Ladies (Creatures?) of LOTR: Shelob
This week we're discussing the girlboss Shelob!
Hi, y’all! I am back again with another installment of my series entitled “Ladies of LOTR.” This week in Medieval Ecologies we completed Tolkien’s second novel of the series The Two Towers. The Two Towers only features two female characters in the entire novel. One of which I have previously mentioned, Galadriel, and another that is a mythical creature–Shelob! That’s right! Today, I will be discussing Shelob the Spider and how she girlbosses her way into disrupting the journey to destroy the Ring!
To begin with our discussion of Shelob, I’d like to discuss her entrance to the text. Along with looking at Tolkien’s portrayal of his female characters and how it relates to medieval womanhood, I have also been paying close attention to Tolkien’s intentional mystery and his binary of Light and Dark. Shelob’s entrance in The Two Towers is very mysterious and foreboding. As Smeagol talks to himself, he remarks, “‘We wants it! But–’ and here there was a long pause, as if a new thought had wakened. ‘Not yet, eh? Perhaps not. She might help. She might, yes” (Tolkien 619). Gollum/Smeagol struggles with the decision to get Shelob involved in the hobbits’ journey to destroy the Ring. Shelob is interesting because at this point in the series, she is the first female mythical creature that is crucial to the story line. As the story progresses, Tolkien continues to describe Shelob and shows that her character has deep lore and a complex history similar to his other mythical figures, such as Treebeard. He writes, “There agelong she had dwelt, an evil thing in spider-form, even such as once of old had lived in the Land of the Elves in the West that is now under the Sea, such as Beren fought in the Mountains of Terror in Dorianth, and so came to Luthien upon the sward amid the hemlocks in the moonlight long ago.” (707). This introduction to her backstory teaches the reader several things. First, it shows how old Shelob is; she existed during the time of Beren and Luthien, a pair that existed in the tales of The Silmarillion, Tolkien’s older work. And second, it shows the connection between spiders and Elves in the Lord of the Rings series. Tolkien connects her origin story to that of the Elves and their kingdom. In her article entitled “Of Spiders and Elves,” Joyce Tally Lionarons argues that in Lord of the Rings, Tolkien places the spiders and elves on opposite sides of the spectrum. She states, “Tolkien constructs the two races as both opposites and as mirror images. The most obvious opposition between the two is between light and darkness” (Lionarons 4). From Lionarons quote, it is clear that in more ways than one Tolkien places spiders and elves on opposite ends of his binary. Within this binary, all that is of the Light is considered wholly good and pure while the creatures and environment connected to the Dark are dangerous and apt to derail the group’s pursuit to destroy the Ring. As previously stated, Tolkien begins to develop this in Sheob’s backstory on page 707, but continues it as she becomes involved in the novel.
As Shelob attempts to attack and eat Frodo, there is little that the hobbits can do to stop her from her attack. However, she does possess a weakness: her eyes. Her eyes can be easily blinded. She is nearly blinded by Sam’s wielding of the Phial of Galadriel, which is a phial that contains water and light; gifted to the Hobbits by Queen Galadriel. Light’s ability to impact and affect a creature that appears unstoppable shows the power of the Light and its connection to righteousness. By having an object of Galadriel’s harm Shelob, Tolkien places the two powerful women on opposite sides of his Light and Dark Binary. This makes Shelob all the more interesting because she is the unlikely parallel to Galadriel. While Galadriel repeatedly gifts and aids the band of adventures, Shelob is intent on stopping their journey and harming them. Both of these female characters play a role in the fate of the Ring.
While there are many similarities and other examples that showcase the parallel between Shelob and Galadriel, the connection to the binary of Light and Dark is the most crucial one. Upon my first reading, I never would have thought to connect the two, but after focusing on the theme of Light and Dark, the juxtaposition of these two female characters is clear as day.
My iced coffee (CFA Vanilla…I’m serious it’s so good!) is finished, and I’ll be back next week to discuss more Ladies of LOTR!
Loved the light vs. dark comparison of Galadriel and Shelob which seems to be a common occurrence in the novels, one of the more prominent ones is of Gandalf. It is great to me that Tolkien decided to give us two different female characters who, as you put it, play an important role in the fate of the ring.
Your post about Shelob's character is fascinating. The way that you contrasted the characters of Galadriel and Shelob using the dark and light as a representation of good and evil was interesting. Your view of Shelob's weakness being her eyes, susceptible to the light of Galadriel's phial is something that I'm glad you included in this post. These two characters are on different sides of the spectrum and Galadriel having the one thing that could weaken Shelob is really good on Tolkien's framework with the characters.