Shelob is a character from J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth. A giant spider-like creature, she appears at the end of the second volume of The Lord of the Rings, where her attack leads to Sam Gamgee's decision to take over the quest to destroy the One Ring.

Shelob in the books

Shelob is a huge creature in spider form, living high in the mountains of Mordor, the last of the spawn of Ungoliant. (She may be a form of evil spirit, possibly a Maia or a hybrid with Maiar blood, instead of an actual spider.) Her lair is along the path that Sam Gamgee and Frodo Baggins take while travelling to Mount Doom. Shelob had encountered Gollum before, during his previous escape (or release) from Mordor, and he had agreed to bring her food in the form of living creatures. The Orcs of the Tower of Cirith Ungol call Gollum "Her Sneak." Sauron himself was well aware of her existence as well, inhabiting the region for a shorter span of time than she, but allowed her to live, feeling that she would be a useful "back up" guard to prevent anyone from entering Mordor.

Gollum betrays Frodo to her, leading the Hobbit into her lair so he can get the One Ring after she strikes. She attacks and stings Frodo, paralysing him. An enraged Sam fights her desperately, and manages to defeat her by letting her impale herself upon Frodo's sword while trying to crush him, and she flees into her lair, wounded. The story makes a point of saying that her final fate will remain unknown to the people of Middle-earth.

Thinking Frodo dead, Sam takes the Ring from him and leaves his body behind, but discovers by listening to a party of Orcs that Shelob's venom is not intended to kill its victims, but only to render them unconscious and keep their meat fresh.

Shelob occupies Torech Ungol beneath Cirith Ungol, and may have once lived in Beleriand, possibly in the Ered Gorgoroth.

Shelob's brood (upon whom she would often feed) include the giant (but relatively smaller) spiders who capture Bilbo Baggins' Dwarf allies in Mirkwood during the events chronicled in The Hobbit.

The name Shelob is derived from "lob", an archaic English word for spider. A variation, "cob" is the derivation of the word "cobweb". "She" is a reference to Shelob's gender: While composing Lord of the Rings, Tolkien reportedly wrote to his son Christopher, ""Do you think Shelob is a good name for a monstrous spider creature? It is of course only 'she + lob' ( == 'spider' ), but written as one, it seems to be quite noisome..."

Film version

In Peter Jackson's film trilogy based on the books, Shelob's appearance is held over until the middle of the third movie, The Return of the King (film).

In the movie, Shelob can be seen to have a retractable venomous sting at the rear end between the spinnerets, resembling a wasp's sting. This is very much unlike real spiders, which inject venom with their fangs, but accurate relative to the novel. Shelob also appears to have a gaping mouth, whereas real spiders can ingest only liquid. In the book, on the other hand, "clusters" of eyes are mentioned, which may suggest compound eyes like those of insects; Shelob in the movie does not have compound eyes, which is appropriate. A wolf spider of the family Lycosidae, which Shelob most closely resembles, would have two large eyes facing forward, and a few smaller ones almost hidden below. The only spiders that can reasonably be said to have "clustered" eyes (though not true compound eyes) are the daddy long-legs spiders of the family Pholcidae, but Shelob does not resemble these rather spindly and fragile spiders in other aspects of her physique. However, since no claim is made (in Tolkien's writings or Jackson's films) that Shelob is a real spider - as she is most likely an ancient demon in spider form, she may have many characteristics inconsistent with real-world spiders.

In the film, Shelob 'stings' Frodo in the chest, while in the book, she penetrates him in the neck, above his mithril shirt. This is a possible plot incongruity, since, in a later scene, Sam witnesses two Orcs arguing over his unblemished mithril shirt.

In the video game The Return of the King (video game), which is based on the film, Shelob is one of the big bosses and her defeat is required to beat the level "Shelob's Lair". And in The Battle for Middle-earth II Shelob is a hirable hero-unit of the Goblin faction.

Middle-earth characters | Characters in The Lord of the Rings | Fictional monsters | Fictional spiders | Fictional Hybrids

Figuren aus Mittelerde#Kankra (Shelob) | Arachne (Terre du Milieu) | Shelob | שילוב | Shelob | Hutula | Szeloba | Lukitari