Warg

In Norse mythology, a vargr (often anglicised as warg or varg) is a wolf and in particular refers to the wolf Fenrir and his sons Sköll and Hati. Based on this, J. R. R. Tolkien in his fiction used the Old English form warg (other O.E. forms being wearg and wearh) to refer to a wolf-like creature of a particularly evil kind.

Etymology

In Old Norse, vargr is a term for "wolf" (ulfr).^[1] The Proto-Germanic *wargaz meant "strangler" (see modern German würgen), and hence "evildoer, criminal, outcast."^[1] Varg is still the modern Swedish word for "wolf." Also cognate is Old English warg "large bear".

In line 1514 of Beowulf, Grendel's mother is described as a grund-wyrgen or "warg of the depths."^[2]

Norse mythology

In Norse mythology, wargs are in particular the mythological wolves Fenrir, Sköll and Hati. In the Hervarar saga, king Heidrek is asked by Gestumblindi (Odin),

What is that lamp

which lights up men,

but flame engulfs it,

and wargs grasp after it always.

Heidrek knows the answer is the Sun, explaining,

She lights up every land and shines over all men, and Skoll and Hatti are called wargs. Those are wolves, one going before the sun, the other after the moon.

Wolves also served as mounts for more or less dangerous humanoid creatures. For instance, Gunnr's horse was a kenning for "wolf" on the Rök Runestone, in the Lay of Hyndla, the völva (witch) Hyndla rides a wolf, and to Baldr's funeral, the giantess Hyrrokin arrived on a wolf.

Tolkien's wargs

Taken from the Old English warg, the wargs or wild wolves are a race of fictional wolf creatures in J. R. R. Tolkien's books about Middle-earth. They are usually in league with the Orcs whom they permitted to ride on their backs into battle. It is probable that they are descended from Draugluin's werewolves, or of the wolf-hounds of the line of Carcharoth of the First Age. They are portrayed as somewhat intelligent, with a language of sorts, and are consciously in league with the Orcs, rather than wild animals the Orcs have tamed.

The concept of wolf-riding Orcs first appears in The Tale of Tinúviel, an early version of the story of Beren and Lúthien written in the 1920s, posthumously published as part of The History of Middle-earth.

In The Hobbit, the Wargs appear twice, once by working with Orcs (called goblins in the book), in hunting Bilbo Baggins, Gandalf, and the dwarves just east of the Misty Mountains, and once at the Battle of Five Armies.

In The Lord of the Rings, they are most prominently mentioned in the middle of The Fellowship of the Ring, where a band of Wargs, unaccompanied by Orcs, attacks the Fellowship in Eregion. During the War of the Ring in T.A. 3018–19, wolves prowled outside the walls of Bree. They are here distinguished from regular wolves "looking for food."

Adaptations

In the Rankin-Bass adaptation of The Hobbit, they are portrayed as larger than average wolves with ominously glowing eyes. Although Tolkien never gave a fully complete description of the Wargs (he simply noted that they were demonic wolves), they do seem to have a regular wolf-appearance in both The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, and they are regularly called "wolves."

In Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings movie trilogy, a hyena-like, rather than wolf-like, design was chosen due to it looking more powerful.^[3]

They feature prominently in The Lord of the Rings Online, an MMO based on the works of Tolkien

In popular culture

Subsequent appearances of the creatures in popular culture often owe much to Tolkien. Similar to Tolkien's works, they are often depicted as evil, intelligent wolves that speak their own language, and are often allied with goblin tribes.

In the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game, wargs appear as minor enemies.

In the A Song of Ice and Fire fantasy novel series by George R. R. Martin, wargs are people who can form a telepathic-empathic bond with an animal. While this link is active, the human perceives and experiences what the animal perceives/experiences.

In David Clement-Davies's books The Sight and Fell, the wolves are known as the Varg, their self-chosen name. Furthermore, the Vargs' god is Fenris.

Larry Correia's Monster Hunter International features giant wolf-like creatures used by orcs as mounts. However, the orcs of the MHI world are good and fight against the evil monsters. It is unclear whether these warg-like mounts are intelligent.

In Jim Butcher's Codex Alera the leader of the Canim, a race of large anthropomorphic wolves, is named Varg.

Wargs also appears often in the Castlevania video game series and are portrayed as big wolf like creatures appearing for the most part towards the beginning of the games. In the newest entry in the series Lords Of Shadow they are mounted by Lycan.

In the MMORPG Ragnarok Online Renewal, Rangers can summon a warg as a mount.

In Warcraft lore, the race Worgen are based on Wargs. Additionally, in World of Warcraft, the worg is a mob species closely related to the wolf; also, the orc racial mounts are large worgs.

The song 'Unter der Eichen' (Under the oaks) of German folk metal band Equilibrium (band) describes a yearly ceremony. They sing, dance, drink and eat 'mehr noch als der größte Warg' (more than the greatest Warg).

Notes

^ ^a ^b Puvel, Jaan (1986). "Who Were the Hittite hurkilas pesnes?". In Risch, Ernst; Etter, Annemarie (eds.). O-O-Pe-Ro-Si: Festschrift fur Ernst Risch Zum. de Gruyter. p. 153. ISBN 3-11-010518-7.
^ Osborn, Marijane (2001). "Bone-Crones Have No Hearth: Some Women in the Medieval Wilderness". In Adams, Paul C.; Hoelscher, Steven D.; et al. (eds.). Textures of Place: Exploring Humanist Geographies. University of Minnesota Press. pp. 354 note 38. ISBN 0-8166-3756-3. {{cite book}}: Explicit use of et al. in: |editor2-first= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
^ The "Two Towers" Creatures Guide Collins (November 6, 2002) ISBN 0007144091

[Puvel-1] Puvel, Jaan (1986). "Who Were the Hittite hurkilas pesnes?". In Risch, Ernst; Etter, Annemarie (eds.). O-O-Pe-Ro-Si: Festschrift fur Ernst Risch Zum. de Gruyter. p. 153. ISBN 3-11-010518-7.

[2] Osborn, Marijane (2001). "Bone-Crones Have No Hearth: Some Women in the Medieval Wilderness". In Adams, Paul C.; Hoelscher, Steven D.; et al. (eds.). Textures of Place: Exploring Humanist Geographies. University of Minnesota Press. pp. 354 note 38. ISBN 0-8166-3756-3. {{cite book}}: Explicit use of et al. in: |editor2-first= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)

[3] The "Two Towers" Creatures Guide Collins (November 6, 2002) ISBN 0007144091

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