The scariest characters in the LOTR? - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

03-31-2007, 12:10 PM

The scariest characters/creatures in the LOTR? Is it:-

The Balrog of Morgoth?

Sauron?

The Witch King (Nazgul)?

Gandalf?

The King of the Dead?

Saruman?

The Mouth of Sauron?

An Oliphaunt?

Tree Beard?

The Watcher in the Water?

Shelob?

The Uruk-Hai?

Elmo · 03-31-2007, 12:13 PM

Eru, he's a scary blighter... wouldn't want to mess with him...

03-31-2007, 12:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hewhoarisesinmight

Eru, he's a scary blighter... wouldn't want to mess with him...

Eru is not from the LOTR strictly speaking . . . . can you think of a time in the book where he is mentioned?

Elmo · 03-31-2007, 12:31 PM

Good point, isn't he mentioned in the appendices somewhere... I dunno.

If you're talking about the book, I do get a very creepy feeling when ever the Nazgul are mentioned

Estelyn Telcontar · 03-31-2007, 12:46 PM

Opinion threads go on the Novices and Newcomers forum - I'm moving this one there. Please continue to read and post at the new location - thanks!

03-31-2007, 01:05 PM

My vote goes to either the Balrog of Morgoth or Sauron.

04-06-2007, 10:21 AM

Oliphaunts are pretty scary considering their size. What if one decided to land it's foot on the Witch King & crush him?

04-06-2007, 12:04 PM

I'd say the Barrow-Wights... Not much explaining to be done, the whole discription fo them unto me just seemed scary.

As all of you af course now they are based upon the Old Norse mythological creature's called "Draugar". (Singular = Draugr).

Origenally the Nazgul were barrow-wights as well, which would mean that the Nazgul are based upon Draugar as well, although there's not much to be seen back about that.

Celegost · 04-06-2007, 12:37 PM

The Nazgul or the Barrow-Wights

Actually, the Balrog (Durin's Bane) Is pretty scary because he's so mysterious; after the Dwarves in Moria were all killed no-one knew what had happened to them, so when The Fellowship were travelling through Moria you didn't know what to expect...

The 1,000 Reader · 04-06-2007, 01:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mansun

Oliphaunts are pretty scary considering their size. What if one decided to land it's foot on the Witch King & crush him?

He'd live. Granted getting stepped on would totally suck, but he'd live.

On the subject of oliphaunts, I never saw them as scary. They were first portrayed as rather innocent creatures in Samwise's song, and I only saw them as elephants.

04-06-2007, 03:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The 1,000 Reader

He'd live. Granted getting stepped on would totally suck, but he'd live.

On the subject of oliphaunts, I never saw them as scary. They were first portrayed as rather innocent creatures in Samwise's song, and I only saw them as elephants.

I believe Gandalf said spells can be broken by great strength, so I could not say for definite that he'd still live. It depends on what you think 10 tonnes could do to even a spell-protected creature.

Oliphaunts in rage are as deadly as anything, so they can inspire great panic in the ranks of soldiers, regardless of which side. A close look at them shows a burning desire to cause damage - these are no sweet animals like elephants you see in the zoo!

I have found the subject of graveyards, ghosts & the undead the most chilling & fearful topic of all. The Dead Mountain is more or less an ancient graveyard, with the King of the Dead the ghost-like guardian. Quite terrifying stuff if you put it in context with the 3 Hunters going it alone into the unknown. Seems like a fitting home for the Nazgul too.

04-06-2007, 03:16 PM

Well, Elephants can be great in earthly wars as well. The Persians and several Asian nations have what we call war-elephants. Alexander the Great is supposed to have coped with these elephants.

And to how they might be scary, well, several Latin texts state that Phyrrus (A Greek having war with the Romans) had brought an Elephant with him to Itali to scare the Roman Commander. And according to the text I had to translate about it at school, they were pretty damn scary in the eyes of the Romans....

Isabellkya · 04-06-2007, 08:16 PM

I can't really say that I was terribly scared by any of the characters in the books.. if I had to choose.. I would probably say the Nazgul.. they were more creepy than scary.
I didn't find Shelob scary.. mainly because I kind of like spiders... well I don't mind them.. but they don't scare me... even giant ones.

The Sixth Wizard · 05-18-2007, 03:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mansun

Oliphaunts are pretty scary considering their size. What if one decided to land it's foot on the Witch King & crush him?

Well, the Witch-King had the raw power to drive his servants mad, couldn't he just raise a hand or scream or something and get away?

I think that the scariest places for me when I FIRST read the book (about 10 years old) were the places that it really seemed like there was no way out. The Balrog wasn't that scary to me because you knew Gandalf was going to finish it off. But in that chapter, I find the 'drums in the deep' very disturbing. Just as we finished reading about how the dwarves were trapped and killed, we get the same drums. Scary.

Other places that made me scared were the Barrow-Wights (until Tom came, which was a relief, let me tell you!) the lair of Shelob, Boromir attacking Frodo, anywhere past the Fellowship of the Ring involving Nazgul and Frodo and Sam, when the wolves closed in around them on the hilltop, the Nazgul that Legolas shoots down and was described as "a shadow [like] the Balrog", when Frodo was captured by the enemy (I really thought Sam would go it alone then) and Pippin saving Faramir.

Sorry, not so much characters as scenes.

Places that I didn't get scared in include: Balrog vs. Gandalf, Lorien (Galadriel), the King of the Dead (I was a bit lost at this point) and Saruman wasn't really scary either.

Volo · 05-18-2007, 04:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Sixth Wizard

Other places that made me scared were the Barrow-Wights (until Tom came, which was a relief, let me tell you!)

Yup, deffinitely!

03-31-2007, 12:10 PM	#1
Mansun Guest Posts: n/a	The scariest characters in the LOTR? The scariest characters/creatures in the LOTR? Is it:- The Balrog of Morgoth? Sauron? The Witch King (Nazgul)? Gandalf? The King of the Dead? Saruman? The Mouth of Sauron? An Oliphaunt? Tree Beard? The Watcher in the Water? Shelob? The Uruk-Hai? Last edited by Mansun; 04-01-2007 at 01:11 PM.

03-31-2007, 12:13 PM	#2
Elmo Pittodrie Poltergeist Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: trying to find that warm and winding lane again Posts: 633	Eru, he's a scary blighter... wouldn't want to mess with him... __________________ As Beren looked into her eyes within the shadows of her hair, The trembling starlight of the skies he saw there mirrored shimmering.

03-31-2007, 12:31 PM	#4
Elmo Pittodrie Poltergeist Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: trying to find that warm and winding lane again Posts: 633	Good point, isn't he mentioned in the appendices somewhere... I dunno. If you're talking about the book, I do get a very creepy feeling when ever the Nazgul are mentioned __________________ As Beren looked into her eyes within the shadows of her hair, The trembling starlight of the skies he saw there mirrored shimmering.

03-31-2007, 12:46 PM	#5
Estelyn Telcontar Princess of Skwerlz Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: where the Sea is eastwards (WtR: 6060 miles) Posts: 7,500	Opinion threads go on the Novices and Newcomers forum - I'm moving this one there. Please continue to read and post at the new location - thanks! __________________ 'Mercy!' cried Gandalf. 'If the giving of information is to be the cure of your inquisitiveness, I shall spend all the rest of my days in answering you. What more do you want to know?' 'The whole history of Middle-earth...'

04-06-2007, 12:37 PM	#9
Celegost Pile O'Bones Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Hobbiton Posts: 23	The Nazgul or the Barrow-Wights Actually, the Balrog (Durin's Bane) Is pretty scary because he's so mysterious; after the Dwarves in Moria were all killed no-one knew what had happened to them, so when The Fellowship were travelling through Moria you didn't know what to expect... __________________ From the ashes a fire shall be woken, A light from the shadows shall spring; Renewed shall be blade that was broken, The crownless again shall be king. Last edited by Celegost; 04-06-2007 at 12:50 PM.

03-31-2007, 01:05 PM	#6
Mansun Guest Posts: n/a	My vote goes to either the Balrog of Morgoth or Sauron.

04-06-2007, 10:21 AM	#7
Mansun Guest Posts: n/a	Oliphaunts are pretty scary considering their size. What if one decided to land it's foot on the Witch King & crush him?

04-06-2007, 12:04 PM	#8
LjösÁlfr Guest Posts: n/a	I'd say the Barrow-Wights... Not much explaining to be done, the whole discription fo them unto me just seemed scary. As all of you af course now they are based upon the Old Norse mythological creature's called "Draugar". (Singular = Draugr). Origenally the Nazgul were barrow-wights as well, which would mean that the Nazgul are based upon Draugar as well, although there's not much to be seen back about that.

04-06-2007, 03:16 PM	#12
LjösÁlfr Guest Posts: n/a	Well, Elephants can be great in earthly wars as well. The Persians and several Asian nations have what we call war-elephants. Alexander the Great is supposed to have coped with these elephants. And to how they might be scary, well, several Latin texts state that Phyrrus (A Greek having war with the Romans) had brought an Elephant with him to Itali to scare the Roman Commander. And according to the text I had to translate about it at school, they were pretty damn scary in the eyes of the Romans....

04-06-2007, 08:16 PM	#13
Isabellkya Ghost Prince of Cardolan Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Amongst trees. Posts: 919	I can't really say that I was terribly scared by any of the characters in the books.. if I had to choose.. I would probably say the Nazgul.. they were more creepy than scary. I didn't find Shelob scary.. mainly because I kind of like spiders... well I don't mind them.. but they don't scare me... even giant ones. __________________ But I was clinging to her like a homicidal monkey.