Vampire (Middle-earth)

In J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy writings, the term vampire is used loosely to designate mysterious bat-like creatures serving Morgoth and Sauron. Almost nothing is known about them, though Tolkien does name one: Thuringwethil. Sauron also took the shape of a vampire on at least one occasion, while he still had the ability to change his shape. They may have been fallen Maiar as was Sauron, lesser angelic spirits (as opposed to the Valar, greater angelic spirits, as was Morgoth). They are mentioned in The Silmarillion. Whether the vampires survived the First Age of Middle-earth is unknown but they are not referenced in Tolkien's later writings.

They may or may not be connected to apparently actual vampire bats who follow the Orc hordes into the Battle of Five Armies in The Hobbit and feed upon the fallen.

Tolkien may have just chosen the word "vampire" for its modern connotations of bat-associated monsters. A similar instance is the use of the word "werewolf" by the same author to denote wolf-like creatures, otherwise possibly unrelated to traditional werewolves. However, in context of the word "Vampire," Sauron did assume the form of a such a creature numerous times. On one occasion, he flew over the forests "dripping blood from his throat." Furthermore, the vampire Thuringwethil, as her name cannotes, was a "woman" of shadow. At any rate, we can at least assume that Tolkien was aware of the fact that vampires, while bat-like creatures, were also somewhat human in form and involved "blood" in some way or another—albeit, if not in the way traditionally viewed of such fictional creatures.

Adaptations

The new Games Workshop The Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game supplement, Ruin of Arnor, has a vampire in it - Gûlavhar, the Terror of Arnor. This is a non-canonical creature, designed by Mat Ward (writer of Ruin of Arnor), Roberto Cirillo (concept artist) and Trish Morrison (sculptor). The massively multiplayer online role-playing game The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar features humanoid bat-like creatures called Merrevail, who appear to be inspired by Tolkien's vampires.

References

• White Dwarf (magazine) UK issue 326

External links

• Games Workshop's The Ruin of Arnor website