Gandalf and the Balrog having a truce while fighting off horrors in a ancient Eldritch city is so metal.
@JohnPeacekeeper10 ай бұрын
You know you're scary af when a literal angel with a legendary sword and a fallen angel demon decide to work together to get the hell out of there
@ravendelacour191710 ай бұрын
Cthulhu can beat up Sauron for his lunch money.
@IPushedGollum10 ай бұрын
@@ravendelacour1917 Not really, no xD Sauron would squash Cthulhu like a bug
@Martial-Mat10 ай бұрын
😀
@ravendelacour191710 ай бұрын
@@IPushedGollum Cthulhu is destined to rule the world. Sauron got defeated by a hobbit.
@nedrickgrundy8 ай бұрын
My personal head canon is they're essentially things you would see in Steven King's "Todash Darkness," the void between dimensions. The things we see in "The Mist." I also like to think that Durins Bane was also disturbed by the nameless things
@philbuttler34278 ай бұрын
Something I love about Tolkien was that he understood that mystery is what gives a fictional world it's wonder. If everything can be comprehensively understood, it makes the world smaller. Im gonna chop it up to we don't know and won't ever know and any attempt to theorize has zero basis in what we do know about the world.
@iget0itches2 ай бұрын
Definitely not. As all the “mystery” you are referring to, can all be summed up in a 3 minute video. A lot, story wise, was explained in the trilogy alone. The Simirillion was his tell-all. He was no Lovecraft. He knew nothing about mystery. All the bits and pieces that we have to theorize about are just things Tolkien completely forgot to write more about.
@spacequack54702 ай бұрын
@@iget0itchesWrong
@keegan1120992 ай бұрын
Absolutley wrong @@iget0itches
@QuayNemSorr10 ай бұрын
Gandalf: "I've seen some serious amazing shit.....But I'm not telling!" Dude, wtf.
@araincs10 ай бұрын
Infohazard do not research
@harryv675210 ай бұрын
Forrealz. 😄
@ximec.r.264310 ай бұрын
For real, his adventures in the dark deep would have been epic.
@ShotGunner56099 ай бұрын
"Neigh lil' homie, for it would destory the vibe, and we will need our vibe unchecked for what lies ahead!"
@Kipa29 ай бұрын
Scumbag Gandalf
@Mr_Gray_199510 ай бұрын
“There are older and fouler things than orcs in the deep places of the world…” -Gandalf
@jonnyd935110 ай бұрын
@darkstar5681One of multiple things he was referencing. The context tells us the balrog wasn't the worst thing either.
@giga_chad98 ай бұрын
@@jonnyd9351if Amazon wasn’t doing lotr or they’re horrid version of it, I’d love to see these things explored, it would be so amazing
@seferino7 ай бұрын
They were even fouler. 💯💯👀🤮🤮🤮
@GuyChooo7 ай бұрын
He's talking about the balrog and goblins. These creatures aren't known to him until he went down there with the balrog.
@Mr_Gray_19957 ай бұрын
@@GuyChooo oh, ok. 🤓
@wrathshorts289410 ай бұрын
I forget where It was said but I remember something about the nameless things in regard to Morgoth. "They are like Morgoth (evil) but no OF Morgoth. Not of his kin." This indicated he did not create them but they are evil. Another passage says, "But they will not heed Morgoth. For all evil hates and they hated him to." This indicated Morgoth could not control them meaning they are not simple animals. I don't remember the quotes but there are other passaged warning to not try to describe them or talk to much about them because it attracts their attention. When Gandalf is describing what happened the sun actually gets dimmer. It is also mentioned they have their own machinations beyond the understanding of even Sauron. These things are not animals. They are extremely powerful. Let them remain nameless.
@zebrion579310 ай бұрын
It could be that the nameless draw power from merely being in the thoughts of others, which is why Gandalf refuses to speak of them at all, only enough to warn against probing further into their existence. Perhaps they were deliberately buried by a higher power so that others COULDN'T learn of them to even be able to think of them. Too powerful to truly destroy, like a fundamental force of nature, but one you could keep from becoming more powerful by simply hiding them from sentient beings. The true irony being that they could never be fully forgotten because there are eternal beings who would remember them.
@DMES-wp2fj10 ай бұрын
Gandalf: "so there's this huge-" Sun: hides Gandalf: "haha i slipped and needed weeks to get back up" Sun: "aight aight, just be careful next time"
@flashotaku4359 ай бұрын
Maybe ungolianth was also one of the nameless as she too was always there and seperate from morgoth
@mj912127 ай бұрын
@@flashotaku435 Not only that, she tried to EAT Morgoth, and it took 12 of his Balrogs to drive her off.
@flashotaku4357 ай бұрын
@@mj91212 only because morgoth was weakened though
@Spetsnik10 ай бұрын
As someone who never got deep into Tolkien's works beside only watching the the movies, I really enjoy content like this that give me an insight into the world of his works.
@paulprovenzano375510 ай бұрын
Just read the books, guy. No one’s going to shoot you for reading books. Especially since these are the best of their kind. Your familiarity with the movies is admirable, and will stand you in good stead, guiding you through the complex world of his creation. I guarantee astonishment and awe.
@_creighton10 ай бұрын
If you ever decide to read the source... you're in for such a treat. There are a few books I've encountered that I would dearly love to be able to go back and experience again for the first time.
@thatguy431110 ай бұрын
I did the same, these videos made me get audible and I listen to the audiobooks in the gym now. They’re good.
@thatguy431110 ай бұрын
You can get the first book with the free trial by the way
@Mr.Haveaword10 ай бұрын
@@paulprovenzano3755I’ve put much effort into watching 15-30 second clips and it’s taken a while but I’ve fully conditioned my attention spare right down to a hair width, and I’m not undoing all that hard work.
@turdferguson935610 ай бұрын
I've often thought that Ungoliant, the Nameless Things and a lot of other creatures are the direct result of the Discord sown into the Ainulindale by Melkor and the Maiar he was able to sway to his side... things created beyond Melkor's intent, perhaps the results of Eru attempting to remedy the Discord and its externalities
@brodytaylor663210 ай бұрын
This has been my thought exactly for quite some time now. Glad I'm not alone in this theory.
@erikhamann10 ай бұрын
@@brodytaylor6632that theory is mentioned in almost every video about Ungoliant or the Nameless Things on KZbin.
@lukas446810 ай бұрын
I agree with this. I think the discord of the music created the nameless things, Melkor's sheer desire to change the music created Ungoliant, a creature that could basically only feel desire, and when Eru, completely unaffected by the discord, effortlessly brought the music back into order he created Tom Bombadil, who seems completely unaffected by evil and almost omnipotent within his own little realm
@zarpp941110 ай бұрын
Ungoliant mauled Melkor with ease. It is beyond Melkor, since there exist light it most also exist darkness and Ungoliant is the darkness
@el_chico131310 ай бұрын
it was only possible bc she swallowed the light of the trees otherwise morgoth would have had an easy game
@dalestringer5110 ай бұрын
IMO, Eru accidently created the Nameless things, here's how. Eru needed to sing the Ainur. Like a conductor, he hummed to set the tone (and accidently created Tom). Then cleared his throat like we all do (creating the Nameless Things) and then sang the Ainur into being (on purpose).
@possiblepuzzles813710 ай бұрын
Best theory so far (they are the proverbial flem)
@fringeman644710 ай бұрын
And Ungoliant was created by the dissonant song by Melkor
@fredpilk775910 ай бұрын
I like this alot. In my understanding that Eluvitar’s thought created the Ainur, the nameless things are his subconscious thought, his shadow.
@revson9410 ай бұрын
The problem with this theory is that Eru Illuvatar was Tolkien's version of the Judeo-Christian God. Therefore, as would align with Tolkien's own theological understanding, Eru is all knowing and all powerful and does not make mistakes. Also, the Silmarillion tells us that Ungoliant was one of the Maiar who first followed Melkor but later went off on her own.
@joshidejj10 ай бұрын
Probably the 'Residue' of the song or scrapped tones of a script, or misshapen forms of tone that's indiscernible.
@rusenakman10 ай бұрын
I watched hundreds of deep dive Middle-Earth videos.. well one more is not gonna hurt
@czcrossman10 ай бұрын
I feel you brotha!! Can’t get enough 😂
@ryanellis932510 ай бұрын
That would make an excellent epitaph! Bit morbid? Maybe, comes to us all though 😂
@Xhumed10 ай бұрын
Just don't delve too deep, too greedily...
@kjnewell724310 ай бұрын
Same brother, same.
@Olebull9310 ай бұрын
Then there is another and another
@sandilemkhwanazi914410 ай бұрын
I remember watching the first LOTR movie when i was a teen and Gandalf talking about the nameless things that existed before time. I was so peed off that he didnt go in-depth about what he said. over 15 years i now finally get the answer i have been craving for. Thank you for the insightful video
@oldsaddad727410 ай бұрын
Isn't 15 years enough time to crack open some of Tolkien's writings and find out?
@Foogi900010 ай бұрын
@oldsaddad7274 Listen, idk about the original poster but my brain is too adhd to sit down and read books.
@sandilemkhwanazi914410 ай бұрын
I didnt know they excisted until recently,althought it was The Lord of the Rings 1.,2 and 3.I ordered the 2nd one since i read the first one before. Super ampt 😎@@oldsaddad7274
@oldsaddad727410 ай бұрын
@@Foogi9000 fair enough
@Foogi900010 ай бұрын
@@oldsaddad7274 I wish that the audiobooks had full male and female narration and with different voices. I feel like my brain could process that.
@tsemiu10 ай бұрын
Finally, a video about them with well thought out theories
@RealmsUnravelled10 ай бұрын
Thank you!
@tsemiu10 ай бұрын
@@RealmsUnravelled i truly love the video. Thanks for responding too :)
@revilerred744010 ай бұрын
The linguistic acuity of this is startling. Did you utilize a thesaurus for this? Excellent audio quality btw. What kind of mic/preamp/interface are you using? @@RealmsUnravelled
@igormorais419210 ай бұрын
olkien was a linguist. Language was so fundamental to him that he still said mass in Latin even after it started being held in English. Those things being nameless , in my estimation, would be a linguists way of making them utterly alien, irrational, incomprehensible. Eldritch horrors, not bound by the rules of reality, physics, nor are they part of Eru Iluvatars song. Maybe background noise.
@MeanBeanComedy7 ай бұрын
Very true. Naming something makes it more understandable. TBF, though, many of us still do Mass in Latin. 😉
@SCHMALLZZZ6 ай бұрын
Mass in Latin is normal 5:26 for catholics. It doesn't matter what language the Mass is, the universal nature of the Catholic Mass means thay I can be understood no .atter what language it is in.
@ignaciomoreno96556 ай бұрын
@@SCHMALLZZZ You don't have a lot of idea about Catholics, do you?
@mnomadvfx5 ай бұрын
"Language was so fundamental to him that he still said mass in Latin even after it started being held in English" Errr..... Tolkien is NOT that old 🤣😂 Church services have been done in English since centuries ago under Elizabeth I 😅
@swiftmatic4 ай бұрын
Remnants of the void, perhaps?
@nbmoleminer505110 ай бұрын
I've always been fascinated by the eldritch Nameless Things.
@redfireeverstar265110 ай бұрын
I know the two men never met personally but I always pictured the nameless things to be a kin to the elder things or shoegoths of Lovecraft. Strange, with many forms, and completely undescribable.
@longrunner40410 ай бұрын
It sure sounds like it
@ghostrights931410 ай бұрын
It does seem like the author may have taken a bit of inspiration from writers of cosmic horror. Still, it’s hard for me to imagine Tolkien having any respect for Lovecraft. Why would a staunchly Christian, optimistic Englishman read the work of an atheistic, pessimistic-not to mention extremely racist-American?
@redfireeverstar265110 ай бұрын
@@ghostrights9314 like I said the two men never met, and it's likely Tolkien wasn't too familiar with Lovecraft's work. The closest I believe they got was Tolkien edited one of Lovecraft's short stories for a British magazine I believe. Though all your points about both men are very accurate.
@ghostrights931410 ай бұрын
@@redfireeverstar2651 Tolkien edited a Lovecraft story? I never knew that-interesting!
@vadim665610 ай бұрын
I have always been fascinated by the nameless things of Middle-Earth. Great video! Your channel is going to be huge! Appreciate the great quality of the video.
@theBoenich10 ай бұрын
No offense intended, but having a text read out by an AI voice doesn't have much to do with quality. and there are probably already 100 others doing the same thing. I wonder how long it will take for this construct to collapse
@galenjones952910 ай бұрын
It would be interesting if Eru unknowingly created the nameless things. Specifically that they came into existence "on their own" while Eru was having doubts in his creations. Which is why they're underground, unseen and knawing away on middle earth's insides much the same way how doubts can.
@ethanhunt524310 ай бұрын
I’m going with this theory
@LuismaLorca10 ай бұрын
That's not possible considering Tolkien's theology and the fact that Eru is just another name for God who is All-knowing.
@JACKAL986 ай бұрын
I like this theory
@AnotherViewBot6 ай бұрын
Eru has never had any doubts, it's why he confidently can say "shall prove but mine instrument" to the discord causing Melkor.
@saladinbob10 ай бұрын
It is stated that Ungoliant was a spirit that entered the world shortly after creation by Ilúvatar, that took the form of a giant black spider, but we have no idea how old that spirit was. The Nameless things I would suggest are similarly spirits from the void that, like Ungoliant , entered the world when it was formed, but settled in the depths, rather than the surface, and here's an idea. As an alternative though, the Sun and the Moon are Miar, locked in those forms. Since the nameless things gnaw at the foundations of the world, what if they are the tectonic forces that shape and shake the land?
@saliston10 ай бұрын
Exactly Tolkien states there are things from the void I think they were caught up in the creation of arda and are trapped there. Creatures or beings similar to Ungoliant
@RealmsUnravelled10 ай бұрын
Not sure I've read that quote before. I would be interested in a source if you have one so that I can include it in future videos!
@jordangarner8710 ай бұрын
"Before there time before there was anything, there was nothing. And in that nothing there was monsters" - The Lich Adventure Time
@theamazingmarlbito629310 ай бұрын
Discord in the music
@BovineIntervention10 ай бұрын
Nothing is specifically stated about Ungoliant, she and the Nameless Things are 100% mysteries. There's no statement that say they play a pivotal role in anything save for the fact that Gandalf was afraid of them. They stay underground and don't disturb the surface because they're beings of darkness and have no means to dispell the light like Ungoliant could, though they are a horror to witness if you find yourself deep in their lairs. Considering Ungoliant was basically the god of darkness, devouring light and energy itself, I would have to speculate that the nameless ones are simply the type of lifeform that would be commonplace if Ungoliant succeeded in eating all the light in the universe.
@bored442810 ай бұрын
I really like your theory. The idea of an entire "lower earth" where life has been tempered for eons and only the most brutal or calculative creatures have been able to survive. It's just super cool.
@WorldsWorstJinx10 ай бұрын
I always likened the nameless things as creatures similar to Ungoliant. Created before arda, from beyond the void. Finding a place of their own beneath the shadows or in the deep.
@rexmagi460610 ай бұрын
The Valar were his first thoughts, the Nameless Things were his first nightmares.
@ohisheh10 ай бұрын
So Eru sleeps? 😂
@wolvo544110 ай бұрын
@@ohishehdoubtful lol
@mohammedshaheen-bj9sv10 ай бұрын
Eru doesn't fear anything he is omnipotent and omnipresent he can create and destroy as he wishes he fears nothing
@SirMcAwesome10 ай бұрын
@@mohammedshaheen-bj9svok Eru, chill
@saqlainalvi333310 ай бұрын
@@mohammedshaheen-bj9sveru doesnt exist
@rebekahj908510 ай бұрын
I feel like anytime I watch a deep lore video about lotr I need an entire semester of history just to understand the context. Like wait who's that?? And when did this happen?? And what??? I still watch these types of videos anyhow lol great work
@georgep.simmonds863610 ай бұрын
Best narration on Tolkien subjects I’ve come across. Nailed the pronunciations the way Tolkien would’ve said them
@TrentCantrell9 ай бұрын
Great video. This food for world building thought may be one of the best things Tolkien gave us in all of his writing even though it was just a few passages. I imagine Gary Gygax reading those and deciding Dungerons and Dragons had to have an underdark.
@Clovernoris6 ай бұрын
You know what? I'm converted. Your personal theory is mind blowing. I love the idea of an unseen, eldritch ecosystem right under our heroes' very noses.
@Kitkat-9863 ай бұрын
I thought that this was the default assumption. Upon hearing them described for the first time, I had never even considered the possibility that it was a singular race of beings. I imagine them as primordial forms varying greatly in size and power. I'd assumed they would be suitable to inhabiting the depths of the earth, perhaps mimicking worms, eyeless serpents, eels, deep sea fish, burrowing insects, all kinds of unsettling creatures that would seem at home in caves. Perhaps some creatures are like the unsettling worms that grow in sewer pipes, a withering mass of hundreds of slimy, tentacle like worm creatures like an anemone that consume whatever putrid material they can, as well as any unfortunate passing life form that they can ensnare.
@Clovernoris3 ай бұрын
@@Kitkat-986 well put
@demongo200710 ай бұрын
I’ve thought that the NT are part of Melkor’s discord in the Great Music that created Arda. Thus they would have been created and existed before any reckoning of time, and Sauron would know nothing about them. Each of the valar (and presumably their respective maiar) would only know about their own contributions to the great music, and Sauron was originally associated with Aule. So melkor’s dissonance could have brought the NTs into existence and only he and Eru would’ve known about them.
@Disgruntled_Grunt10 ай бұрын
That's been my theory for a long time, too. I also suspect that Ungoliant was a product of the same discord since none of the Valar knew anything about her. When I first started thinking about it I thought it was a bit of a reach, considering she ends up overpowering Melkor, but it might actually hold up: Melkor tampered with the fabric of reality itself and may very well have created something greater/more destructive than himself. On the same note, Tom Bombadil might have come from the discord as well! Nobody (at least at the council of Elrond) seems to know much about his nature or origin, and he was apparently around before even Melkor: _"Tom was here already. . . He knew the dark under the stars when it was fearless - before the Dark Lord came from Outside."_ This line (if Tom is to be believed) implies that he predates Melkor. The Ainulindale refers to Melkor as being "there from the first" alongside Manwe, Aule, and Ulmo. If Tom was there to witness Melkor _coming from the outside,_ then that would make Tom a part of the world itself before the Valar descended into it. Since he and Ungoliant are both such wild cards and beyond the understanding of anyone else, I see the two of them as being the opposite effects of the same cause: Melkor's discord screwed with reality and produced both good and bad things that weren't expected or intended in the original music--which is much what Iluvatar said about being "but my instrument in the devising of things more wonderful." The Discord may have mostly wrought harm and evil, but it also elevated the natural parts of the world (ie the extremes of temperature resulted in rain, frost, and fog that Manwe and Ulmo hadn't previously imagined). I think that on a moral/conceptual level, it created a split where the natural and unnatural aspects of the world became personified in the form of Tom and Ungoliant. Ungoliant represented the nihilism that just consumes everything indefinitely, and Tom represented the natural order that attempts to preserve the original form of the world.
@someguy894410 ай бұрын
I'm more partial to the theory that these are creatures of the Void. Very lovecraftian to imagine that outside Ea and Eru, there are a lot of unfamothable eldritch entities. Ungoliant could be one of those that Melkor met when he went around in the Void searching for the Flame. Their relationship has always been a bit wierd and unnatural. More like peers/partners than master-servant. Dagor Dagorath could also be Morgoth coming back from the Void with a host of more nameless creatures.
@MxKtl10 ай бұрын
Interesting, I think it's possible as well.
@MxKtl10 ай бұрын
@@Disgruntled_GruntThat sounds good. I rather think that Tom might be something like the embodyment of the undying flame, but this is very interesting and possible explanation as well.
@libraryofpangea70188 ай бұрын
One of my areas of study is Cave fungi, from that perspective I always liked to imagine the nameless things being fungal in origin. Fungi leave behind microborings in the substrates they inhabit, the tunnels Gandalf the White describes could easily be mega-borings left behind by a timless mega-mycelial network. Giant hyhae being mistaken for tentacles, reaching out from the dark. Melting trespassers with sprayed acids & enzymes, absorbed & consumed. Leaving nothing but the unheard echos of their screams in the deeps. I'm sure if Tolkien had been aware of fungal biology beyond mushrooms, he may have liked this idea.
@Kitkat-9863 ай бұрын
I've always imagined them as a variety of different creatures forming a kind of unexplored ecosystem. Have you ever seen the terrible mass of worm type creatures that inhabit sewer pipes? It's quite a horrific sight, and the withering mass of tendrils doesn't seem so different from how the watcher in the water is described.
@LouiseWatson-Carver3 ай бұрын
What a wonderful possibility! An entirely novel perspective on the Nameless Things.
@batcityunderground40314 ай бұрын
"Behold rather the height and glory of the clouds, and the everchanging mists; and listen to the fall of rain upon the Earth! And in these clouds, thou art drawn nearer to Manwë, thy friend, whom thou lovest.” Wow, what an incredible quote.
@lolsson710 ай бұрын
I really enjoyed this video, thank you for spending time putting it together. Looking forward to the next one!
@eel137810 ай бұрын
I'm reading the books for the first time now, and I look forward to more of these videos. This was lovely!
@CartoonHero198610 ай бұрын
Have you done a background on Tom Bombadil and Gold Berry? This is the first time I have read the Silmarillion before reading Lord of the Rings rather then after and I kind of got the impression Tom might be an example of a great old spirits that existed before Arda much like Ungoliant's origin is kind of unexplained or an example of what Arda should have been if the song had gone uncorrupted and changed by Melkor and the other Ainur trying to drown the other out. So Tom very well could be one of the "nameless things" but a rare benevolent versus the evil ones we typically get to know throughout the rest of the series.
@BlackBlazeGaming10 ай бұрын
Only about a minute in and already just liking and subscribing due to your voice, delivery, and writing.
@PierceArner10 ай бұрын
A reason for using the term "Nameless things" was likely explicitly to evoke a connection to the works of Lovecraft. In Lovecraftian settings, the singularly obsessive pursuit of knowledge leads humans to ruin in the form of madness the more exposed humans are to any of the Eldritch horrors of the cosmos. These same types of cosmic horrors existing below the depths of Moria as a threshold where the Dwarves "delving too deep" for riches results in utter ruin in much the same way. This framework gives reason for Gandalf mentioning their existence as "nameless things" while also refusing to expand upon anything about them explicitly, as knowing them is to be existentially disrupted towards madness. Gandalf likely implicitly understands that speaking of them would be just as dangerous as allowing the Dwarves to dig into those places still beyond Moria's depths on their own. In the real world, Conan The Barbarian had already built up the Swords & Sorcery genre intertwined to these sorts of elements from Lovecraft's mythos (as both authors were friends). This thematic use by Tolkien would have been easily recognizable by those familiar with fantasy at the time, as well as par for the course for how he wrote by integrating elements of different mythologies into overlapping themes for Middle Earth. Tolkien's use of the Watcher in the Water as a creature/creatures revealed only as a tentacled mass with no explicit name(s) or completely discernable form(s) is preemptively evocative of this same darkness from the Dwarves bringing about their own ruin in this place. Gandalf the White calling back to another matching Lovecraftian connection in the furthest depths below Moria makes this intentional emphasis almost certain in its design explicitly by which details are given and which ones are withheld. As such, I think your final hypothesis is likely the most correct, as the "nameless things" aren't likely limited to just one kind of being, but any number of eldritch terrors that gnaw at the base of the world as a way to impede any who would attempt to breach past the foundation of creation itself. This functions unto a Tower of Babel-type limitation of any being attempting to bring themselves up to or beyond God in Biblical stories. These nameless beings achieve that for the beings of Middle Earth such that it would stand to reason that they are a part of the whole of Creation itself and not an explicitly unnamed race of some form of creatures. Also, this was a spectacularly made video even if it didn't really touch on these points, so I instantly subscribed. Hope you have a great one!!
@cardecito820310 ай бұрын
As a lifelong Tolkien fan, this channel is a godsend!
@BEETLEDJUICE10 ай бұрын
Great episode buddy. I appreciate your effort to detail as well as keeping an open mind.
@Luna-oo3fl10 ай бұрын
By far the best description of the nameless things ive heard .
@ManicPandaz10 ай бұрын
After hearing about the Watcher in the Water again recently in another video, I had a disturbing realization/image come to mind. Since it’s “tentacles” are described as having “fingered ends”… it could have hands… meaning they are fingers not tentacles. We all know humanoids have 20 digits combining fingers and toes… meaning the 21st appendage would be a male appendage… The image of a humanoid male sitting at the bottom of the lake, with 21 appendages extending from the deep like long writhing roots to grab you is creepy af…
@eddie2000ad10 ай бұрын
I just found your channel and realized how new you were, im very excited for more episodes to this series and look forward to your channel growing more! The algorithm has clearly picked you up and will soon be funneling all the lotr lore watchers to your channel soon, keep up the good work!
@racecar232310 ай бұрын
Seems more likely to me the nameless things predate Eru's creation of the world and the ainae outright. Like Ungoliant, they are something older and outside of Eru's creation
@Abracadabra2086 ай бұрын
That would, however, contradict the central doctrine in Middle Earth lore that all things that exist were either created by Eru, or via His delegated power to the Ainur. Tolkien brands Eru as the God of the monotheistic faiths of our world in a fictionalized setting. He therefore commands all realms of creation and void.
@VeritasEt2 ай бұрын
Ungoliant was a Maiar, which were created by Eru. The most likely explanation is that the Nameless Things were a result of Melkor messing with the fabric of reality and spawning things outside of his control.
@monopoliz___285610 ай бұрын
Gandalf recounts his fight with the Balrog like in an underworld with mount everest sized expanses. It's like feeling the full spectrum of human emotions. Highest highs and the lowest lows
@MRDLT0010 ай бұрын
Loving the imagery of these beasties used in this video.
@GoombahGoombahGoombah10 ай бұрын
I think its all AI
@MRDLT0010 ай бұрын
@@GoombahGoombahGoombah I was considering that in my mind. If true, at least the uncanniness of the AI works here. XD
@beamerball66610 ай бұрын
I'm wondering if the first one was Jormungandr, I think that was the ocean in the background
@GoombahGoombahGoombah10 ай бұрын
@@MRDLT00 The pictures are AI. The script may be AI too, the voice reading it is also AI. I made videos like this before as well, you can shit out a video with so little effort and people will like it and It will also turn out some what good. I did it with dinosaurs videos, because it is such a specific and small niche you will get viewers.
@theun4giv3n10 ай бұрын
I am re-listening to the audiobooks of the Lord of the Rings. I finished the section on the entrance into Moria just the other night. Thank you for your videos. I look forward to more.
@sethmaginnipig180110 ай бұрын
Hey, check out Phil dragash if you ever get the chance. He voices the characters and adds the soundtrack to the books. Not to mention ambient sounds of nature and footsteps etc.
@own480110 ай бұрын
You keep calling them evil and wicked, but do we know if they've done anything wrong? All we know is they're just chilling down there.
@lucasmurphy74010 ай бұрын
Gandalf called them old and foul which certainly doesn’t make them seem nice
@13gondolla3710 ай бұрын
Maybe they were just smelly?@@lucasmurphy740
@Lekgolocator10 ай бұрын
@@lucasmurphy740I mean I say the same thing about onions but they didn’t do anything wrong
@cosmoreverb394310 ай бұрын
@@lucasmurphy740 No, what he actually said was "olden fowl". He found the world's oldest goose down there
@irascendedkitten745010 ай бұрын
It would be funny if they were good but misunderstood. Kind of the problem with Tolkien and older fantasy is it’s often a very based on appearance what a creatures moral alliance is ultimately. Things that look pretty are generally good and things that look scary are evil. The problem is that a lot of these things are subjective and in reality are not like that. I love Tolkien and series like Redwall but sometimes the ridged alignment is bothersome and hard not to subvert. Like as a biologist it’s not surprising Gandalf would have had a bad experience with the nameless things and vice versa he kind of fell into a whole ecosystem that was foreign to him that he was not adapted to.
@minordd0310 ай бұрын
Very excited about this new channel good luck my friend
@RealmsUnravelled10 ай бұрын
Thanks so much!
@TarMody10 ай бұрын
It is the elves who give their names to the creatures named in Tolkien mythology. Nameless Things are nameless because they are not named by the elves. Ungoliant and Tom Bombadil probably emerged from the same formation process as the Nameless Things, but were named by the elves because of their interactions with them. I believe that the nature of the formation of these beings can be explained theoretically by connecting them to the Music of the Ainur. Since Eru's third theme weaves Melkor's melody into the music, there is harmony and dissonance in the music in a dialectical context. Nameless Things are beings that exist as reflections of this harmony and disharmony. Although benevolent beings such as Tom Bombadil may be formed as a result of harmony, malevolent beings such as Ungoliant may be formed as a result of disharmony. This is a situation that cannot be understood by the Ainur in the vision. When Eru realized the vision with the Secret Fire, these beings that existed in the idea emerged simultaneously with the creation of Arda with an incarnate existence. They are therefore older than Sauron and in general all other beings who have not yet descended or been created in Arda. For example, the Watcher in the Water may be a product of Melkor's distortion of the interacting melody of Ulmo and Yavanna during the performance of the music.
@lhadzyan730010 ай бұрын
The last words about the complex and rather endless ways of how the Nameless Things might be are so accurate AWESOME!!! Too much Lovecraftian-like cosmic-horror stuff to be ignored in all, werther were an Illuvatar side device thing, or actually indeed something that slipped on his own plot device and which we couldn´t actually trust more on him than just... on a dogmatic way just ... "because" and well that doesn´t set him good in all after all. Neverthless I doubt that Gandalf would have wanted to left that knowledge be left away regardless on he getting to solve the main tasks against Sauron and Saruman before all, but... I totally doubt he go away without doing SOMETHING on those other enemies which lurked there eventhough they might take a lot to ever be glimpsed out, henceforth the last meeting with Tom Bombadill - himself a mystery too but on the good side of beings - makes better sense to have a word and a plan about it but all it´s left to Tom alone and well ... there goes another idea of why he might be an avatar part of Eru on Middle Earth himself too!
@lewishorsman221910 ай бұрын
I wonder if, wherever Eru himself came from, there were other primordial beings in the void that heard the song and were drawn to it, in the same way that it could be considered energy food much like the current explanation of Godzilla, it eats radiation energy from below the mantle? They could have attached themselves to the forming Earth so the Ainur wouldn’t have noticed them as they weren’t included in the Song. Eru either allowed them or couldn’t refuse them the ability to do so
@Cardinal_Number5 ай бұрын
Sounds similar to the inhabitants of the "Dungeon Dimensions" of Terry Pratchett's Discworld, that are continuously trying to break from some outer void into the ordered reality and existence of the physical world, and who bring trouble to those using magic incautiously.
@gdhuertas077 ай бұрын
You have an amazing speaking voice. I'm glad I found this channel today, because you now have another subscriber.
@derollimit2l10 ай бұрын
Does anybody know if Tolkien ever read writings of H.P. Lovecraft? Might be just a coincidence, but nameless things and horrors in the deep gave me a lot of Lovecraft-vibes.
Apparently, someone sent Tolkien one of Lovecraft's stories, and Tolkien disliked it. Probably because Lovecraft was too nihilistic for a religious man like Tolkien.
@howdoyoudo594910 ай бұрын
More like Dunsany
@soccerjockey7 ай бұрын
Absolutely love this series. This is the niche content I crave 👏🏼 please make more!
@_creighton10 ай бұрын
Dig the topic selection and the manner of delivery is top notch. Will be checking out more of your offerings mate... thanks for sharing.
@doltonnoak26563 ай бұрын
Finding all the Nameless related stuff deep into Moria while playing LOTRO was great. It was my first contact with this side of the Tolkien world, and it was amazing.
@revson9410 ай бұрын
In my opinion, the Nameless things were born out of the discord of Melkor. During the time of conflicting melodies before Eru raises up the third theme, these creatures could have come into being as a result of the confusing/contradicting melodies. Melkor likely did not even know if their creation. Eru allowed them to come into being, possibly to help guard against Melkor's meddling in the roots of the earth. If Melkor or any other of the Ainur tried to get to the foundations of the earth, at the center of which is implied where the Flame Imperishable dwells, they would come across things more powerful than they were.
@markmacqueen96667 ай бұрын
That’s pretty fucking solid theory dude like this one
@logicnot39392 ай бұрын
amazing! your language and voice is fitting tolkiens work so well. THX
@logicnot39392 ай бұрын
I just became a fan. Keep it up!
@Shrike5810 ай бұрын
Did Tolkien have any thoughts regarding H.P. Lovecraft? Just throwing that out there.
@Uncle_Fred10 ай бұрын
Apparently he did not read his works, despite being a contemporary. However, they were both influenced by the same authors.
@fredpilk775910 ай бұрын
One of my favourite Middle Earth cannon videos yet!
@BlankDiploma10 ай бұрын
I'm pretty sure the empty bubble at 9:40 is supposed to have text in it.
@goreshack10 ай бұрын
Absolutely top notch content, you've got another sub from me.
@user-qn2pn3tt7n10 ай бұрын
Though we may speculate like hell since there is lack of explanation about these creatures; the most valid hypothesis for me is that these createres were formed as a result of very first dissonannce in Ainulindale. The moment Melkor challenged others, irregularities start to happen during creation and it might as well have caused those things to be formed. The fact that they are pretty twisted, and they are referred as ''namesless'' which points the lack of description sound like they are unwanted results of creation dissonance. My second hypothesis would be they are the evolved or adapted (twisted) versions of some very old beings.
@DarthFrayd10 ай бұрын
I've watched a few vids on the nameless things and this was definitely one of the more thought out and sourced ones, and i think the others were very much so as well!
@_Kitetsu10 ай бұрын
Finally this topic is surfacing. I remember him saying a particular line in the movie that hit me deeply. He spoke of something "deeper" or what was it said? I cannot recall. Something hidden deep within the mountain or earth, maybe? It gave me the sense of a cosmic horror hidden within - sort of feeling. Sort of like trying to grasp just how mind warping, infinitely massive, the Lovecraft lore is. But sadly, for years and years nobody seemed to really even mention that line. I know he said something to that effect. Thank you for covering this sadly overlooked topic. It has SOOO much potential to it.
@mendigodascavernas17463 ай бұрын
So many interpretations, coming from so many other world views and different understandings of this work, only prove that Tolkien and his universe are brilliant.
@goonerjoe9310 ай бұрын
Really love these videos. Would love to watch/listen to them with some quiet "Middle Earth" style music in the background
@latenightwizard689210 ай бұрын
Same
@JeremyCuller7 ай бұрын
When it says, more old than Morgoth at 3:33, I wonder if it means older than Melkor, or older than when Faenor first called him Morgoth.
@LordPadriac10 ай бұрын
I think it's just as likely that Melkor had corrupted other Valar before they entered Arda but they abandoned him and found their own places in Arda not being willing to diminish themselves and be subservient to Melkor and then just stayed hidden not wishing to bring the wrath of Valinor that surely must have felt in the many battles with Melkor. Truly there is no answer or even really a hint of an answer in any writings by either Tolkien so whatever head canon makes sense to you is the correct one.
@mikefink75485 ай бұрын
I am glad to see you came to a similar theory as I have held on the nameless things being an entire ecosystem of darkness dwelling creatures. Much like you may find in the mariana trench and under the ocean caverns of our world where we will see fish and other odd creatures that often look terrifying due to them surviving without any sunlight. I think this also shows Tolkein was just as wise on the real nature in our world as in a fantasy world and how things the thrive in darkness often scare us. I know most deep seas creatures look scary to me so only makes sense in middle earth would exist monstrously looking deep dwellers like exist in the deepest parts of our world
@VictorianTimeTraveler10 ай бұрын
The lovecraftian gods exist in all universes
@dakotahall14919 ай бұрын
Yyyyup. Found who I'm falling asleep to now.
@johnnypop-tart33510 ай бұрын
Is this actually Christopher Tester or AI?
@JustThatGuy238 ай бұрын
No this is Patrick
@srtricks318510 ай бұрын
new lore channel is cooking🔥
@thalastianjorus10 ай бұрын
Concerning the Gandalf quote in the beginning - concerning his fight with the Balrog - I always felt that Gandalf were describing old lava tubes deep beneath the surface. They _look_ just like the paths devised by worms or moles. However, vastly larger. It is perfectly possible that Gandalf had merely misunderstood their creation.
@letsomethingshine10 ай бұрын
What about the wereworms during the battle of 5 armies?
@thalastianjorus10 ай бұрын
@@letsomethingshine ehhhh... the Wereworms were never given any details about them the one time that Bilbo mentioned them in the actual book. During the Roleplaying game that came out in '82 _(who took its idea of them from The Adventures of Tom Bombadil - wherein, again, no specifics given)_ they were seen as two different types of legless/wingless, but smallish, dragons. One being the Sand Drakes that mimicked whatever they touched if they wanted, and the other being "true" wereworms that cast sorcery, were highly intelligent, and shape changed to other races. They were... big, but not _that_ big. Far smaller than, for example, Smaug. It was only in the movie that they became "Earth Eaters" of massive size. Thus.... I don't think they'd have been responsible in the Gandalf quote.
@GuyChooo8 ай бұрын
I like the idea of these creatures being diverse, meaning, each of them have different characteristics like "slug like, octupus like, and scaley like" from one another instead of being a single species.
@TheTickler10 ай бұрын
Are you using an AI voice of “Naturally RP voiceover”? It sounds exactly like him, but more robotic. Really hope I’m either wrong or you got permission, otherwise this is scummy as hell
@Fallout31318 ай бұрын
Your profile pic scares me
@JACKAL986 ай бұрын
Doesn't matter just enjoy the fucking video
@koriw170110 ай бұрын
Will you be making a video on whether balrogs have wings? There are so many theories. I can't wait to hear what you make of them.
@henrylarson110 ай бұрын
God this AI script is cringe
@blazex2248 ай бұрын
?
@Artemis1992510 ай бұрын
This was wonderful to listen to. You sound a good deal like Toby Longworth. An audio book narrator, who did the "Eisenhorn" series. Which I do not think I could have managed without so wonderful a voice performance. Suffice to say finding a similar talent invested in one of my favourite worlds, is an absolute treat. ❤
@crismonvulture668010 ай бұрын
This video would’ve been great if you hadn’t used AI generated images for all of it. Unfortunate
@dragonchi2610 ай бұрын
Loved this video. Great job. Please do a video on Ungoliant. 😊
@RealmsUnravelled10 ай бұрын
Great suggestion! Will do one soon ☺️
@reapfield868710 ай бұрын
AI garbage. The internet is fucking dead
@lemana260010 ай бұрын
Agreed. Nothing more disappointing than clicking on a video with an interesting topic only to have the lifeless voice of an AI fall upon my ears.
@VeritasEt2 ай бұрын
why does it matter, you're fucking dead, the voice is good for narration and the guy still had to write the script and do the research and make the images.
@thetsarofall86669 ай бұрын
Ive always thought of the nameless things as dissonant, unharmonized notes sung by illuvatar when he sung arda into being. Mistakes essentially, or possibly even products of melkor's attempt at changing the song.
@pineappleproductions478410 ай бұрын
Gross AI images and voices
@commissarkai17916 ай бұрын
I’ve come to the theory that Ungoliant was initially one of the nameless things as it was said she descended from the darkness that surrounded Ea (the universe) and took form of a giant spider. As she is essentially the personification of the absence of light and the ever hungry nature of the void, and also described as a primordial, I’m on the fence of Eru created her or not. I’m torn between her and the other nameless things already dwelling within the darkness of before creation, beings of primordial darkness as we knew that had she succeeded, she would have consumed Melkor and the Silmaril’s had the Balrogs not come to his rescue. But I could also see her being a part of Eru’s design, we can’t really know Eru’s true plans or even his reasons, as he’s the creator and not even Melkor knew his true plans. Either way, Ungoliant was powerful enough that she could leave the Valar in disarray with a miasma of darkness so truly dark that even they couldn’t stop her from consuming the trees of light
@b00tysmith10 ай бұрын
This art is amazing! Who is the artist who drew these images, does anyone know?
@SpremeCalami6 ай бұрын
My idea of the nameless things has to do with Ungoliant. The same way she fell from the stars onto the upper side of the flat Arda, the nameless things landed on the dark side of Arda. In my mind they are beings of the same origin, or at least similar. On the light side of Arda there was forces that would keep the spaceborn creatures in check, but on the dark side they could breed and spread uncontrollably. Then, when Arda became a spherical world, the nameless things were engulfed and surrounded by the world, where they eat at the stone, trying to make their way back to the surface.
@steviotullio210710 ай бұрын
Realms Unravelled can i ask you where did you get the images in the video?
@djordjejaric321410 ай бұрын
Probably the best video on the topic.
@voxorox10 ай бұрын
I sometimes subscribe to the idea that they preceded even the Ainur. Perhaps they remained of a previous creation. I also believe that Tom Bombadil falls into the same category, although on the side favoring light over dark. There is also the possibility that they were a product of the earliest discord in the song. Again, I would place Bombadil in that same group, although not one of the darker beings.
@WarAndHistory.10 ай бұрын
this channel has really blown up recently 👌
@johnclare90214 ай бұрын
Great video mate. Thanks.
@SEVENSOLDIER_7_10 ай бұрын
thank you so much, this video has explained a whole lot to me that I never was able to really understand and also I havent read all the books. i have the collection but havent got round to reading them all. so thanks very much. this is fantastic😀
@KenchiofTaichi10 ай бұрын
I greatly enjoyed the showcased concept art in this video! Great inspiration for CoC and D&D monster encounters! Are there by chance any links available to find them?
@achmedlolol10 ай бұрын
This is excellent worldbuilding and lore. Tolkien gives us just enough, or nothing at all, so that our imaginations take over. Even a powerful being such as Gandalf refuses to go into details about what he saw, which is terrifying
@AquASnK_Gaming2 ай бұрын
It's actually very possible morgoth created the nameless things as we know from unfinished tales that the mines of moria and the tunnels under the lonely mountain and basically all the deep places of the world are connected to the initial tunnels under utumno from before the awakening of the first elves.
@bennovonarchimboldi963510 ай бұрын
In total, it all sounds very lovecraftian:)
@karlmanfredvikingsandgren553710 ай бұрын
Nice video! I do think though that you miss a vital part in the timeframe of the Nameless Things. Gandalf says that Sauron knows them not for they are older then him, but that could just refer to the change of Sauron from his original name Mairon when he was still a servent of Aule. Not entirely sure of the year when Sauron came to serve Morgoth but it should be after or around the waking of the Elves.
@unholypaladin47026 ай бұрын
I don’t know what it is about you guys, but I’ve been watching all of these LotR lore videos like I’ve got an addiction
@legothoron14 ай бұрын
they're one of those things that you want to know more but are in a way terrifying that you don't want to know more
@levizinck313910 ай бұрын
That final theory seems to be the best, in my opinion, that I've seen about the the Nameless things. Not sure if someone else has had the idea before, but it's the first I've heard of it.
@jimmuthedeath1215Ай бұрын
You should do a Middle Earth cryptid video on creatures from Hobbit folklore like the Wereworms of the Last Desert or Mewlips. The legitimacy of their physical existence or if they exist solely in Honbit mythology.
@avajie10 ай бұрын
I like your voice and your content. Both resonate deeply!