The Life of Shelob & the Spiders of Mirkwood | Tolkien Explained

Shelob was the dark terror of Cirith Ungol - consuming all unfortunate enough to cross her path. Not only did she serve as a guard of the passage into Mordor, but her offspring would bring terror to the forest of Mirkwood. Today, we cover Shelob's life. In the First Age, she lived in Nan Dungortheb - the Valley of Dreadful Death - where Beren would miraculously cross to eventually meet Luthien. Later, she flees to the mountains that would be her home, outside Mordor. We cover these early days through her fight with Samwise Gamgee and the possibilities of her ultimate fate.
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Shelob - Ozani Ferreira
Shelob - Serban Gabriel
Spawn of Shelob - Herckeim
Frodo and Shelob - Roterotto
Frodo - Ignacio Fuentes
Frodo and Shelob - Yaroslav Kovalenok
Shelob - dekanon
Giant Spider - Papilia
Shelob full body design - Olanda Fong-Surdenas
Sam vs Shelob - Matej Cadil
Beleriand Map - Lamaarcana
Bargain with Ungoliant - Diana Franco
The Killing of the Trees - John Howe
Ungoliant and Melkor - Ruben Devela
Dark Lore of LOTR - Into the Storm - Sebastian Rodriguez
Beren in Dungortheb - Anna Kulisz
The Tower of Cirith Ungol - Enthing
Beren Crosses Ered Gorgoroth - Peet
Shelob - Daniel Govar
Orc of Minas Morgul - AIMaNeGrA
Shelob - John Howe
Dark Lord Sauron - Spartank42
Shelob's Lair - Alan Lee
Orcs debate - Turner Mohan
Courage - Olanda Fong-Surdenas
Cirith Ungol - Giuliano G Alves
Sauron - Shadow of War Concept Art
Dol Guldur - Mattleese87
Bilbo in the Mirkwood - John Dotegowski
The Spiders of Mirkwood - Ted Nasmith
The Designs of Melkor - Ungoliant - Paul Raymond Gregory
Spider's Lair - Jimmy Jim Jim
Shelob - Seth Laster
Shelob and Frodo - Enrico Ottini
Shelob inktober 2018 - Mindabble
Shelob - Liza Kurenkov
Shelob - The Brothers Hildebrandt
Sam and Shelob - John Howe
Sam and Shelob - Lucastrati
Shelob - Ted Nasmith
Shelob's Retreat - Ted Nasmith
Shelob's Lair - Baron Von Gunter
Sam and Shelob - Ahmed Slaibi
Ungoliant - Eric Faure-Brac
Giant Spider - Papilia
Shelob - Loganneverscars
Spiders of Mirkwood - Alvaro Calvo Escudero
Shelob About to Leap on Frodo - John Howe
#shelob #tolkien #lordoftherings

[@NerdoftheRings]

What's the scariest creature/character in Middle-earth?

[@jemleith3263]

Turtle-fish

[@TheCinderestBlockAround]

The balrog. Period. I wonder if they can understand elvish or common speech

[@smaug9956]

Bard the bowman

[@Kansanite]

Dwarven Women

[@jemleith3263]

@@Kansanite They're like banelings in Starcraft when you unburrow

[@claytonparfumorse3101]

"his cat he calls her, but she owns him not" clearly, tolkien understood the true relationship between cat and servent. or, owner.

[@jamesshelton308]

Once again, I feel there is little doubt Sam is probably the most badass character in The Lord of the Rings. He kills Shelob, he dons the Ring and then freely gives it up, he carries Frodo up Mount Doom. He becomes the leader of the Shire for years, one of his daughters is Lady Arwen's personal handmaiden. And he sails into the West.

[@jamiebuzzeo4842]

Not too mention he fights of Orcs & Goblins with a frying pan, takes on a bunch of Uruks at Cirith Ungol and wins, fights against ringwraiths, even threatens Strider when he first comes across him, and argues with Gollum / Smeagol regarding the etiquette of good food...brilliant. 'PO-TA-TOES, boil em, mash em, stick em in a stew'. 😂👏🔥⚔🎬

[@jamesshelton308]

@@jamiebuzzeo4842 Yup, not bad for a gardener.

[@Tentin.Quarantino]

And not once be he droppin’ no eaves

[@johan.ohgren]

Shelobs kill is unconfirmed, though. She may have survived.

[@jamesshelton308]

@@johan.ohgren Better than anyone else ever managed to do to her

[@DocTinfoil]

One of the most exhausting days I had while we were filming Lord of the Rings, was being "inside" Shelob's belly attacking Sam (yes, we built her belly full sized at Weta Workshop) controlling her stinger with both hands, while "palpitating" her underbelly with my feet. I sure earned my Lembas that day!

[@phevos_sk]

jesus that must have been amazing!!!!!!

[@SkitterMcBoo]

If I was able to do that I could die happy

[@heyheytaytay]

odd flex, whatev bruh

[@DocTinfoil]

@@heyheytaytay - I have ZERO idea what that highly articulate response must mean?

[@tezwoacz]

@@DocTinfoil was it always the same ? or did you guys go through multiple takes with different models ?

[@gray9818]

Do you think Sam had war flashbacks whenever Rosie asked him to kill a spider in their home?

[@namafault9617]

imagine her asking him again, only for him to find Shelob in the living room sitting there like "listen here you little shit".

[@adieuuuu]

Sam: I've seen bigger

[@LucasGomez10]

I imagine Sam grabbing the lamp and saying "you will not come here again... come on and finish it" (after scaring away the spider) "ha, back!" (with lamp feints) lol

[@mattjones1776]

No way, Sam would have picked up his pint-mug, grabbed a slice of parchment and then stabbed it to death with Sting.

[@jamiebuzzeo4842]

I don't believe he would kill it, but more put it outside and have words, then send it on it's way. In all actuality he didn't actually go for the kill with Shelob and finished her off, he just badly wounded her then basically told her to f**k off. 🤔😂👍🎬

[@runevi]

Props to the Woodmen of Mirkwood for living among horrors like the brood of Shelob. They must have been the hardest of the hard to have chased off the orcs of the gladden fields and lived on frontiers where giant spiders roam. I always picture them like the fur trappers of "Revenant" fame.

[@valentinkambushev4968]

I bet Shelob is glad that her mother, who almost killed Melkor himself, isn't around any more to see her defeated by a hobbit.

[@Enerdhil]

Yep.... Ruined the family reputation.

[@azaram8133]

@@Enerdhil to be fair, he was a mighty gardener hobbit with the light of a Silmaril

[@jlenhumphrey4933]

@@azaram8133 mighty indeed. That Samwise.

[@prathamchaturvedi2243]

Also the mother, died by devouring herself coz of hunger xD

[@Dougy359]

@@azaram8133 yeah but her mom ate the trees which the light of the Silmarils are made from. Shelob really didn’t live up to the family rep. That phial would’ve been a snack for mommy.

[@lizardlegend42]

Shelob's lair is probably my favourite chapter of the books. Such a beautifully written sequence of suspense, terror and mystery

[@SpecialOrder_937]

My favourite chapter of all 3 books of LOTR is Many meetings , the description of Imladris is just so enchanting 🤣 and the Shelob passages give off disgust and fear

[@frankrault3190]

I've heard that Tolkien, as a child, was bitten by a tarantula back in the days when he lived in South Africa. Probably he never forgot.

[@josemigueldeohansel6062]

To tell you the truth, Tolkien was never afraid of spiders, even as a kid. It was because of his son's fear of spiders, not his. Glad if helped.

[@ZDProds-c8p]

It was a snake

[@efxnews4776]

Aracnophobia is one of the most common phobias on mankind, even more common than ophidiophobia (fear of snakes), despite snakes be far more dangerous than spiders.

[@vampiresquid]

On the contrary, he said he had no recollection of it.

[@vampiresquid]

@@ZDProds-c8p No, it was a tarantula.

[@EEZO115]

I love how Sting got its name from defeating shelobs children, while ending up being the very same sword to almost kill her herself

[@Zerbzie]

It’s the spiders only weakness. The sword is made from mythril. And the light inside mythril never fades. This is why the elves sought out the mythril from the dwarves.

[@Zerbzie]

The spiders devour and feed on light

[@Zerbzie]

But couldn’t consume the light from mythril.

[@Zerbzie]

Hence why it’s their only weakness.

[@howardbaxter2514]

A sword worthy of being wielded by a hobbit.

[@jansolo4824]

As far as I know, the spider bite in his childhood wasn’t his source for all these eight legged monstrosity’s in middle earth. If I remember correctly ist was because his son Christophers fear of spiders, which inspired him to use these as villains.

[@josemigueldeohansel6062]

Exactly

[@LuxBellator92]

That's pretty gnarly as a dad move. "Hey, son, what do you hate most?" "Spiders." "Great! You're going to love this new scene I wrote in The Hobbit!"

[@ComicalHealing]

Notice how Tolkien describes a cat as owning their "masters" "His cat he calls her, but she owned him not" Tolkien for a long time did not like cats, as others have mentioned Huan was set to fight an evil giant cat initially; however, at some point Tolkien's family took in a cat and his opinion of them changed. He even has a poem where he pays respect to the mentality of a cat. Not saying he came to love cats, but I think he understood them better.

[@17Watman]

The cat Huan fights in the original story was the Literary Predecessor to Sauron called Telvido.

[@AnnaMarianne]

Ooh, I didn't know the rest of the story! As a Tolkien fan and a cat lover I'm glad.

[@theenderdestruction2362]

​@The Cornered Luchador I do not like cats but I love the unknown the fear of it somewhat excites me to say this for the whole is to fall so short of a ladder unknown

[@vampiresquid]

No, that' not what he is saying. He's using "own" in the sense of "acknowledge or admit." Own up to. She didn't acknowledge him as her master. It goes without saying she didn't own him in the sense of possession.

[@josedelapinio]

One furrball to rule them all

[@stanmann356]

One of my biggest complaints about the movie adaptation, was that they did not make Shelob formidable enough. When you think of how small the hobbits were in relation to other races, and her size in relation to them, it did not look as if she was much bigger than a large bear. To the point where I think four or five orcs working together could have easily defeated her. Plus she was not that much bigger than the spiders depicted in The Hobbit trilogy which should have been much smaller.

[@michaelnash1067]

Part of the 'adapted to fit your screen' mentality

[@no3ironman11100]

Well also the light didn't affect her that much so that's compensation. The point was to make her believable while keeping the threat similar.

[@Nerobyrne]

"His cat he called her, but she owned him not" Ah, I see Tolkien knew what was up ^.^

[@calummacritchie7840]

She's always hungry and orcs don't taste very nice now, do they precious?

[@TheCinderestBlockAround]

She hungers for sweeter meats

[@garytwinem5275]

Not nice at all 🤢

[@aPheonixRises]

Yet gollum sings sweetly when he was fixing to eat a goblin that he had just killed with a rock.

[@25Erix]

Ah, yes. Sauron's cat. His giant, eight-legged, many-eyed, cat. The terror of arachnophobes everywhere. I'd rather face down a Giant Frostbite Spider from The Elder Scrolls than fight with Shelob.

[@adieuuuu]

Cat is goot metaphore for shelob, because she has her own will

[@Unvexed]

I got a mod to replace those with bears because I am terrified of spiders.

[@17Watman]

Fun fact: Sauron literary predecessor was a Giant Cat called “Telvido the Prince of Cats”.

[@alexandremiguel5408]

I'd rather die instantly than even look at those spiders XD

[@christopherbacon1077]

And as with a cat his "ownership" was more theoretical than actual

[@vagabondx2132]

Every time I watch one of your videos I am just overwhelmed with the sheer quality of everything you have presented. These videos are the absolute upper echelon of what lore videos can be in any and all topics. Superbly, masterfully, fascinatingly done, my dear friend.

[@jayoyo1001]

Shelob was the second most terrifying spider, but Ungoliant her mother was the number one most terrifying spider that even the second most powerful evil dark lord Morgoth was terrified of her.

[@custink22]

Only after devouring the Trees though. Before that, he saw her as a useful tool he could control. But the massive influx of divine power from eating the trees made her even stronger than Morgoth temporarily.

[@fathel9221]

@@custink22 Melkor was already severely weakened by then, but he was still the most powerful Valar.

[@custink22]

@@fathel9221 he was still more powerful than Ungoliant until she ate the trees.

[@seamushayday1222]

Morgoth was the first most powerful darklord

[@LordVader1094]

@@seamushayday1222 You don't say?

[@LookHereMars]

Not sure if you will see this as I'm sure you have many notifications for comments. But I must say thank you for this content. I have only recently found your channel and have been binge watching for days now. Please keep up the good work and thank you.

[@badjokezach6359]

Sam also stabbed her in one of her eyes, and cut off one of her claw-feet. Dude was straight gangster.

[@hanburgundy4317]

Samwise the Strong!!!

[@deew187]

Idk for some reason Carcharoth, the great wolf of Angband, always scared me the most.

[@KeppyKep]

Tolkien's description of him, especially of how he was raised, is both horrifying and incredible.

[@deew187]

@@KeppyKep and how he wasn't afraid when Beren held up the Silmaril... Definitely a moment in the story that made me gasp

[@rykehuss3435]

@@deew187 That moment when Beren lost his hand was obviously little bit copypasted from Norse mythology, with Týr and Fenrir

[@noradosmith]

The thought of him running destroying everything whilst around being burned from the inside by the silmaril is terrifying

[@Enerdhil]

Poor Shelob, stuck in the depths of despair for ages with no cat to keep her company, or maybe Tevildo is down there with her. 🕷️🐈

[@josephweaver7140]

I'm late to the argument. But Sam's assault on Shelob is one of the most, if not The Most valiant acts in ALL of Middle Earth. Born purely out of Love, and HOPELESS in it's outcome....He defends His friend & master....to the DEATH. If death it must be. But Masterwise Sam Gamgee PREVAILS BEYOND HOPE, and rescues his friend & master. Of ALL the battles in Middle Earth.......this one....above all others.....brings me to tears. To me. This is the mightiest battle ever fought in Tolkien's stories.

[@q45ij54q]

The only one that compares is Fingolfin taking on Morgoth, but we all know how that turned out.

[@justice4all190]

The scariest creature of Middle Earth IMO: 1. Ungoliant 2. Balrogs 3. The Watcher in the Water 4. Shelob

[@michaelnash1067]

Good list.... but I'd have Dragons after Balrogs. You can avoid the caves and the water but the Dragons can come to you!!

[@jamiebuzzeo4842]

I'd say the creatures of the 'Dead Marshes' deserve to be on that list like...scary...👏🌃⚔🎬

[@michaelnash1067]

@@jamiebuzzeo4842 I agree with you about the scary .. but 'The Dead Marshes' is remains of souls that died in a battle.... not creatures.

[@michaelnash1067]

@@jamiebuzzeo4842 kinda like 'The Walking Dead' ...but kinda 'The Swimming Souls'

[@mexicanadian0846]

For me its 1. BALROGS 2. UNGOLIANT 3. DRAGONS 4. WEREWOLVES/WARGS 5. SHELOB The reason I put Ungoliant second is that when she was at her "peak" just a few balrogs came and f$#ked her up. Literally sent her running into the shadows of Ered Gorgoroth. They sent many many many a creature running with their presence in battle. Yes Gandalf defeated one, but being weak from thousands of years underground and then having its fire quenched from the fall at the bridge and Gandalf using all his knowledge and magic to kill it, thus killing himself really sets up how powerful and terrifying Balrogs, even one let alone a squadron, really are.

[@shehansenanayaka3046]

We always appreciate your hard work and dedication towards these videos. Love you guys. Love from Sri Lankan fan of you from Sri Lanka 🇱🇰🤝🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿.

[@jasonrichards7230]

Great video! I would love to see a Fingolfin video and his battle with Morgoth!

[@NerdoftheRings]

Definitely! Fingolfin is certainly on my list!

[@jasonrichards7230]

@@NerdoftheRings the best middle earth content out there! Keep up the great work!

[@josemigueldeohansel6062]

@@NerdoftheRings Could you also make one about "The New Shadow" from Tolkien's letters?

[@FlopRider]

Fantastic content as always,I could watch your videos all day! Definitely a Ungoliant video is needed, and one about the Great Eagles would be interesting too 🙂

[@mithras5768]

Every time I get to Shelob's part in the books I get creeped right out. When I first saw Shelob in the movies I was disappointed because it was just a big spider. None of the malice She had in the books. I understand it's difficult to bring that into the movies but there was not even an attempt, it seems.

[@donaldhenderson5041]

Shelob was the most interesting character for me in the books as a child.

[@thecantaloupe2518]

You rock! Love these vids.

[@NerdoftheRings]

Thanks for watching & subscribing!!

[@TheCinderestBlockAround]

Shelob is a demon in her own way, for real. Though I think I would rather face her than a Balrog any day. Congrats to Samwise the Brave for wounding her and annihilating our worst fears

[@Steel-101]

I would rather face a Balrog. Yeesh, spiders creep me out!! 😖

[@TheCinderestBlockAround]

@@Steel-101 indeed

[@Mr_Doogz]

I dont think Sam actually kills her though. But true I would rather take a literal fallen supernatural being than a spider

[@Mr_Doogz]

Also ,speaking of balrogs, how do they die? I thought they were immortal like Gandalf?

[@TheCinderestBlockAround]

@@Mr_Doogz immortal means you cannot die of old age, you still can be slain, the only reason Gandalf survived is because the Valar sent him back to finish his job in Middle Earth, otherwise he would not have. So Balrogs can be slain.

[@Nokyyyyy]

"A terrifying monster, born from the darkness, with an appearance so horrendous and disgusting and that will never leave your brain until your death. It was feared by all of the Middle Earth and no one survived her encounter. But there is a truth that must be said. The story of the one time she escaped a gardener's raging heart."

[@Sevenigma777]

Shelob was actually the first creature in a book that actually made me feel fear. Nothing will compare with the first time reading thr way Tolkien describes it and just the whole setting. Easily my favorite reading experience of all time.

[@itayshorek6872]

amazing as always. youre the best tolkien channel my friend. from start to end. the voices, the pictures, how long the quates/pics are, the number of ads during the video.. youre the best!

[@indio4-215]

Informative video as always, so thank you Matt! I shall be waiting patiently for that Ungoliant video in the future. And speaking of Ungoliant, If I'm not mistaken, wasn't it only made possible for Ungoliant to overpower Melkor as easily as she did due to consuming the light of Telperion and Laurelin thus greatly amplifying her power and perhaps most importantly, Melkor having already become vastly diminished from infusing most of his power and essence into the very fabric of Arda and into his countless servants that followed him, including probably Sauron and his balrogs and quite possibly Ea as well during the beginning days of the world's creation prior to arriving in Arda? Or so I've read in Volume 10 titled Morgoth's ring from the History of Middle-earth series so if I'm inaccurate regarding the latter, please correct me on that front since I'm still relatively new to the Legendarium. I apologize for any grammar issues I may have made since English isn't exactly my Mother Tongue.

[@NerdoftheRings]

You are correct. Morgoth was weakened from his deeds and Ungoliant was bigger and more powerful from consuming

[@bindair_dundat]

In the hungarian translation Shelob was referred to as "Banyapók", which essentially translates to "witchspider". That combined with her ability to speak made me imagine it as this half witch half spider entity. Similar to Quelaag from Dark Souls. Was kinda bummed when I learned it was just a big spider.

[@yoshidinono8095]

"This tale does not tell" has the same sting as "Please stand by"

[@VinnyS9143101982]

I’m listening to this at 3 am before I get out of the car for work. Ducking petrified

[@stiring614]

I'm a recent subscriber but I've watched lord of the rings since I was a toddler and it amazing and you gave me that wonder and want to read the books again. Thank you

[@Zoggosh]

I remember playing the LotR games on gamecube and fighting Shelob. First time I was ever legit scared at something in a game.

[@VoidLantadd]

As of this comment being written, this video is the last in the Third Age playlist, and having watched it, I've just finished with all three playlists on the Ages of Middle Earth. This has been a really good introduction to the channel, and has helped me brush up on my Tolkien in preparation for another attempt at the Silmarillion (I got about half way through around six years ago). I'll definitely be watching more videos not included in the three playlists, and I'll be keeping an eye out for future uploads! Keep up the good work!

[@fungalmage3336]

I love Shelob as a monster because she's more of an environmental hazard than anything. Everyone who knows of her avoids her altogether, or risk their death. Her thick webs choke up everything that pass through her lair, and resist being cut by conventional blades. My only issue with most artist's depictions of Shelob is that they depict her very literally as a massive spider. I picture her as being so monstrous that she can only be approximated into the shape of a spider; like she isn't one, but is close enough for that word to be appropriate. Her spawn take a more overtly spiderlike form because they're basically watered-down stock. She's fleshy, foul, and horned. She has odd proportions and features which would make it inaccurate to describe her as merely a massive spider, and I just feel like a lot of artists don't quite capture that.

[@vormarsch]

Can we call her existence actually "life"? She's the ultimate predator causing darkness, misery and her overall purpose is to end life. I believe it was stated she actually hates life as a whole and to only serve her own good - or rather evil, which is the reverse to live. I just wish more was known to what her ultimate fate was - or if Sir Tolkien had an idea about her end.

[@beng557]

Thank you! You have the best videos!!

[@Roshan-sb8mh]

I love your videos man just found you scrolling and now my fav channel

[@ryanthunder3247]

i love watching all these videos. such neat backstory presented really well :)

[@FirstLast-gk6lg]

I love the idea(non-canon) that the world was filled with absolutely giant animals and monsters prior to the first age.

[@Krylov223]

Despite covering spiders, this guy's voice still sounds like an ASMR video.

[@Skypothesis]

Amazing!

[@bionicRod]

I just finished listening to The Two Towers on Audible (first time in 20 years) today and texted my friend 'Sam is a BADASS' right before watching this. Shelob was no joke and Sam put the hurting on her. He also hacked off a claw IIRC.

[@Siddious09]

Can you do one about the watcher in the water or the nameless things in middle-earth?

[@Enerdhil]

How can you talk about nameless things? They are unnamed and undescribed. You can't make a video about almost nothing, just a 3-minute video about the Watcher.

[@josemigueldeohansel6062]

@@Enerdhil He could talk about them in a Ungoliant's video. Because both are know to be Melkor's envy.

[@josemigueldeohansel6062]

The Watcher in the Water is believed to be one of the Nameless things of Moria.

[@Enerdhil]

@@josemigueldeohansel6062 Ungoliant is a named thing. The unnamed things are never described. We don't know what they are or what they look like. We have no idea if they are even evil at heart. You can't make a video of nothing but wild speculation and fan art fantasies. There is no point in making it, and even less point in watching it. What do you expect to see?

[@Enerdhil]

@@josemigueldeohansel6062 A three minute video on the Watcher?

[@justinkraus1687]

I can’t get enough great content

[@Nickle_King]

I think she survived because...really? Sam killing her? Sam's a good friend, and a strong character, but this is a creature that feeds on a people of war. And before that, fed on Elves and Men. I refuse to believe that Sam, an untrained, lucky Hobbit, could put up a better fight than anything she's come across before.

[@spideylover4105]

6:30 Tolkien is being precise with his language; what everyone refers to as a "stinger" is technically called a "sting"

[@grantbaker3614]

You have wonderful videos. Suggestion: More alternative histories like with Gandalf taking the Ring. Look at the number of views - it is your most popular by far. Do your awesome research, go down a dark path, and boom.

[@HimmelGanger]

What about Shelob taking the One Ring? Frodo is gobbled up, and instead of allowing Gollum to reposes the ring she takes it for her own. That is an interesting idea, is she a maia, or is she something else, could she even make use of the ring, like other maia could have?

[@jasonshen7600]

Shelob: okay I got this just gotta retreat and hea- wait Sauron what u doing Sauron: *dies and blows up Mordor Shelob:

[@rustyblade9366]

Who would win? The deadliest spider in middle-earth, the spawn of Ungoliant, mother of all spiders, a litteral demon, OR; a pissed of gardener.

[@kalvin187douglas]

The books describe Shelob as an evil monster but in Shadow of War, it seems she only did what was necessary and wanted to save Mordor . She doesn’t seem evil, she seemed to care about Talion and the species of humanity, she got Talion in the path so save Minas Ithil,I’m not much in LOTR but I’m curious of her story and how her abilities work. Is she a god or just very powerful?

[@endermanwithalowercasee]

Shadow of War is not canon to the books at all

[@captainbirch2.079]

Ungoliant: you let that hobbit disarm you?

[@amazorro4016]

Well, Australia is pretty good proof that Shelob survived

[@KeppyKep]

I'm not a squeamish person, and I don't mind spiders. But Shelob stabbing Frodo is one scene that I still turn my eyes away from, even after all these years.

[@BlahKDubstep]

Sam decides to get into bug extermination after returning from destroying the one ring lol

[@hrodvitnir6725]

Do you have a History of Mordor video? If not, it would be interesting.

[@skxlter5747]

There's always gotta be giant spiders in every fantasy tale

[@Vhailor_Mithras]

All we see is Shelob withdraw, we never see her death. Unless the dialogue mentions it, or we see it on screen, it's better to assume she's still lurking around and hungry.

[@frederik5991]

"a vast bloated bag, swaying and sagging between her legs" I can't help but think of the creature Gonarch from the world of Xen in Half-Life

[@annaroselarsen4218]

Awesome video!

[@ToonedMinecraft]

So, what's your opinion on her supposed shape-shifting abilities in the games?

[@djtripmix]

Awesome! Thanks

[@jwmusic7093]

can't wait for the ungoliant video!

[@aPheonixRises]

It was Greenwood before mirkwood. Radaghast told Gandalf he heard rumors that people had started to call it mirkwood when darkness overtook the forest.

[@garytwinem5275]

Presumably Ungoliant had a mate to have offspring. What happened him? Suppose he got eaten up. 🙂

[@Enerdhil]

I am not sure she needed one. After all, where would such a large spider come from and how in the world could they ever meet?

[@garytwinem5275]

@@Enerdhil Spinder ❤🕷❤

[@garytwinem5275]

@@Enerdhil Her mate was an unknown Ainu who "probably got eaten", apparently 😲

[@Enerdhil]

@@garytwinem5275 She almost killed Morgoth, so killing a no-name Maia would be a piece of cake.

[@Bauglir100]

No, she mated with some giant spiders living in the Ered Gorgoroth and devoured them. Their offspring, including Shelob, inherited their mother's demonic properties.

[@Bryan198026]

"But those hideous folds could not be pierced by any strength of men, not though elf or dwarf should forge the steel or the hand of Beren or of Turin wield it."

[@chopthelog8170]

Please do if Aragorn took the ring!! The Galadriel and Gandalf ones were so good!

[@jollygrapefruit786]

Damn... he was gonna get crushed by Shelob? Damn... 🥵

[@gregorykollarus8190]

Love the info

[@m78088]

Is it stated that spiders from Mirkwood is childern of Ungoliat?

[@NerdoftheRings]

Shelob is a child of Ungoliant. The Mirkwood spiders are children of Shelob.

[@m78088]

@@NerdoftheRings in wich book is stated this? 😁

[@Enerdhil]

@@NerdoftheRings Matt, you showed Shelob going from Beleriand to Cirith Ungol then to Mirkwood and back. It makes more sense to me that she took a northern route and went directly to Mirkwood and then to Cirith Ungol. Do you have a reference for your position on this?

[@Bauglir100]

@@m78088 In the chapter "Shelob's Lair" from The Two Towers.

[@jedhawkins1769]

A dark lord and his pet spider. Shelob is the perfect guard dog to protect Mordor from intruders by trapping them in her webs.

[@n.u.k.2188]

Looking forward to the Ungoliant video.

[@KingArthur101]

She helped the last ranger of gondor hold back the forces of mordor for years before bilbo found the one ring of power

[@FatGouf]

Fuck off with the Shadow of War games, those are nothing less than fanfiction and aren't anywhere near canon.

[@Demian_R]

Tom is "Mother" or "Father" Nature. He is the planet personified. Its not difficult.

[@IndianTelephone]

Sam literally killed someone probably as demonic as Sauron, singlehandedly.

[@herr_der_spiele]

Wonderful Video.

[@Nopejams]

Ungoliant absolutely had others like shelob, not just large spiders but ones like shelob, the fourth age would still have dragons, shelob and shelob peeps and potentially 3-4 more balrogs

[@czDarkOnecz]

Would you do a Video about Life of UNGOLIANT ????

[@deathblood9384]

Hmmmm, wasn't morgoth or melkor really exhausted that time to fight angoleoth?

[@claytonberg721]

alternate history question... What if shelob had defeated sam, and eaten frodo? Would she have cast the ring aside the way gollum theorized or would she have taken it for herself? If so, then what happens?

[@josemigueldeohansel6062]

Interesting, she could use it because of her bloodline so on.. But because of it's inteligent's, she wouldn't dear against Sauron. Just Gandalf with the ring could keep against Sauron. Furthermore, she wasn't by far as powerfull as Ungoliant. Glad if helped, good night man.

[@josemigueldeohansel6062]

And I also don't believe she would "tell" Sauron that Smeagol/Gollum was about to get the ring.

[@theobserver3753]

If they were real they’d be the most horrific things on earth.

[@aapl10n67]

We want the next one about Ungoliant

[@idreeskhan8885]

Scary thing is that her mother (Ungoliant) could still be around digging and eating deep within the Earth. What if she comes up again hungry?

[@Foxzilla2004]

It would be nice if someone made a life sized sculpture

[@sunilpermaul7876]

What would have happened if Shelob had gotten the One Ring? Like, if she had eaten it or something?

[@charlotteinnocent8752]

I can well imagine Shelob making another appearance in the book Tolkien almost wrote, "A New Shadow"

[@amicaaranearum]

I'm a simple woman. I see a video that combines my love of LOTR and spiders, and I click.

[@ConvictedFelon2024]

Ok, for honesty's sake, I will admit that, having re-watched The Lord of the Rings yet again, I actually thought Shelob looked more cool than scary. Like, I could _totally_ see someone (i.e. a human, and Elf, or a dwarf) having her as an exotic pet in the same way that people have turantulas, tiger, and so on. So when she's described in such a way with respect to Sauron, I cannot help but be amused -- and this feeling is multiplied when I consider that her mother literally almost devoured Sauron's one and only master. For some reason, I am able to imagine Shelob (as depicted in the Peter Jackson films) acting like a docile housecat that needs to be fed fresh meat from time to time, and I really have no idea how or why. 😂 I also felt a little sympathetic when I saw her retreat into her cave, defeated and clearly in pain. The only thing that _might_ get me frightened is the stinger. I think it's safe to say that I don't have arachnophobia. 🤣

[@felixcote1697]

You forgot the part where she is an insanely hot goth baddie in Shadows of War

[@jameshones338]

Isn’t it true that’s where the name “sting” came from is when bilbo cuts off part of Shelobs leg she exclaims “it stings!”

[@phiology1983]

When Shelob stung Frodo. I thought he's done for.

[@kwilcox417]

Did Ungoliant ever get her own video?

[@JasonGabler]

If Ungoliant is Shelob's mother, who's Shelob's father?

[@stevesmith1383]

An actual spider