Úvanimor

Among the elder songs and preserved chronicles of the Eldar, the word monster encompassed a range of named kinds rather than serving as mere opprobrium. To be named a monster was to be recorded as one that had departed from the world's true measure, the "vanima", which signified the original beauty of those creatures that belonged to Ilúvatar's design.

The Principle of Distinction

The Eldar made distinction chiefly by origin and office. An ugly or fearsome shape did not of itself render a thing monstrous; rather, it was the manner of that shape's arising and the deeds wrought thereby that weighed in judgment. Many traditions ordered the monstrous kinds according to whether they were issue of fallen powers, fruit of corrupted lineage, product of altered animals or of dark craft, or else manifestations that served as signs and warnings within the order of the world. This manner of reckoning governed their classification and the forms of record kept in the annals.

Kinds of Monsters (with Quenya glosses)

The chronicles employed sundry terms to mark the differences among monstrous kinds:

• úvanimo / úvano (Q.): monster; corrupt or evil creature; pl. úvanimor.

• ulundo / ulund (in older sources): monster; deformed and hideous creature.

• ulban (Q.): monster; one vast and terrible. Also a name given to Morgoth himself.

• fandor / fandelu / fandos (Q.): the fand-stem of words, bound to notions of omen and ominous presence.

• kalimbo (Q.) and glam (S.): originally denoting a wild, loud, and uncivilized state or manner; later applied to Orcs and barbarous folk influenced by them or likened unto them.

• ork (Q.): originally a broad name for those warped, warlike creatures oft reckoned as products of corrupting art. Possibly once applied to the demon-steed of the Dark Hunter, later to creatures the Elves believed to be savaged Avari or corrupted and twisted Elves or Hildor, Orc-kind.

Thus Ulundur and Úvanimor signified corrupted creatures that had departed from the original harmony and beauty of Eru's Creation, whereas Fandori or Fandelur were creatures shaped by the Valar or even by Eru Himself to test, to teach, or to aid the Eruhíni, being not of evil intent, though they appeared oftentimes in great and fearsome form.

Principal Types

In narrative form the Eldar distinguished most often among the following kinds:

• Demon-like Powers and their Kindred were those whose nature was bound to fallen Maiar and other beings of high order. The Balrogs stood foremost among these: once Maiar, they became terrible both in shape and in will, yet they were not wrought or corrupted by magical art, but were persuaded or ensnared into Morgoth's service by their own choice.

• Creatures Sprung from Primeval Malice or Hunger included beings such as Ungoliant's brood and her distant kin. These were not merely great beasts but embodiments of a ravening, shadowed will. Among such beings may be numbered the Nameless Gnawers, and perhaps also corrupted Spirits of Arda, Nameless Gods, or Demons of the Void.

• Corrupted Eruhíni were peoples or persons of the Children of Ilúvatar who had been marred or enslaved by alien arts. Orcs were the chief example of such corrupted stock. Olog-hai and the many lesser kinds of troll were sometimes reckoned among them, though at other times held apart, for by reason of their dim wit they stood closer to beasts or animals and likely possessed no true souls that might be corrupted.

• Altered Beasts and Bred Horrors were animals enlarged, warped, or otherwise changed for purposes of war and ruin. Wargs and War-wolves likely fell under this category: they bore the form of beasts yet showed the marks of deliberate breeding or enchantment.

• Creatures of Unclear or Mixed Origin formed a diverse assemblage oft grouped as "Morgoth's things" in the chronicles. Dragons, sundry monstrous beasts "of horn and ivory", and certain great beasts or fell beasts of uncertain lineage were numbered here; their peril was judged as much by deed as by descent, and the annals recorded them as works of malignant cunning or as fruits of dark husbandry.

• Giants were treated variously in many songs: some accounts held them to be a people in their own right, others named them monstrous variants of other kinds; their true nature remained for the most part uncertain.

• Demi-demons or Fallen Maiarindi were the offspring of incarnate Ainur and may have included some among the two latter categories, and perhaps also Werewolves and Morgothic Vampires, as well as the mortal issue of the Boldogs among the Orcs, and demon-trolls. The most renowned example was Shelob and the lesser Great Spiders.

• The Undead and the Bound formed a recognized order: wraiths, wights, shades, and other bound spirits. These were beings whose life-thread had been severed, fettered, or prolonged by enchantment and will.

Of Morgoth's Works and the Úvanimor

The chronicles accord a particular place to those things wrought by Morgoth. The Úvanimor — termed also "monsters of horn and ivory" — comprised sundry kinds of creatures made, multiplied, or perverted by him. Morgoth was said to have expended great measure of his inherent power in the breeding and marring of beings from existing stock; the culmination of such craft were the Dragons, born of cunning and filled with a spirit not wholly their own. It was told of Glaurung that "he spoke by the evil spirit that dwelt in him" and that "he was filled with the evil spirit of Morgoth"; thus the elder writings made plain that Morgoth possessed the art to lodge spirit-like power within incarnate forms, or so to shape living things that fragments of his malice abode within them. Thus had Morgoth the power to embody or imprison spirits in incarnate forms — or to invest therein splinters of his own native power, shards of his own spirit.

Animated Things

Main article: Animate things

Magically altered Creatures (Q."Onnar Hastalër")

• Basilisks
• Caragors
• Demon-rams
• Fell bears
• Fell-beasts
• Great Bats
• living rat-trap
• Ninevet
• Nurgas
• Phoenix
• Slow-fangs
• Uvag-Aak
• Vodyanoi
• War-wolves
• Zûrafy

Chimaeras (Q."Sampanër Feunar ")

• Ape-Eagle
• Forbliss
• Gryphons
• Lion-Ape
• Lion-Eagle
• Lion-Spiders
• Manticores
• Minotaurs
• Pegasi
• Spider-Ape
• Spider-Eagle
• Steardan

see:

• Chimaera

Demonic Beasts

• Demon-whales
• Gargoyles
• Great Spiders
• Vampires
• Wargs
• Watcher in the Water
• Werewolves
• Were-Rats
• Demonic steeds

Undead

Main article: Undead

Orcs

Main article: Orc-kind

• Boldogs, Demon-Orcs, Pale-Orcs, Ogres
• Lesser Orcs
• Grim Orcs
• Fighting Orcs
• Goblins/Gongs
  • Hobgoblins

Trolls

Main article: Trolls

Dragons

Main article: Dragons

• Great Dragons
  • Drakes
    • Winged Drakes
      • Winged Fire Dragons
      • Winged Cold-Drakes
      • Shadow-Drakes
      • Light-Drakes
      • Frost Dragonets
    • Wingless Drakes
      • Fire-drakes
      • Cold-drakes
      • Cave-drakes
      • Fire-worms
      • Flame-worms
      • Marsh-drakes (Hiswalóki)
      • Spark Dragons (Fealóki)
      • Ash Drakes
    • Forest Dragons
• Worms
  • Great Worms
  • Cave-Worms
  • Fire-Worms
• Salamanders
• Wyvern

Notes

The Úvani or appear in several of J.R.R. Tolkien's earliest tales, including 'The Book of Lost Tales and The Lost Road and Other Writings.

The term "Things of Morgoth" appears in The Lay of the Children of Húrin in The Lays of Beleriand,

Editorial Note: This entry contains speculative or fan-based material — such as fanon, fanfiction, or theory constructs — that may not be directly supported by canonical texts. Interpretations offered here are part of the NNCA’s speculative corpus and should not be mistaken for primary Tolkien sources.