Shelob
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Shelob is a character from J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional works of Middle-earth. A giant spider-like creature, she appears at the end of the second volume of The Lord of the Rings.
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[edit] Literature
Shelob was a huge creature in spider form, living high in the mountains of Mordor, the “last child of Ungoliant to trouble the unhappy world.”
Her lair was along the path that Sam Gamgee and Frodo Baggins took while travelling to Mount Doom. Shelob had encountered Gollum before, during his previous escape (or release) from Mordor, and he had agreed to bring her food in the form of living creatures. The Orcs of the Tower of Cirith Ungol called her "Shelob the Great" and "Her Highness", and called Gollum "Her Sneak." Sauron himself was aware of her existence as well, inhabiting the region for a shorter span of time than she, but allowed her to live, feeling that she would be a useful "back up" guard to prevent anyone from entering Mordor.
Gollum betrayed Frodo and Sam to her, leading the Hobbits into her lair so he could get the One Ring after she consumed them. She attacked and stung Frodo, paralysing him. An enraged Sam fought her desperately, and managed to defeat her by letting her impale herself upon Frodo's sword while trying to crush him, and she fled into her lair, wounded. The story makes a point of saying that her final fate will remain unknown to the people of Middle-earth.
Thinking Frodo dead, Sam took the Ring from him and left his body behind, but discovered by listening to a party of Orcs that Shelob's venom was not intended to kill its victims, but only to render them unconscious and keep their meat fresh.
Shelob occupied Torech Ungol beneath Cirith Ungol, and may have once lived in Beleriand, possibly in the Ered Gorgoroth.
She was also called the "Spider of Darkness."
Shelob's brood (upon whom she would often feed) include the giant (but relatively smaller) spiders who capture Bilbo Baggins' Dwarf allies in Mirkwood during the events chronicled in The Hobbit.
The name Shelob is derived from "lob," an archaic English word for spider. A variation, "cob" is the derivation of the word "cobweb." "She" is a reference to Shelob's gender: While writing The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien reportedly wrote to his son Christopher, ""Do you think Shelob is a good name for a monstrous spider creature? It is of course only 'she + lob' ( == 'spider' ), but written as one, it seems to be quite noisome..."
[edit] Adaptations
In Peter Jackson's film trilogy based on the books, Shelob's appearance is held over until the middle of the third movie, The Return of the King.
In the movie, Shelob can be seen to have a retractable venomous sting at the rear end between the spinnerets, resembling a wasp's sting. This is very much unlike real spiders, which inject venom with their fangs. Shelob also appears to have a gaping mouth, whereas real spiders can ingest only liquid. In the book, on the other hand, "clusters" of eyes are mentioned, which may suggest compound eyes like those of insects; Shelob in the movie does not have compound eyes. According to DVD commentary, Peter Jackson mentions Shelob's appearance is mostly based on the funnel-web spiders of New Zealand, which he hates.
In the film, Shelob 'stings' Frodo in the chest, while in the book, she penetrates him in the neck, above his mithril shirt. This is a possible plot incongruity, since, in a later scene, Sam witnesses two orcs arguing over his unblemished mithril shirt.
In the video game The Return of the King, which is based on the film, Shelob is one of the bosses and her defeat is required to beat the level "Shelob's Lair". In The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II, Shelob is a hireable hero-unit of the Goblin faction.
