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In the philologist and fantasy author J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth fiction, a warg is a particularly large and evil kind of wolf that could be ridden by orcs. He derived the name and characteristics of his wargs by combining meanings and myths from Old Norse and Old English. In Norse mythology, a ''vargr'' (anglicised as warg) is a wolf, especially the wolf Fenrir that destroyed the god Odin in the battle of Ragnarök, and the wolves Sköll and Hati who perpetually chase the Sun and Moon. In Old English, a ''wearh'' is an outcast who may be strangled to death.

Through Tolkien's influence, wargs have featured in fantasy books by authors including George R. R. Martin, and in media such as video games and role-playing games.

Etymology and origins

The Tolkien scholar Tom Shippey states that Tolkien's spelling "warg" is a cross of Old Norse '' vargr'' and Old English '' wearh''. He notes that the words embody a shift in meaning from "wolf" to "outlaw": ''vargr'' carries both meanings, while ''wearh'' means "outcast" or "outlaw", but has lost the sense of "wolf".
In Old Norse, ''vargr'' is derived from the Proto-Germanic root reconstructed as ''* wargaz'', ultimately derived from the Proto-Indo-European (PIE) root reconstructed as ''*werg̑ʰ-'' "destroy". ''Vargr'' (compare modern Swedish '' varg'' "wolf") arose as a non-taboo name for '' úlfr'', the normal Old Norse term for "wolf".
Shippey adds that there is also an Old English verb, '' awyrgan'', meaning both "to condemn n outcast and "to strangle n outcast to death; he adds that a possible further sense is "to worry sheep to bite to death". He writes that

In Norse mythology, wargs are in particular the mythological wolves Fenrir, Sköll and Hati. Sköll and Hati are wolves, one going after the Sun, the other after the Moon. Wolves 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 eponymous seeress rides a wolf. To Baldr's funeral, the jötunn Hyrrokkin arrived on a wolf.

The medievalist and Tolkien scholar Marjorie Burns writes that Tolkien uses the fact that wolves were among the Norse god Odin's war beasts "in a particularly innovative way". Odin kept two wolves, Freki and Geri, their names both meaning "Greedy"; and in the final battle that destroys the world, Ragnarök, Odin is killed and eaten by the gigantic wolf Fenrir. Thus, Burns points out, wolves were both associates of Odin, and his mortal enemy. She argues that Tolkien made use of both relationships in ''The Lord of the Rings''. In her view, both the dark lord Sauron and the evil Wizard Saruman embody "attributes of a negative Odin". She points out that Saruman has wargs in his army, while Sauron uses "the likeness of a ravening wolf", book 5, ch. 4, "The Siege of Gondor" for the enormous battering ram named Grond which destroys the main gate of Minas Tirith. On the other side, the benevolent Wizard Gandalf leads the fight against the wargs in '' The Hobbit'', using his ability to create fire, and understands their language. In '' The Fellowship of the Ring'', Gandalf again uses magic and fire to drive off a great wolf, "The Hound of Sauron",, book 2, ch. 4, "A Journey in the Dark" and his wolf-pack; Burns writes that the wolves' attempt "to devour Gandalf hints at Odin's fate", recalling the myth of Fenrir and Odin.

J. R. R. Tolkien

In J. R. R. Tolkien's books about Middle-earth, wargs are a malevolent wolf-like race. They are usually in league with the Orcs whom they permit to ride on their backs into battle, sharing any spoils. In '' The Hobbit'', they can speak: they plan their part in "a great goblin-raid" on the woodmen's villages. ch. 6 "Out of the Frying-pan into the Fire"

Tolkien's wargs influenced the ten-year-old Rayner Unwin to write a positive review of ''The Hobbit'', with the words "Bilbo Baggins was a hobbit who lived in his hobbit hole and ''never'' went for adventures, at last Gandalf the wizard and his dwarves persuaded him to go. He had a very ex ting time fighting goblins and wargs." The review led his father, Stanley Unwin, to publish the book, still doubting its likely commercial success.

Peter Jackson's film adaptations of Tolkien's '' The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings'' extend the role of wargs as mounts for Orcs, battling the horse- riders of Rohan.

The critic Gregory Hartley treats wargs as "personified animals", along with the sentient eagles, giant spiders, Smaug the dragon, ravens and thrushes. Tolkien writes about their actions using verbs like " oplan" and " oguard", implying in Hartley's view that the monstrous wargs are "more than mere beasts", but he denies that they "possess autonomous wills". T. A. Leederman calls Tolkien's wargs "a species of semi-intelligent but evil-aligned mount wolves ... on whom the orcs rode into battle". He notes that they may have been derived, in the fiction, from First Age werewolves like Carcharoth, with their own "proto-language".

Other authors and media

In George R. R. Martin's series of epic fantasy novels, ''A Song of Ice and Fire'', and the series' television adaptation, ''Game of Thrones'', Wargs are skinchangers who can enter the mind of a wolf (and in Bran Stark's case with Hodor, a person), see what they are seeing, and control their actions.

Similar Tolkien-based creatures appear in a number of fantasy video games, including ''The Lord of the Rings Online'', ''Age of Conan'', and ''World of Warcraft'', both as four-legged monsters, and as a race of anthropomorphic werewolves, the Worgen.

See also

* List of wolves

References

Primary

::''This list identifies each item's location in Tolkien's writings.''

Secondary

Sources

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{{LOTR
Fantasy creatures
Fictional wolves
Middle-earth animals
Middle-earth monsters