The Warg and Warg Rider Appreciation Thread

[Eomer of the Rohirrim]

Ask not for forgiveness, dearest Kath! Questioning everything is one of the things that separates the Wargs from the others.

I was just thinking: did the Elves celebrate the New Year? Because, living for so long, it would be almost like Men celebrating every new Hour or whatever. Fair enough, annual celebrations can be special to Men because we might get only 60 of them, or thereabouts. But Elves would be doing it millions of times. It is possibly different for Wargs if they are not bound within time.

[Nilpaurion Felagund]

It's true, Eomer. Wargs are so great that they transcend everything. Time, reality and space are all but nothing to a Warg. (SawmwiseGamgee)

Concur. As I once quoted:

[Mauan: ]We are not concerned with history, with the past ages of Arda; for to our care was given all the notes and chords of the Music, to keep in order until it has reached the fullness of its measure and our Lord comes to cleanse it.

To Wargs every second is new, and they know that every second brings something different from the one before it (thus many say they are the caretakers of the estel, which Eru gave to Men, but I digress from that topic--for now). This is, I believe, is one of the reasons Wargs can endure such unimaginable hatred the world has managed to throw at their most marvellous race. They simply don't care what others have said--they look forward to the hope that all their deeds were for the good of Eä.

[Anguirel]

Oh, race of Wargs, race from across the mountains, race chosen and beloved by Eru as shines forth in very many of your works set apart from all nations by the situation of your thread, as well as by your faith and the honor of the holy Wargdom! To you our discourse is addressed and for you our exhortation is intended. We wish you to know what a grievous cause has led us to Your Thread, what peril threatening you and all the faithful has brought us.

From the confines of Mirth and the thread of The Hobbit Survivor a horrible tale has gone forth and very frequently has been brought to our ears, namely, that a race from the land of the Shire, an accursed race, a race utterly alienated from davem, a generation forsooth which has not directed its heart and has not entrusted its spirit to Eru, has invaded the lands of Wargs and has depopulated them by the sword, pillage and fire; it has led away a part of the captives into its own country, and a part it has destroyed by cruel tortures; it has either entirely destroyed the temples of Wargdom or appropriated them for the rites of its own religion, genealogy.

When they wish to torture Wargs by a base death, they perforate incinerate their noses, and dragging forth the extremity of the tail, bind it to a stake; then with flogging they lead the victim around until the viscera having gushed forth the victim falls prostrate upon the ground.

Others they bind to a post and pierce with arrows. Others they compel to extend their necks and then, attacking them with naked kitchen knives, attempt to cut through the neck with a single blow.

The thread of the Wargs is now dismembered by these Hobbits and deprived of territory so vast in extent that it can not be traversed in a march of two pages. On whom therefore is the labour of avenging these wrongs and of recovering this territory incumbent, if not upon you? You, upon whom above other nations Eomer has conferred remarkable glory in arms, great courage, bodily activity, and strength to humble the less-hairy scalp of those who resist you.

Let the deeds of your ancestors move you and incite your minds to manly achievements; the glory and greatness of High King Fingolfin, and of his associate Eomer, and of your other Wargologists, who have lowered the threads of the unbelievers, and have extended in these lands the territory of the holy Wargdom. Let the holy sepulchre of the Lord Warg Rider, which is possessed by unclean Hobbits, especially incite you, and the holy places which are now treated with ignominy and irreverently polluted with their filthiness. Oh, most valiant Wargs and descendants of invincible ancestors, be not degenerate, but recall the valour of your progenitors.

Go thee to the thread of Hobbit Survivor and save the Chief Warg by voting for Belladonna Took.

(With apologies to the late Pope Urban II)

[SamwiseGamgee]

Why, oh, why?

Why does this great thread go neglected. Yes, we have games of werewolf and the neverending Crazy Captions, but are we forgetting something: Wargs gave us these all!

Please, brethern, do not ignore my plea: devote thyself oncemore to the Warg!

[Eomer of the Rohirrim]

I was thinking along those same lines, Samwise. It has been far too long since we heard tales of Wargs of the Elder Days.

The line at the Last Alliance also had me thinking. Apparently, all things but the Elves were split on that day. Does that mean that Wargs, and yea! even Orcs, fought under Gil-galad and Elendil?

Not much secondary literature written on that one, eh Tolkien scholars!

[Kath]

Alright Eomer I got the hint

I must ask:

Yes, we have games of werewolf and the neverending Crazy Captions, but are we forgetting something: Wargs gave us these all!

Wargs gave us Crazy Captions? The most noble of creatures sat down, found a picture and proceded to create vulgar humour from it? Though I respect you as a scholar, I find myself unable to believe such a thing.

Their creation of the werewolf games on the other hand I can quite understand. A game full of such cunning and bravery is well-suited.

[Formendacil]

I must concur with the Honourable Lady Kath, my dear Brother-and-fellow-Warg Scholar. Though I cannot but respect your preeminent position amongst those who admire and revere the great and might Warg, and I have a full appreciation for the deep contributions you have contributed to Man's current understanding of them, I must disagree with you as to the origins of the Crazy Captions thread.

Though these things be a matter of confusion for scholars, so many hundreds of captions have gone by since the inception of the Crazy Captions, that it is no longer easy to discern with whom its origins lay, but the school of thought to which I belong is of the contention that the Wargs did not, in all probability, have a hand in the creation of this now powerhouse amongst threads. Indeed, if one is to examine such evidence as remains of the early years of the thread, it was not a particularly noble or notable thread- and surely any thread founded by the Wargs must indeed have been such a one, as the Werewolf games themselves prove.

It is therefore my contention that the Wargs did NOT found or cause to be founded the Crazy Captions thread. It is likely to my way of thinking, however, that they soon appreciated the potential for rib-cracking humour in the thread, and knowing of the desperate need among Man for such things, in their beneficence, they put forth their assistance that it would grow from one thread among man to the King of All Mirth Threads.

All of which leads me to a most peculiar theory. It is welll known that one "Hookbill the Goomba" is the chief (known) Mastermind behind the current success of the Crazy Captions. If we then are to believe that it was the influence of the Wargs that brought the Captions to their greatness, then ought we not believe that Hookbill- who is associated also with that rise to greatness- is in some way connected to the Wargs?

I think it overpreposterous to assume that Hookbill is, in fact, a Warg, though I do not discount the possibility, unless a Warg Itself should tell me to do so. I do, however, contend that this species or tribe of "Goombas" may, in fact, be part-Wargish in blood.

The prudes among you may recoil at the thought of Man and Warg wedded, but do not these same prudes have no issue with the marriage of Man and Elf? And should they not consider themselves honoured?

As Mark Twain once said, misapplied to cats, crossing a Man and a Warg would improve the Man immensely, but ruin the Warg.

However, history having shown what an effect a strain of Elvish blood had on humanity, for its betterment, how much more so would a strain of Wargish blood have had?

I believe these matter bear further investigation.

~Michael A. Joosten - Warg Scholar~

[Eomer of the Rohirrim]

Ah! Someone took the hint, I see.

Actually Kath, I was merely reading through this greatest of threads and dishing out rep hither and thither as it pleased me. This great Barrow-Downs institution is even better than I remembered it.

I think you might be interpreting the words of Samwise too literally. Perhaps Wargs did not invent captions, as such; but there has been a long-standing belief in certain circles of Wargology that Wargs did, in fact, rouse the humour-faculties in the race of men.

And that is even greater. Mark Twain, more than most, will have seen the value of that.

[Kath]

Perhaps Wargs did not invent captions, as such; but there has been a long-standing belief in certain circles of Wargology that Wargs did, in fact, rouse the humour-faculties in the race of men.

Then it has become a double-edged sword, as a gift given in good faith to men is now often used by them to discredit or ridicule the Wargs that provided them with it.

[Eomer of the Rohirrim]

I see this descending into an objectivity-of-humour discussion (I remember one of those with SPM about movie-Gimli ).

But surely, even if such foul abuse can properly be called 'humour', would it not be worth it? Suppose they had given the gift of life to men, those same men might use it to try to end the lives of the Wargs. It would be tragic. And we all know how much the Wargs value a good tragedy.

Sometimes, one must give, knowing that the gift could lead to evil, even an ironic evil, as in this case.

[High King Fingolfin]

I am delighted to see that this, greatest of threads, has returned from its exile. The Wargs shall rise once again on the Barrow-Downs!

[Formendacil]

Originally Posted by Eomer of the Rohirrim

I see this descending into an objectivity-of-humour discussion (I remember one of those with SPM about movie-Gimli ).

But surely, even if such foul abuse can properly be called 'humour', would it not be worth it? Suppose they had given the gift of life to men, those same men might use it to try to end the lives of the Wargs. It would be tragic. And we all know how much the Wargs value a good tragedy.

Sometimes, one must give, knowing that the gift could lead to evil, even an ironic evil, as in this case.

You couch your words in term such as "would" and "suppose", Honoured Scholar Eomer, but any good Wargophile will know that this is but a gentle humour with which you melancholically refer to the true events of history, almost. Though the gift of Life comes but from Eru, and not from the Wargs (though there are those who would say that Eru is a Warg, but that is a metaphysical question and beyond my historical scope), is it not true that the quality of Life that we possess comes from the Wargs? Where would we be without the great benefits they have given us?

I am convinced that the ancient Greeks knew of this. The tale of Prometheus can be nothing but a garbled tale of the Wargs, bringing fire and civilization to needy Man, only to suffer at the hands of the jealous Eldar for the rest of eternity. And indeed, in times since, what has Man done to set Prometheus (which assuredly must be Race of Wargs in Greek) loose from his chains?

[Eomer of the Rohirrim]

Indeed. 'Theos' was the ancient Greek word for god ('theus' might be a typo); and it is barely even worth investigating what 'Prome' meant — undoubtedly, this 'Warg-god' has, throughout history, suffered an injustice regarding his true character and identity.

[High King Fingolfin]

Indeed, Wargs have shaped the history of mankind. I suspect their intervention on both sides in the American Civil War. (Was Robert E. Lee a Warg?)

[High King Fingolfin]

Why do the Wargs go neglected again? This thread mus not die! The Wargs demand it.

[Eomer of the Rohirrim]

Be at peace, Fingolfin. The day there is nothing about Wargs left to talk about comes after the day that there is nothing to talk about on the Barrow-Downs; and so this website will crumble into oblivion long before this thread is neglected by us Faithful.

[High King Fingolfin]

You are correct Eomer. I just cannot bear to see the Wargs lie abandoned with their glory forgotten.

[Gaunt]

Hail Eomer and other Warg devotees!
Today I bring you the cruel and terrible tale of the Warg-a-tron, a tale of anguish and suffering the likes of which is rarely told.

Long ago, on the fringes of the Northern Wastes, lived a humble people in a humble village, the last of their humble clan whose lack of taste for conquest and violence had seen their numbers gradually dwindle so that they could only fill one village. For years they had been untroubled, believing that they were too peaceful to make enemies and that they had too little to attract raiders to such an inhospitable region.

But a few years before the brutal climax of this tale, people of the village had begun to see shapes and shadows as they foraged in nearby woods and hills. Sometimes the shapes could be seen in the moolight, slinking packs of huge, sharptoothed quadrupeds moving with an air of extreme menace.

A wise old man of the village proclaimed these creatures to be Wargs, fearsome creatures he had learned of in his youth from a man even older than he. The villagers came to fear the Wargs more than anything, though they rarely saw them, and never in the clear light of day.

One man in the village, a somewhat undistinguished magician, bravely swore to protect the villagers from the Warg threat. He set about creating charms and spells to ward off the beasts. But every thing he tried failed spectacularly, and sometimes to comical effect, such as the time he attempted to create a warg destroying beam emitter, a kind of anti warg death rod. Every time he tried to demonstrate this to the villagers, either nothing happened or he transformed into a ludicrous beast, part bird and part pig, and when he transformed back the villagers would pelt him with vegetables and chase him back to his hut on the outskirts of the village, laughing at the magician all the way.

As his attempts at magic continued and the vilagers laughed at him more and more, the magician began to turn from his noble quest and turn his energies towrards his loathing of the ungrateful villagers. He moved out of the village into the nearby hills and set about his new life's work, something that would turn out to be the greatest but most despicable of his magical achievements.

The magician met a band of travelling rogues one day in the hills, and by lying about his prowess with magic they agreed to have him join their party as they attempted to raid a goblin hoard. By letting out a few theatrical flashes and bangs in the midst of the combat the magician managed to convince the rogues he had played a major part in their victory, and he was given a large share of the loot.

With this gold he employed bandits to travel to the dwarven mines and bring him back vast quantities of metal. During this time he practiced the dark magical art of making inanimate objects come to life and reap destruction, and at this he proved far more adept than he ever was at the noble forms of magic he had previously tried to practice. On occasion his whole house was almost destroyed by a rock he managed to bring to life, before he mastered the art of directing the animated object's wrath against specific targets.

When the bandits returned with his metal, he paid them further to construct his ultimate weapon of death, according to his plans. They thought it was merely a statue, the whim of a rich, crazed old man, but it was far worse. For this abomination, the magician knew there was only one form he could choose. The fears of the villagers and the potential for irony after his spurned attempts to protect them were too much for the magician to resist. When the bandits completed their work and were paid off, leaving to return to their homelands, the magician gazed in wonder at his creation - a titanic metal Warg. He called this the Warg-a-tron.

Days later, unbeknownst to the villagers as they tended their crops, the Warg-a-tron came to life. The magician cast his spell and sent the immense beast to its dreadful work. The villagers heard a distant rumbling, and held each other, trembling. From over the crest of a hill, the Warg-a-tron strode... to be continued.

[FeRaL sHaDoW]

The best part in TTT would be when the warg riders and the rohan guys on the horses charge each other and you get to see all the horses in the front get crunched up by the wargs.

[High King Fingolfin]

Lo! I thought the Wargs had abandoned us. I am overjoyed to see that I was mistaken. Warg sightings have dropped off recently in my area, and I fear the Winged Wargs have left the area entirely. But such is the way of the Warg. Their actions are inscrutable to mere mortals such as we.

[FeRaL sHaDoW]

Dont worry wargs cant die out, theer every where see jus now ones trying to fit through my cat door i better get the broom....

[Gaunt]

The villagers were frozen in fear as the Warg-a-tron towered over their small settlement. A few hardy men walked slowly from their homes bearing old and battered swords, useless for true battle, and positioned themselves between the Warg-a-tron and their families.

The Warg-a-tron shuddered to a halt, it's joints creaking violently, like a chorus of death screeches. It's huge snouted head looked right and and left, then suddenly its jaws flew open and let out a deafening roar. The terrifying cry of the mechanical painbringer blasted the villagers to the ground and tore strips of thatch from the roofs of their homes. Eventually it ceased, but the Warg-a-tron opened its jaws once more and the villagers cowered to the ground, preparing for another sonic blast.

But this time there came not sound, but metal. The beast spat forth a dense shower of razor sharp metal shards. The brave men and the other vilagers standing out in the open were ripped to pieces. After a few seconds the Warg-a-tron's kill storm halted, and all the open ground in the village was covered in a thick bed of twisted, deadly, blood-soaked metal.

All at once, the surviving villagers left their homes and began to run, hopping this way and that to avoid impaling their limbs on the metal shards. The Warg-a-tron reared up on its hind legs and prepared to crush the people with one mighty, crashing lunge.

In this moment of mortal peril, as they ran like they never had before, the thought flashed through the minds of some of the villagers that this was as bad as their lives could possibly get. Then their hearts filled with black despair as they saw an army of living wargs hurtling towards them, and their last slim hopes of survival were extinguished. They closed their eyes and waited for the end.

But it didn't come. The wargs filtered through the fleeing villagers and onwards, towards the Warg-a-tron. As the villagers stood in amazement, wargs gently swept them iup n their jaws and bore them away from the village, out of reach of the Warg-a-tron's violence. When they were laid down on the top of a small hill, they caught their breath and looked back to the village. What they saw was unforgettable.

Wargs were leaping onto the Warg-a-tron and clambering all over its hulking metal frame as it thrashed around trying to shake of its assailants. Many wargs were crushed by this devastating mockery of their own noble form, but they never flinched and threw themslves again and again at their foe every time they were thrown to the ground.

The wargs swarmed over the Warg-a-tron, and, bit by bit, they tore it apart, gnashing and hacking with their teeth and claws. As the battle raged more and more pieces of the Warg-a-tron fell away, but even these pieces fought the wargs, animated by the magician's dark magic as they were.

After three hours of this mighty combat between warg and machine, the War-a-tron was no more. Hundreds of wargs lay dead among the shattered remnants of the village, but the Warg-a-tron had been reduced to a pile of scrap. But these metal pieces, almost as soon as they hit the ground, were reanimated and flew up to fight the wargs. The wargs had no way of stopping the metal. They ripped it into smaller pieces but by doing so only created many foes instead of one. So the wargs ran.

But they did not flee, They ran to the source of the evil - the magician. He had been directing the Warg-a-tron with a staff of black wood from a craggy hill that overlooked the village. The wargs saw his silhouette against the first flash of lightning from an approaching thunderstorm, and they raced to put an end him and his lifeless army. All the way the metal shards chased them and cut down wargs with their sharp edges.

When the wargs crested the outcrop where the magician stood, he did not flee, but with a look of maniacal glee waited till hundreds of wargs surrounded him, blocking all escape routes. The thunder and lightning grew ferocious as the eye of the storm centred on the crag. The wargs crept closer as the magician continued to madly grin. One warg could hold back no longer and leaped at the magician.

Suddenly a bolt of lightning struck down on the spot where the magician stood, a split second before the warg's jaws landed a fatal blow. The leaping warg burst into flame and crashed into the ground. The magician was nowhere to be seen. The wargs searched the hill and the forest on one of its slopes, but there was no sign of him. Then the wargs left, moving back into the shadows as the storm subsided.

The villagers wept with joy at being alive. But sadness scarred them as they went back the village to clear the metal and the bodies of their families and their saviours, the wargs. In the weeks and months that followed they set about rebuilding their village. Once it was completed, they pooled all the money they could scrape together and hired a great craftsman. Under the villagers' instructions he created a wondrous monument - a towering bronze statue of a noble warg, gazing wistfully to the north, whence his kind had left when the villagers last saw them, after the mighty battle of the Warg-a-tron.

[Eomer of the Rohirrim]

A mighty tale, Gaunt, and it is with delight that I see you finally posting on the Barrow-Downs, so many years after you made me aware of this place.

The tale underlines a crucial aspect of the character of Wargs. They are proud, and suffer no mockery. They famously place a great importance on manners, more so than perhaps any other race of Middle-earth or beyond.

The story also features a classic character: the magician, in this case, who is ridiculed by a people only to turn into that people's worst nightmare. In fact, I see so many parallels between this story and much of our world's classic literature; it makes me wonder how much the tales we grew up with 'borrowed' from the ancient stories of Wargdom.

[Gaunt]

Thankee, Eomer, Thankee.

I recounted this tale, with a stylistic flourish here and there, exactly as it was told to me by a wandering old man. Formerly of the village, he had grown disillusioned after the terror of the Warg-a-tron and had failed to settle back into village life. He now wanders from place to place, drinking in local taverns and telling his tale if he is plied with enough ale. He had filled the gaps in his knowledge about the tale by speaking to some of the bandits who had worked for the magician when he met them by chance in a distant inn.

Besides his story, he told me something interesting. One man to whom he told his story said he had heard talk of Wargs before, from a certain tavern owner named Raderak in a coastal town to the West. I intend to travel there and speak to this tavern owner as soon as possible. If he truly has something interesting to tell, I will report it here.

By the way Eomer, you must tell me how I can join and play a game of werewolf. It sounds good.

[SamwiseGamgee]

Ah, the joy of The Greatest Thread Of All Time. Now, to business: Wargs did give us Crazy Captions. Not because they thought it amusing themselves, or that they are crud. Of course not. It is simply that Wargs, in their wondrous benevolence, conjoured the concept and realised we mere humans would enjoy this tirifle, and so gifted it unto us.
Let me make this perfectly clear, friends: one must not underestimate the power and greatness of Wargs.
Welcome, also, Gaunt. Your tales of Wargdom are, obviously, beautiful. It enrages me to think of this blasphemous Warg-A-Tron, and yet I love to hear the story of the most noble Wargs. Is there no end to their greatness?

[arcticstorm]

As many know the people of the elder children of Illuvitar have always had a great hatred for the warg, as can be seen by the neglect of the species in their historical document, yes even those who visit the elves gain a growing hatred for the warg. This can be seen in the slander perpetrated against all wargs in Bilbo Baggins personal memoirs. But where did this hatred begin? After months of researching many-a-lost historical document, I have found what I believe to be the true origin of the hatred the elves have for the great and illustrious species known as the warg.

Long before the first elves awoke, the wargs kept watch over the lands of Middle Earth. Melkor, having driven the Valar to the west had claimed the lands of Middle Earth for himself. His dominion, however, was not unopposed. The warg tribes united under one banner and strove to keep the lands safe. During this war, they stumbled upon the first Elven settlements, and the strongest and wisest of the elves were each taken for a month at a time and educated and were granted the strength and wisdom of the warg. These new champions for the elvish race returned and enlightened their brethren with their newfound wisdom. The wargs were hailed as the saviors of all, for a short while. It did not take Melkor long, however, to discover this amazing gift. It was then that he sent his servents to hide in the forests near the elvish settlements and await their champions. These champions and others were taken and were never seen again. Soon, orcs appeared in the lands and the good feelings the elves felt toward the wargs changed for they blamed the wargs for Melkor’s cruelty. They believed that the wargs were sent to get them off guard. Thus their beloved heroes became hated and those who fraternized with the wargs were executed. Soon the wargs, in sadness, had to leave and the elves have hated them since.

Hearing all these wonderous tales, I have been inspired to tell you my tale, it is not a very long tale nor does it have a story to tell. Infact i just wanted to tell you all that during my extensive travels, i happened upon an outcast warg, shunned for not taking part in the slaughter of women and children. We came to an agreement to become partners, him allowing me to ride on his back while i protected his flank with my mighty recurve bow, and together we roam the lands killing whomever we please, good or evil. But we have drawn the line at killing women and children. Together we search, looking for our next prey. For those who frown upon us, take into consideration that we kill the bad guys too and if you still don't like us, stay out of the way. Simple as that. We are currently searching for other wargs and riders who share our feelings, so as to make a pack.

Just wanted to inform you all of that fact, so i shall take my leave now

[Eomer of the Rohirrim]

Debate currently rages in the N & N forum concerning that mysterious Tolkien character, Gothmog of the Third Age. The aim is to discover who this Gothmog was, for Tolkien gave us but small scraps of information concerning him (or indeed her - though I shall use the term 'he' henceforth). He was lieutenant of Morgul. He assumed control of Sauron's army after the death of the Witch-King. These are givens, and the rest is clever detective work.

For many suppose he was either Orc, Man, or Ringwraith. I think that Gothmog was none of these.

I believe he was neither orc nor (ordinary) man because he had to command orcs and men. Orcs would dislike following a man and vice versa. For such a major role a bigger character is required. Sauron surely thought this too.

Some believe that the answer is now simple: to lead the army, in the event of the Witch-King's death, another Ringwraith is needed. But I find this unlikely too. An interesting point concerns the name itself. No other Ringwraith is named personally; the Witch-King is a title; Khamul is mentioned but not in a finished work. This is probably to make the Ringwraiths more detached and impersonal; possessions of Sauron.

But what also gets me thinking is that Gothmog was not described at all. There would be no reason not to mention that another Ringwraith took the Witch-King's place. The compiler loved Ringwraiths, as is shown by other chapters of the book. I believe Gothmog was left out of the story as much as possible due to a grudge on the part of the compiler of the story (biased Hobbits).

Whom do Hobbits hate, and are powerful enough to lead armies of Orcs and Men? Gothmog was a Warg, I deem. We know that Witchy was Sauron's favourite, that's probably why Gothmog did not have full command regardless. Or it could be that Gothmog was actually a weak, wretched, corrupted Warg, able still to lead Orcs and Men but actually below the level of the top Ringwraith.

[Eomer of the Rohirrim]

In the Barrow-Downs section of the forum, Lalwendë has provided us with the link to a very interesting piece of equipment. Google trends gives information on search terms entered into Google, and arranges it by location. Thus we are able to discover places in the world where folk are particularly interested in Wargs! If I can copy a post...


Regions

1. Sweden

2. Poland

3. Finland

4. Germany

5. United Kingdom

6. Canada

7. Australia

8. Netherlands

9. United States

10. France



Cities

1. Stockholm, Sweden

2. Szczecin, Poland

3. Wroclaw, Poland

4. Poznan, Poland

5. Lodz, Poland

6. Krakow, Poland

7. Warsaw, Poland

8. Gdansk, Poland

9. Katowice, Poland

10. Goteborg, Sweden



Not to disparage famed Warg-appreciating lands such as Peru ( ) because of the language issue, but my goodness! My respect for the wonderful people of Sweden and Poland just increased tenfold!

[Nilpaurion Felagund]

You had no idea what I had to bribe Mandos with before he let me read this.

And then I had to bribe him some more to get him to translate it.

Praised to the highest be the One, the Father of all.

Praised to the highest be the creator of the Grawlar, the ever-discarnate, the offsprings of his spirit.

Seven Grawlar he created, the true Firstborn, the Wargs of Might, ere the Timeless Halls were builded.

Princedom he conferred upon Varsur, first of the Firstborn, mightiest of the created.

With precious stones he clad him, symbol of his office, mark of his authority.

Oushd afh Aghia [meaning unknown - translated from the Wargish by Námo]

This is not the entirety of the manuscript, but I ran out of Gummibärchen with which to bribe him.

It agrees, to the least detail, with the account in Olórin's manuscript that I found in Ingwë's house. But interesting were the words 'true Firstborn'. Later in the manuscript I found the words 'true Followers' preceding the word 'Ainur' (I learned a few Wargish words from atarinya, who is, after all, a Warg-friend.) May it be that Eru's creation of the two Children in Eä parallels that of the Grawlar and the Ainur?

But, alas, the Ainur are offspring of his thought, yet the Grawlar are of his spirit.

(Must find more Gummy Bears--apparently he likes the orange ones.)

[Morthoron]

With all the controversy swirling about the underappreciated wargish population, I thought this would be appropriate to repost here. It is an interview I did with a warg soon after the debut of The Two Towers:

The Dark Elf discusses the finer points of cinema with a warg

The Dark Elf: Mr. Warg, it has come to our attention that the wolfish population of Middle-earth has been set on its collective furry ear by the dramatization of wargs in the film The Two Towers; which is to say, you feel Peter Jackson characterized you rather badly. That is, not 'badly' in an evil sense, which you certainly are, *The Warg nods approvingly* but rather ineptly.

Warg: Yes, my dear chap. Having reviewed the suspect footage, I must say I found it to be wanting in every respect. I mean really, the only time I have seen such a sunken gut on one of my kin was when poor Uncle Lupine contracted worms. Nasty parasites, those.

TDE: Yes, I suppose so. Then you feel misrepresented?

W: Certainly! As if to be continually associated with those foul Orcs wasn't bad enough, we are now portrayed as if we've been cross-bred with snub-nosed, gangrel hyenas! It's all too much, really.

TDE: How so?

W: Hmmm...aside from the horridly distorted image of wargs presented by Peter Jackson in his flawed film, another mischaracterization from a plot standpoint deals with warg-kind used as saddled were-ponies, which of course is patently ludicrous! This is primarily due to Mr. Jackson’s incessant pillaging of a non-canonical source: The Hobbit.

TDE: Then your characterization in The Hobbit was incorrect as well?

W: Good Lord, Man…I mean Elf -- pardon the slip -- The Hobbit was originally published as a children’s story; whatever resemblance it had with the Middle-earth cosmology as a whole was at first merely coincidental. This sordid juxtaposition was accomplished later via manic editing by the author in order to marry the plot of The Hobbit – however awkwardly -- with the far more serious storyline of Lord of the Rings. Nevertheless, the plot is rife with fairy tale elements. It’s Brothers Grimm meets the Völuspá! Talking trolls with Cockney accents? It’s absurd! Have you ever spoken to a troll? They are as dumb as doorknobs! One can’t expect more than a few grunts and a good deal of flatulence from the lumbering oafs.

TDE: And this rewrite of The Hobbit concerns your species in what manner?

W: Let's look at this logically, shall we? No self-respecting warg of some 500 pounds has the ability or inclination to carry about some pusillanimous Orc enmeshed in 50 or so pounds of chain mail. Their scent alone is enough to make one gag! We are not pack animals like those pompous Mearas (although I must say they are quite delicious in a bordelaise sauce with a nice glass of port to wash them down). I think it is a bit much to expect one of the proud lineage of canis lupus megaterribilis to accept the stirrup and bridle. It is far too over the top, even for a ham-handed director of Jackson’s ilk, don't you think?

TDE: Most definitely. Are there any formal protests planned?

W: No. The pack felt that picketing would be, if you will excuse the pun, merely 'crying wolf'. As nocturnal predators, we feel more direct action is called for. We shall be stalking Peter Jackson’s home in Wellington, New Zealand. If the bloated blighter should even pop his head out the front door, he shall make a tasty treat. After all, there is enough of him to feed the whole pack!

TDE: Hmmm...but don't you think large wolfish creatures slinking about in a modern city, even at night, would be cause for alarm?

*The Warg rolls his eyes*

W: Silly, we shall be in disguise, of course.

TDE: Ah, sort of ‘wolves in sheep’s clothing', as it were?

W: Quite.

[Eomer of the Rohirrim]

Welcome to the Thread, Morthoron.

[Eomer of the Rohirrim]

There can be only one thread on which to make my 4000th post on the Barrow-Downs.

There is a thread going on these days in N&N about the images Downers have of characters in The Lord of the Rings, and whether they have been affected by the popular films or by other sources. A subject hit upon before, of course, but always interesting. I would like to turn it on its head, though, and ask the question from a different perspective:

Did The Lord of the Rings affect your image of Wargs?

In this age of Wikipedia, few people rigorously check their sources (don't get me wrong, I love wikipedia - an afternoon at work reading up on certain mediaeval battles is well spent). However, people accept what is presented to them without checking the ancient proofs. Old manuscripts and stone tablets detailing the exploits and wisdom of Wargs abound, yet the dominating presence of one particular, biased text is felt keenly.

The Lord of the Rings was written by a hobbit with a serious anti-Warg agenda. Why has the general population been taken in so easily?

So, has your image of Wargs and Wargdom been coloured by this hateful propaganda? Or do you place trust in the ancient, contemporary sources? I plan on looking at some of these sources in the near future and hopefully we can discuss them.

[Eomer of the Rohirrim]

Friends and contributors! The honour of Wargdom needs you! Go to the thread titled 'Hurt and Heal' in Middle-earth Mirth. Here you shall find a contest where, as per usual, the Warg is suffering absurd discrimination. Fight against this injustice and heal the Chief Warg.

We can all make a small difference in this cruel world.

[the phantom]

I'm extremely interested to see if your efforts here will help or hinder your cause.

[Eomer of the Rohirrim]

No matter. Should evil triumph then the Chief Warg will become another martyr.