Shelob, Queen of Spiders

Frodo and Shelob

Spiders have held a strange hold on me. On one hand they are nasty things that make my skin crawl (sorry to those who like them), but on the other hand they are nifty things in stories. My favorite spider is naturally Shelob from "The Lord of the Rings." She has one of the defining scenes in the entire Middle Earth series, and is one of the few things even non-readers know about. I'm not sure why that particular scene is so memorable, but I suspect it's because the spider is huge, intelligent, and pure evil that gets curb stomped in the end.

 

Tolkien came up with expansive mythology and history explaining Shelob and the spiders of Mirkwood. It's fascinating reading, but I'll admit I have a hard time spending such long thought on history that isn't real. However, I'm deeply impressed by it and tip my hat to anyone willing to learn it all. It was the work of many years, and definitely shows. Because of the immense amount of background information, Tolkien knew his characters and could better tell his story through them. There's a good lesson in that for anyone wanting to create a fictional world.

 

Shelob will remain on my top 10 list of best villains of all time. I really should write up a few top 10 lists; they do seem popular. Until then, though, I'm glad we got to see the spiders of Mirkwood in so splendid a fashion as in the 2nd Hobbit movie. They don't hold a candle to Shelob, but they were great anyway. I think I'll be reading the Lord of the Rings again soon. It's been too long...

 

- M