"Tell me what you want done, and I will try it, if I have to walk from here to the East of East and fight the wild Were-worms in the Last Desert." — Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit

Were-worms were creatures told of in the stories of hobbits. Though possibly mythical, were-worms were thought to be terrible monsters that made their home in the Last Desert, said to be located far to the east of the Shire.

For a hobbit to declare himself prepared to fight were-worms was a sort of proverbial way of saying that he was ready to do anything.[1]

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Portrayal in adaptations

Video games

Were-worms were monsters appearing in the 2003 The Hobbit game.

These large, fearsome worms live in underground dens. and are first seen after the Troll Hole boss fight. They look like caterpillars and when Bilbo kills one, another comes forward to take its place. They are blind and can be snuck up upon. They make a fearsome snarling noise that sounds similar to dogs.

The Hobbit film trilogy

In The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, the Were-worms make a brief appearance before and during the Battle of Five Armies.

Tunnels dug by the creatures first appear as Azog and Ragash inspect the path their armies will travel. After Thorin and Thranduil hear a rumbling noise below the battlefield, several Were-worms suddenly burst through the ground near the hills surrounding Erebor, only to disappear again soon after. As they appear, Gandalf in horror identifies the creatures as Were-worms. Here, they dig tunnels for reinforcements of the Dol Guldur Orc army. In the film, they look somewhat like colossal rainworms with rock-like skin and massive jaws. They don’t appear to be used for combat, and they don’t take part in the actual battle. Despite a short appearance, the worms remain among the largest creatures in the live-action films along with Smaug, who was said to be over 140 to 152 meters (462 to 498 feet) in length.[2]

Middle-earth: Shadow of War

Were-worms, referred to as were-wyrms, appear as native to the plain of Lithlad in The Desolation of Mordor, an expansion to the game Middle-earth: Shadow of War. Their appearance is similar to that from The Hobbit films, though the creatures vary greatly in size.

Trivia

In The Complete Guide to Middle-earth, Robert Foster suggests Were-worms may have been mis-remembered tales of dragons among Hobbits. Foster notes that "worm" is often used as another name for dragons and "Werewolves" refer to intelligent wolves capable of speech, traits which dragons share.

In the early version of The Hobbit, Bilbo mentioned that he might head to the "Great Desert of Gobi" or the" Last Desert of East" and fight a worm of China there. Interestingly, the Gobi Desert is also known for the legend of Mongolian death worms.

In a portrait featuring the Fall of Gondolin by John Howe, a gigantic creature resembling a centipede can be seen along with a fire-drake (possibly the Fire-drake of Gondolin) and Balrogs.

It should be noted that this name is somewhat inaccurate given the origin of the prefix "were" from the Old English word "wer" for "man" and the seeming lack of any connection between men and Were-worms.

The were-worms shown in Peter Jackson's film resemble the Nydus worm's[3] of the Starcraft series.

Gallery

Film depiction of a Were-worm by Angus McBride

See also

Translations

Foreign Language Translated name Chinese (Hong Kong) 噬地獸 Czech Zeměžrouti German Werwürmer Norwegian Vârorm Polish Robołaki Portuguese (Brazil) Homens-dragões (book)

Vermes-gigantes (film) Russian Червеоборотни