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.
According to Bilbo Baggins, were-worms were creatures dwelling in the Last Desert in the East of East.[1] They were mentioned only by him. It is not known if they were an actual race or merely a part of Hobbit folklore, which mentions several mythical creatures, such as dumbledors,[2] hummerhorns[2] and turtle-fish.[3]
Etymology
The element "were-" (as found in "werewolf") derives from a Germanic term denoting male humans.[4] A were-worm would therefore be a "man-worm".
Other versions of the legendarium
In the earliest fragment of The Hobbit, Bilbo offered to walk to the "Great Desert of Gobi and fight the Wild Wire worm of the Chinese".[5] Tolkien altered this in a slightly later version to "the last desert in the East" and "the Wild Wireworms of the Chinese",[6] making the word plural. In real life, the term "wireworm" denotes the larva of the click beetle, a pest of crops.[7][8]
Portrayal in adaptations
1982–97: Middle-earth Role Playing:
- Were-worms are depicted as a very unusual breed of legless, wingless dragon, capable of altering their shapes. They are divided into two varieties: sand-drakes, animalistic beasts that can mimic the characteristics of objects they touch, and true were-worms, intelligent beings that use sorcery to take on the forms of other things.[9]
2014: The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies:
- Azog's forces use giant worms, which Azog calls "earth eaters", to tunnel underground towards the city of Dale. When the creatures appear during the Battle of Five Armies, Gandalf identifies them as "were-worms". In the film, they are depicted as absolutely gigantic, with Weta Digital stating that they are 400 feet long and 75 feet in diameter. They are apparently used only for tunneling, not fighting, as they do not take part in the ensuing battle.
References
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit, "An Unexpected Party"
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 J.R.R. Tolkien, The Adventures of Tom Bombadil, "Errantry"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Adventures of Tom Bombadil, "Fastitocalon"
- ↑ "were-", Wiktionary, accessed 29 April 2025
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, John D. Rateliff (ed.), The History of The Hobbit, Mr. Baggins, The First Phase, "The Pryftan Fragment", p. 9
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, John D. Rateliff (ed.), The History of The Hobbit, Mr. Baggins, The First Phase, "The Bladorthin Typescript", p. 40
- ↑ "Wireworms", Purdue University Field Crops Entomology, accessed 4 September 2020
- ↑ "Elateridae", Tree of Life web project, accessed 4 September 2020
- ↑ Ruth Sochard Pitt, Jeff O'Hare, Peter C. Fenlon, Jr. (1994), Creatures of Middle-earth (2nd edition) (#2012)
| Legendary races of Arda | |
| Animals: | Dumbledors · Gorcrows · Hummerhorns · Pards · Swans of Gorbelgod · Turtle-fish · Wise-fish |
|---|---|
| Dragon-kind: | Sea-serpents · Spark-dragons · Were-worms |
| Other: | Badger-folk · Ettens · Giants · Great beasts · Half-trolls · Hobgoblins · Lintips · Mewlips · Nameless things · Ogres · Otter-folk · Snow-trolls · Spectres |
| Individuals: | Badger-brock · Bill Butcher · Farmer Hogg · Fastitocalon · Fisher Blue · Fíriel · Grip · Hunter and Rider · The Lady of the Sun · Lonely Troll · Man in the Moon · Mee · Mrs. Bunce · Old Swan · Peeping Jack · Perry-the-Winkle · Pott the Mayor · Talking Gurthang · Talking purse · River-woman · Shee · Tarlang · Tim · Tom · Whisker-lad · White cow · Willow-wren |