The hobbits' desperately tense death struggle with Shelob is one of the major turning points in the battle against Sauron and the forces of darkness.
Although Sam's bravery and the elf-wrought devices saved the day, Gollum's treachery wasn't to come without physical and psychological cost.
Here are some spidery-prickly facts about one of the most featured creatures in the Lord of the Rings.
…a small shirt of mail. It was close-woven of many rings, as supple almost as linen, cold as ice, and harder than steel. It shone like moonlit silver, and was studded with white gems. With it was a belt of pearl and crystal.
Contrary to what you saw on-screen in Peter Jackson's adaptation, Shelob doesn't stab Frodo through the mithril in the books.
In the movies, we see Shelob's stingers pierce Frodo through the mythical mail. However, in the Lord of the Rings books, Shelob stabs Frodo in the neck, where the coat doesn't cover.
As typical mail shirts don't cover the neck area, the movie depiction is clearly a mistake by the producers. Mithril's body-proof strength would certainly have rebuffed Shelob's pincers.
The name "Shelob" from translates to "She-spider." The name is derived from the pronouns "she" and "lob," an archaic English word meaning spider.
In The Two Towers, Tolkien writes, "Behind her short, stalk-like legs, there was a huge swollen body, a vast bloated bag, swaying and sagging between her legs." This description underscores her spider-like nature but amplifies it to create a creature of pure horror.
Tolkien's description of Shelob as a spider draws on the natural fear of spiders while expanding on this to create a creature that is both familiar and terrifyingly otherworldly, embodying the themes of darkness, evil, and ancient malice.
The use of "She" emphasizes her femininity, while "lob" connects her to the dark, ancient mythological fear of spiders.
Shelob is a child of Ungoliant, a malicious being of primordial darkness, who cemented her evil reputation when she helped Melkor drain the light out of the Two Trees of Valinor.
Beyond her monstrous physical appearance, Ungoliant is more akin to an equally ancient breed of horrors, the Balrog, than she is to any of Middle Earth's mundane monsters.
With such a deep heritage in evil, it is no surprise that Sauron allowed Shelob to thrive unchecked in her murky and horrifying domains, even once referring to her fondly as his "cat'.
Shelob's nightmarish lair is an extension of Shelob herself, a manifestation of her fearsome nature, and sets the stage for one of the most intense and harrowing encounters in the story.
While the LoTR purists keep groaning, Prime Video's adaptation of the main events of the Second Age nonchalantly delivers sweet visuals of the fearsome Shelob in the early parts of Rings of Power season 2.
In Season 2, Episode 2, Isildur awakens as a captive in Mordor, held by orcs. However, his challenges escalate when a massive spider-like creature attacks him.
After a fierce struggle, Isildur manages to stab Shelob, forcing her to retreat. This gives him the opportunity to escape the cave on horseback. Although the spider attempts to pursue him, it is unable to keep up due to the harsh light, allowing Isildur to make his getaway.
In an interview in early 2024, actor Maxim Baldry (who played Isidur in Rings of Power) explained what the scene's shoot sequence was like on set. "I think there was a lot of expectation about how Shelob would look like. From when we were filming, it was a rugby ball, two guys in morph suits and some sticks, and I was like, ‘Oh God, how is this going to turn out?’ I think they’ve done such an amazing job with it. It’s just so intricate. I think they give Shelob a really strong personality."
Thorin's Company suffered greatly on their pilgrimage to the Lonely Mountain, with their experience at the hands of the spiders of Mirkwood, one of the scariest and sorriest.
With Shelob breeding countless spider-monster-offspring, some of her progeny dispersed to the Greenwood region, bringing resident physical and psychological horror, until finally earning the sinister name of Mirkwood.
So, across several thousand years, we witness an unbroken line of eldritch evil, from Ungoliath to her last child, Shelob, and finally, her direct descendants and their infestation of Mirkwood.
While it's easy to get confused, seeing as Shelob's Lair lies within Sauron's domain, it's important to note that Shelob is not under the Dark Lord's direct control. Shelob represents something sinister, a primordial evil that existed and inhabited Middle Earth before Sauron.
In the relationship between Shelob and Sauron, we see mutual benefit rather than subordination or control. Shelob, driven by her own ancient instincts and insatiable hunger, operates independently, without direct influence from Sauron.
While both are embodiments of darkness, Shelob's loyalty lies solely with herself, making her a force unaligned with Sauron’s grand designs. Her indiscriminate aggression, targeting anyone in her domain—be they Sauron's foes or his servants—emphasizes her autonomy.
Shelob’s ability to instill fear even in other malevolent beings underscores her position as one of the most terrifying creatures in Middle Earth, a living embodiment of ancient dread.
She's even got the genes and history to prove it!
Is she the most evil creature in the Lord of the Rings universe? Let us know in the comments.
