Tolkien Tuesday: Reading "The Lord of the Rings": "Shelob's Lair"
Tolkien brings more visceral horror in to Middle-earth with Frodo's and Sam's encounter with the monstrous spider, Shelob.
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Welcome to Tolkien Tuesdays, where I talk about various things that I love about the lore and writings of Tolkien, whether in a chapter reading or a character study or an essay. I hope you enjoy reading these ruminations as much as I enjoy writing them and, if you have a moment, I’d love it if you’d subscribe to this newsletter. It’s free, but there are paid options, as well, if you’re of a mind to support a struggling writer. Either way, thank you for joining me!
While most of The Two Towers is quite deliberately paced as it follows Frodo and Sam and their incremental approach to Mordor and Mount Doom, things really start to kick into high gear in this chapter, “Shelob’s Lair.” It’s here that we finally see what Gollum has been planning all along and, as importantly, we also encounter the monstrous spider Shelob. The sneaky thief, however, soon realizes that he has grievously miscalculated how amenable his prey would be to being devoured, and he has a fateful confrontation with Sam.
Gollum is undeniably a wretched and malicious creature, but you can’t help but admire just how daring his plan is. I mean, think about it. He manages to convince Frodo to go with him, mostly because there’s literally no one else who can possibly lead them into the darkness of Mordor. He then has the wherewithal to have at least one meeting with Shelob in order to prepare her for the offering that he brings. It’s all quite brilliant in its own way even if, as becomes clear (and as is so often the case in Tolkien’s world) the evil of Gollum can’t quite account for the fact that the hobbits are essentially good and that they will come to one another’s aid. Of course, he also makes the mistake of underestimating Sam, and one would think that he would have learned before now that Mr. Gamgee is not to be trifled with, but that’s the power of avarice, I suppose.
Few creatures in Tolkien’s legendarium are quite as terrifying as Shelob. Of course, there are some good reasons for this, since spiders rank right up there with snakes when it comes to creatures that seem to stoke some sort of primordial fear in the human brain. It’s more than that, though. It’s clear from the way she’s described that she’s more than just a giant spider. Instead, she’s nothing less than the last child of Ungoliant, arguably one of the most fearsomely evil and powerful creatures to have ever walked Middle-earth. Seen in this light, it’s nothing short of remarkable that Sam and Frodo ever manage to get out of her den alive, let alone inflict such wounds on her that it will take her years to recover (but more of that next week).
Just as interesting to me, though, is the relationship that exists between Sauron and this fearsome creature lurking on his very doorstep. Just as the Balrog and the Watcher in the Water follow their own laws and have their own loyalties (presumably to themselves) so Shelob doesn’t obey Sauron or even be that concerned with him, for all that he sends prisoners for her to devour and thinks of her much as a human being thinks of a cat. It’s really quite amusing how the narrator reminds us that, just as humans are foolish enough to think that they own felines, so Sauron fails to realize that this monster on his doorstep serves her own ends. While it’s doubtful that she would ever be able to best the Dark Lord should they ever come to blows, her presence and her independence are a useful reminder that there are many evil things in Middle-earth, and not all of them answer to Sauron.
It’s also revealing that Gollum feels the need to worship this mighty arachnid. We’ve already seen how in Middle-earth evil things seem drawn to one another, and the greater the quantity of evil a given creature or being possessed, the more they seem capable of pulling others into their orbit. It was probably inevitable that a miserable being like Gollum, so twisted and tormented by the One Ring, would also feel the pull of a creature like Shelob. His little scheme reveals that there is far more to him than meets the eye and that he was clearly very busy exploring between the time that he came out of hiding in the Misty Mountains and when he was captured by Aragorn. Given just how unpleasant Shelob’s lair is shown to be, he no doubt felt quite at home there.
Indeed, this chapter dwells with surprising detail on the darkness and the monstrosity of both Shelob and the place that she has made into her own dwelling. This not only sets up a powerful contrast to other, brighter places in Middle-earth but also allows Frodo and Sam to reach back into those happier memories in order to give them the strength to fight back. This all makes for some heady action, and there’s something poignant about the fact that even here, at the very doorstep of Mordor, the power of light can still enter and save those who seem beyond all hope. Sam’s love of the Elves and all that they represent is certainly rewarded in this chapter, particularly since the Phial of Galadriel proves key to their efforts to escape.
And speaking of Sam. Once again, as he has throughout both The Two Towers and The Fellowship of the Ring, shows that he is truly made of the stuff of heroes. It’s not every hobbit–or any Elf or Dwarf or Man, for that matter–who could find the strength within themselves to fight off Gollum while their best friend and master and travel companion is being attacked by a giant spider. Yet this is exactly what Sam does. It’s not just that he shows remarkable bravery in this scene, though he obviously does; it’s that he manages to keep enough presence of mind to know that Gollum poses a continued risk. Once again, though, the slippery creature manages to get away, free to haunt them another day.
I’ve always enjoyed this chapter of The Two Towers, and it has rewarded me once again on this re-read. I’ve noted before that Tolkien had the power to bring horror into fantasy, and it really doesn’t get much more horrifying than a giant spider that has been in the same place for millennia. However, as the next chapter shows, even she’s no match for two brave hobbits from the Shire.