Ants: Difference between revisions

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'''Ants''' were tiny insects that form large communal colonies under the rule of a single queen. Though [[J.R.R. Tolkien]] does not mention them directly, we can deduce their presence in [[Middle-earth]] from the fact that [[Meriadoc Brandybuck|Merry]] discusses them briefly with [[Peregrin Took|Pippin]] on one occasion. Tolkien uses their qualities freely in similes throughout ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'', especially in reference to the [[Orcs]] of [[Mordor]], whose military organisation and aggression are referred to several times as being ant-like. At one point [[Sauron]] is compared to an ant queen, with his [[Orcs]] acting as soldiers and workers just as the queen's in her colony.<ref>{{RK|VI4}}</ref>
'''Ants''' were tiny insects that form large communal colonies under the rule of a single queen.
 
Though unmentioned directly in ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'', the presence of ants in [[Middle-earth]] may be deduced from the fact that [[Meriadoc Brandybuck|Merry]] discusses them briefly with [[Peregrin Took|Pippin]] on one occasion. When [[Frodo Baggins|Frodo]], [[Samwise Gamgee|Sam]], and [[Gollum]] first looked upon the [[Morannon]], it is mentioned that the hills behind the gate were tunneled with hundreds of caves filled with [[Orcs]], "''ready at a signal to issue forth like black ants going to war.''"<ref>{{TT|IV3}}</ref>  At the moment of [[Sauron]]'s downfall it was said:
 
:"''As when death smites the swollen brooding thing that inhabits their crawling hill and holds them all in sway, ants will wander witless and purposeless and then feebly die, so the creatures of Sauron, orc or troll or beast spell-enslaved, ran hither and thither mindless...''"<ref>{{RK|VI4}}</ref>


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[[Category:Insects]]
[[Category:Insects]]

Revision as of 01:16, 29 October 2012

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Ants were tiny insects that form large communal colonies under the rule of a single queen.

Though unmentioned directly in The Lord of the Rings, the presence of ants in Middle-earth may be deduced from the fact that Merry discusses them briefly with Pippin on one occasion. When Frodo, Sam, and Gollum first looked upon the Morannon, it is mentioned that the hills behind the gate were tunneled with hundreds of caves filled with Orcs, "ready at a signal to issue forth like black ants going to war."[1] At the moment of Sauron's downfall it was said:

"As when death smites the swollen brooding thing that inhabits their crawling hill and holds them all in sway, ants will wander witless and purposeless and then feebly die, so the creatures of Sauron, orc or troll or beast spell-enslaved, ran hither and thither mindless..."[2]

References