Warg

In Old Norse, ' is a term for "wolf" ("ulfr"). In Norse mythology, wargs are in particular the demonic wolf Fenrir and his sons Skoll and Hati. Based on this, J. R. R. Tolkien in his fiction used the Old English form warg"' to refer to a wolf of a particularly evil kind.

Etymology

The Proto-Germanic "*wargaz" meant "strangler" (see modern German ""), and hence "evildoer, criminal, outcast"."Varg" is still the modern Swedish word for "wolf". Also cognate is Old English "warg" "large wolf". In Dutch wolverines are sometimes called "Warg", although the name "Veelvraat" is more commonly used. In modern Faroese, a pyromaniac is called a "brennivargur". The Icelandic word for pyromaniac is 'brennuvargur'

Norse mythology

In Norse mythology, wargs are in particular the demonic wolves Fenrir, Skoll 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."

But 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 in chasing 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 ME-date|TA|3018–19, wolves prowled outside the walls of Bree.

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", Wargs appear to be more like giant spotted hyenas or the extinct Sarkastodon rather than wolves. Jackson explained that the hyena design was chosen due to it looking more powerful ["The "Two Towers" Creatures Guide" Collins (November 6, 2002) ISBN-10: 0007144091] , though in the behind the scenes DVD, an artist explained that it was "like a mix between a hyena, bear and wolf".

Wargs in other popular media

Subsequent appearances of the creatures in popular culture often owe much to Tolkien. In the "Dungeons & Dragons" roleplaying game, worgs appear as minor enemies. Similar to Tolkien's works, they are depicted as evil, intelligent wolves that speak their own language, and are often allied with goblin tribes. The large wolf-like enemies in the "Castlevania" video game series are also called Wargs.

In the "A Song of Ice and Fire" fantasy novel series by George R. R. Martin, wargs are humans who have a telepathic-empathic bond with one or more individual animals. While this link is active, the warg perceives and experiences what the animal perceives/experiences.

In the World of Warcraft roleplaying game, worgs are intelligent, wolf-like, forest-dwelling creatures similar in look to Tolkien's wargs; they form an important part of one of the game's early dungeons. Worgs are mainly located in the undead inhabited areas of the game. Many worgs (mainly in the plaguelands) are also undead, with the general appearance but minor differences such as rotting flesh or bones showing in their abdomen. Orcs also tame certain worgs as sturdy mounts, similarly to Tolkien's idea.

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 Fenrir.

Wargs also appear as mounts in Everquest and Everquest 2.

Wargs appear in the PC game Gothic 2 as well.

References