Werewolves

From the One Wiki to Rule Them All, the Lord of the Rings Encyclopedia.

Werewolves were servants of Melkor, bred from wolves and inhabited by dreadful spirits (fallen lesser Maiar or fëar of Orcs) imprisoned in their wolfish forms by Sauron.

They were thought of by Sauron, who was their lord, and took the shape of a great wolf himself at least once. They inhabited Tol-in-Gaurhoth which became known as the Isle of Werewolves.

The first werewolf was Draugluin, and the greatest wolfhound was Carcharoth, the guardian of Angband, a descendant of Draugluin as all other werewolves were. Huan the Hound of Valinor, while also sentient, was not a werewolf.

The fangs of Carcharoth had venom on them, though it is not known if all werewolves had venomous fangs.

Gandalf suggests in his talks with Frodo after the Ford of Bruinen that werewolves survived into the Third Age, and makes a distinction between them and Wargs. The latter though might simply be descended from werewolves, as they could speak, suggesting they had fëar.

[edit] Trivia

• In the game The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II - The Rise of the Witch-king the Angmar faction has the ability to call up a Shade of a Werewolf with three abilities; one called 'Call the Pack' which sends a rush of ice wolves at the enemy, another which freezes enemies, and another which enables the werewolf to eat helpless bystanders to recover health.
• The Middle-earth werewolves were not shapeshifters like the werewolves of European mythology — they were always in the form of beasts.
• The name werewolf appears to have been chosen because they were in essence sentient (but evil), and thus had a status similar to men rather than beasts - the word were in the word werewolf being from the Anglo-Saxon were, meaning man.

Races of the Creatures of Arda Good Races: Ainu | Dwarf | Ents | Hobbit | Man | Elf Evil Races: Dragons | Orc | Uruk-hai | Warg | Werewolves | White Wolves