Sea-serpents

From Tolkien Gateway
"There are many monsters in the Sea..."
The Adventures of Tom Bombadil, "Fastitocalon"
Sea Serpent by Angus McBride

Sea-serpents, also called fish-dragons, were a breed of dragons only mentioned fleetingly in Elvish linguistic writings.[1] No story tells of their appearance in the history of Arda.

Other names[edit | edit source]

The Elvish terms for the creature are lingwilókë in Quenya, and lhimlug in Noldorin.[1]

Portrayal in adaptations[edit | edit source]

Water Drake in MERP, by Kent Burles

1982-97: Middle-earth Role Playing:

Water Drakes, or Water Serpents, are drakes who have adapted to a life in freshwater pools or in the ocean. The smaller varieties, who only live in fresh-water, are called Rain-drakes (or Lake-worms), while the larger (who prey in all types of water) are called True Water-drakes or Sea Serpents.[2] An individual Water-drake, Séahmatha (meaning "Lake Serpent" in the tongue of the Northmen), inhabits the Long Lake.[3]

1995-8: Middle-earth Collectible Card Game:

"Sea Serpent" and "Rain-drake" are creatures of the Drake-kind. A unique dragon of the water is Eärcaraxë, which may be played keyed to coastal regions and sites.

See also[edit | edit source]

External links[edit | edit source]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Lost Road and Other Writings, Part Three: "The Etymologies", entry "LOK-"
  2. Ruth Sochard Pitt, Jeff O'Hare, Peter C. Fenlon, Jr. (1994), Creatures of Middle-earth (2nd edition) (#2012), pp. 116-117
  3. Zachariah Woolf (1995), Lake-town (#2016), pp. 121-128
Legendary races of Arda
 Animals:  Dumbledors · Gorcrows · Hummerhorns · Pards · Swans of Gorbelgod · Turtle-fish
Dragon-kind:  Sea-serpents · Spark-dragons · Were-worms
Evil Races:  Ettens · Giants · Half-trolls · Hobgoblins · Ogres · Snow-trolls · Two-headed Trolls
Other:  Badger-folk · Great beasts · Lintips · Mewlips · Nameless things · Spectres
Individuals:  Talking Gurthang · Talking purse · The Hunter · Lady of the Sun · Lonely Troll · Man in the Moon · The Rider · River-woman · Tarlang · Tim · Tom · White cow