Nameless things

Within the depths of Arda, there existed nameless things that gnawed at the roots of the earth far beneath the deepest delving of the Dwarves.The Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers, "The White Rider", pg. 501
==History==
The origin of the nameless things is untold, but it was said by Gandalf that they were older than Sauron, and the Dark Lord knew nothing of their existence. This implies that, like the equally enigmatic Tom Bombadil, the nameless things existed prior to the arrival of some of the Ainur to Arda. However, this may have been a rhetorical flourish by Gandalf.The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion, pg. 392-3 It was also mentioned by Aragorn II that there were many "evil and unfriendly things in the world that have little love for those that go on two legs", and yet are not allies of Sauron, having their own purposes, with some being in Arda longer than him.The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, Book Two, Ch. III: "The Ring Goes South"
As far back as the Elder Days, in ages before the Orcs, there were "strange things living in the pools and lakes in the hearts of mountains" that were "more slimy than fish" and preferred to dwell in darkness. When the Northern Orcs of the Misty Mountains established Goblin-town, they widened and joined up the ancient caves that were already there; their original owners never left their caves, though they withdrew to "odd corners", slinking and nosing about".The Hobbit, "Riddles in the Dark" It is possible that Gollum may have encountered these original owners.
There were also nameless things found far beneath the Mines of Moria. When the Fellowship of the Ring approached the West-gate of Moria, they encountered a large pool inhabited by the Watcher in the Water. This pale-green, luminous and many-tentacled creature may have been a nameless thing as it was stated to be among the "older and fouler things than Orcs", dwelling within the "deep places of the world". Gandalf speculated that the Watcher was drawn out from a dark lake beneath the Misty Mountains. The pool by the West-gate was made by the damming of the river Sirannon and deepened over time, which may have caused cracks in the rock, forming passages to old tunnels, and allowing the Watcher to climb towards the surface.The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, Book Two, Ch. IV: "A Journey in the Dark"
When telling the tale of his fight with Durin's Bane to the Three Hunters (Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli) in Fangorn Forest, Gandalf explained that Durin's Bane had learned to navigate in tunnels not made by Durin's Folk during its long stay in the depths of Moria. When Gandalf and the Balrog fell from the Bridge of Khazad-dûm, they dropped into an aquifer, where creatures akin to the Watcher in the Water may have dwelt. The Balrog fled through the surrounding tunnels, and Gandalf pursued it closely, believing that its knowledge of the tunnels was his only hope of escape. During this pursuit, Gandalf witnessed the dark passages at the uttermost foundations of stone, encountering the nameless things that inhabited them. He refused to describe them to the Three Hunters, preventing the light of day from darkening into despair. Their chase led to the foot of the Endless Stair, which they climbed to eventually emerge on the peak of Zirakzigil.
==Inspiration==
Todd Jensen suggested that when Tolkien wrote about the nameless things, he was possibly influenced by "the horrible creatures gnawing away at the roots of Yggdrasil…especially the dragon Nidhog, and his terrible brood".Beyond Bree, "Nameless Things", pg. 8 (August 1988)
==Similar entities==
In the Lay of the Children of Húrin, Túrin and Flinding passed through Nan Dumgorthin, the "Land of the Dark Idols", in the dim twilight after the accidental death of Beleg.The History of Middle-earth, The Lays of Beleriand, "I. The Lay of the Children of Húrin: III. Failivrin", lines 1472-1490 This unholy land was located to the east of Artanor, and composed of a grey valley with dark forests. The inhabitants were a collection of "some evil tribes of renegade men"The History of Middle-earth, The Book of Lost Tales Part Two,"I. The Tale of Tinúviel", Notes and Commentary, pgs. 62-3, 374 who worshiped nameless gods older than both Morgoth and the Valar. These renegade men made sacrifices to their gods by way of shrouded shrines in secret places, or hidden idols atop a wooded mountain. Turin and Flinding heard the "harsh and hallow" laughter of the ghostly dwellers as a distant lingering echo of the "mockery of demon voices". Despite not being harmed or hindered, they walked "with creeping flesh and quaking limb".
==In adaptations==
===The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power===
In the second episode of season one, a creature implied to be a nameless thing, known only as the worm, destroyed a ship from the Southlands of Middle-earth, leaving the seven survivors adrift on a makeshift raft in The Sundering Seas. After two weeks, the castaways Halbrand, Eamon, Abigail, Astrid, and two other castaways picked up a stranded Elf, Galadriel. At that very moment, however, Astrid points out that a ship was approaching, though Abigail realized that it was the wreckage of their own ship being dragged along by "the worm". In the ensuing attack, all except for Galadriel and Halbrand are killed by "the worm" or lost at sea. The following on-screen trivia accompanies the scene, courtesy of Amazon Prime's "X-Ray feature": "The Great Sea, or The Sundering Seas, divides the Undying Lands from Middle-earth - where there are still nameless things in the deepest places of the world." The trivia entry cites Book III, Chapter 5 of The Two Towers. 
In the third episode of season two, a nameless thing tries to pull Isildur down into a marshy area. When Arondir tries to pull him out, they both get pulled under. When Estrid tries to pull them out with a stick, the nameless thing emerges in full might to attack her, only for Arondir to slash his and Isildur’s way out through it’s body. While Arondir did not kill the nameless thing, his action caused it to retreat back down into the depths of the world. After the incident, Arondir named the piece that he cut off "supper".
===The Lord of the Rings Online===
In The Lord of the Rings Online, nameless things exist as a creature type called "Nameless" and categorized as "Ancient Evil". Some are more beast-like, while others are more humanoid.
==External links==
*What Are the Nameless Things Gandalf Refers to Below Khazad-dûm?, by Michael L. Martinez
==Translations==
Foreign Language 	Translated name
Afrikaans 	Naamlose dinge
Albanian 	Gjëra pa emër
Amharic 	ስም የሌላቸው ነገሮች
Arabic 	أشياء بلا أسماء
Armenian 	Անանուն բաներ
Assamese 	নামবিহীন বস্তু
Asturian 	Coses ensin nome
Azerbaijani 	Adsız şeylər
Basque 	Izenik gabeko gauzak
Belarusian Cyrillic	Безназоўныя рэчы
Bosnian 	Neimenovane stvari
Bulgarian Cyrillic 	Безименни неща
Burmese 	နာမည်မပါသော အရာများ
Cambodian 	អ្វីៗ ដែល គ្មាន ឈ្មោះ
Catalan 	Coses sense nom
Cebuano 	Mga butang nga walay ngalan
Chinese 	没有名字的东西
Croatian 	Bezimene stvari
Czech 	Bezejmenné věci
Danish 	Navnløse ting
Dari 	چیز های بی نام
Dutch 	Naamloze dingen
Esperanto 	Sennomaj aferoj
Estonian 	Nimetud asjad
Faroese 	Nøvnleysar lutir
Finnish 	Nimettömät olennot
French 	Des choses sans nom
Frisian 	Nammeleaze dingen (Western)
Friulian 	Lis robis cence non
Galician 	Cousas sen nome
Georgian 	უსახელო ნივთები
German 	Namenlose Wesen
Greek 	Ανώνυμα πράγματα
Gujarati 	નામ વગરની વસ્તુઓ
Hebrew 	דברים חסרי שם
Hindi 	नामहीन बातें
Hungarian 	Névtelen dolgok
Icelandic 	Nafnlausir hlutir
Indonesian 	Hal-hal tanpa nama
Irish Gaelic 	Rudaí gan ainm
Italian 	Cose senza nome
Japanese 	名前のないもの
Kannada 	ಹೆಸರಿಲ್ಲದ ವಸ್ತುಗಳು
Kazakh 	Аты жоқ заттар (Cyrillic) Atı joq zattar (Latin)
Konkani 	नांव नाशिल्लीं गजाली
Korean 	이름없는 것들
Kurdish 	(Sorani) شتی بێ ناو
Tiştên bênav (Kurmanji)
Kyrgyz Cyrillic 	Аты жок нерселер
Latin 	Rerum sine nominibus
Latvian 	Bezvārda lietas
Lithuanian 	Bevardžiai dalykai
Macedonian Cyrillic	Безимени работи
Malayalam 	പേരില്ലാത്ത കാര്യങ്ങൾ
Maltese 	Affarijiet bla isem
Marathi 	नावनसलेल्या गोष्टी
Mongolian Cyrillic 	Нэргүй зүйлс
Nepalese 	नामहीन चीजहरू
Norwegian 	Navnløsetingene
Occitan 	Cusas sens nom
Pashto 	بې نومه شیان
Persian 	چيزهاي بي نام
Polish 	Bezimienne rzeczy
Portuguese 	Coisas sem nome
Punjabi 	ਬੇਨਾਮ ਚੀਜ਼ਾਂ
Romanian 	Lucruri fără nume
Russian 	Безымянные вещи
Sanskrit 	अनामानि वस्तूनि
Sardinian 	Cosas chene nùmene
Scottish Gaelic 	Nithean gun ainm
Serbian 	Безимене ствари (Cyrillic) Bezimene stvari (Latin)
Sicilian 	Cose senza nomu
Sindhi 	بي نام شيون
Sinhalese 	නමක් නැති දේවල්
Slovak 	Bezmenné veci
Slovenian 	Brezimne stvari
Spanish 	Cosas sin nombre
Swahili 	Mambo yasiyo na jina
Swedish 	Namnlösa sakerna
Tagalog 	Mga bagay na walang pangalan
Tajik Cyrillic 	Чизҳои беном
Tamil 	பெயரற்ற விஷயங்கள்
Tatar 	Исемсез әйберләр
Telugu 	పేరులేని విషయాలు
Thai 	สิ่งไร้ชื่อ
Turkish 	İsimsiz şeyler
Turkmen 	Atsyz zatlar
Ukrainian Cyrillic 	Безіменні речі
Urdu 	بے نام چیزیں
Uzbek 	Номсиз нарсалар (Cyrillic) Nomsiz narsalar (Latin)
Venetian 	Cose senza nome
Vietnamese 	Những điều không tên
Welsh 	Pethau dienw
Xhosa 	Izinto ezingenamagama
Yiddish 	זאַכן אָן נאָמען
Yoruba 	Àwọn ohun tí kò ní orúkọ
==References==
de:Namenlose Wesen
Category:Living things
Category:Mystery