Phantoms
Phantoms was a name commonly used to describe evil, shadowy beings, such as undead, demons or delusions.[1][2]
History and Characteristics
In the Spring of Arda, creatures of "dreadful shapes", among whom are said to have been phantoms, haunted the Elves at Cuiviénen, dragging people into the darkness surrounding the Elven camps never to reappear.[3]
In Beleriand, the forest of Taur-nu-Fuin was an infamous locale of "phantoms of terror" said to strangle or pursue lost wanderers.[4]
Using wizardry, it was possible to summon phantoms of delusion. Sauron, "master of shadows and of phantoms",[4] devised a phantom resembling Eilinel to entrap Gorlim.[5] In the late Third Age, Saruman was rumoured to also be able to craft such phantoms.[6][7]
Etymology
Phantom (from Middle English and Old French fantosme, from Latin phantasma), means "specter, spirit, ghost" or "illusion, unreality".[8]
Portrayal in Adaptations
1982-97: Middle-earth Role Playing:
- A phantom is rumoured to haunt a wood in Rhudaur.[9]
2002-5: The Lord of the Rings Roleplaying Game:
- Phantoms, one of the three type of ghosts, are those that seek revenge in their after-life. The phantoms "often resemble their mortal form as it appeared in death" (e.g., the phantoms of the Mere of Dead Faces), although some are also invisible.[10]
See also
References
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers, passim
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Silmarillion, passim
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), Morgoth's Ring, "Part Five. Myths Transformed", p. 416
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Silmarillion, "Quenta Silmarillion: Of the Ruin of Beleriand and the Fall of Fingolfin"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Silmarillion, "Quenta Silmarillion: Of Beren and Lúthien"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers, "The White Rider"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers, "The King of the Golden Hall"
- ↑ "phantom" at Dictionary.com Unabridged. (accessed 26 December 2010)
- ↑ Graham Staplehurst (1986), Phantom of the Northern Marches (#8102), p. 4-14
- ↑ Scott Bennie, Mike Mearls, Steve Miller, Aaron Rosenberg, Chris Seeman, Owen Seyler, and George Strayton (2003), Fell Beasts and Wondrous Magic, pp. 25-27
