", I(a). "The Pryftan Fragment", pg. 9
  3. The History of The Hobbit: Mr Baggins and Return to Bag-End, "The First Phase", I(b). "The Bladorthin Typescript", pgs. 40, 43
  4. Ian Failes. 2014. Behind the scenes of Weta Digital’s Smaug. the fxguide. Retrieved on December 22. 2014
  5. http://starcraft.wikia.com/wiki/Nydus_worm
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