I love how Tolkein merely hinted at what lies deep within the abyss of Middle Earth and not going into detail about these ancient horrors. Simply stated in passing, nothing more.
Oh, Tolkien did write about them. But he burnt all the manuscripts. Unfortunately, a young scholar of him had meticulously copied them all on microfilm, wanting to publish them. He died in mysterious circumstances and, by a random stroke of luck, the microfilms were discovered in the men's restrooms by prof. Randolph Carter, who was at the time, giving a lecture on ancient Polynesian myths at the University of Oxford. Realizing the implications of what he found, he immediately took the microfilms to Arkham. The films are held there, under lock and key, in the section of Forbidden Tomes and only accessible to a handful of individuals around the globe. I have been able to investigate them, yet I do not want to burden humanity with such knowledge of a nature that's blasphemous against the very existence of life and the universe. May the scholar's death serve as a stark warning against such perilous pursuits. Iä! Iä! Cthulhu fhtagn! Ph'nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn!
Gandalf indicates that the Balrog was almost a "comfort" A being he understood that he needed to chase. What confronted them both made even the Balrog look "ordinary" as a foe to be understood. Was even the Balrog afraid? Gandalf does not say this outright, but who knows??
As a being of Fear and Terror, I don't imagine afraid is in its vocabulary, iykwim [much like the "menu" that the meat's back on for, is for the Orc's! >XD]. Really had it been afraid it didn't have to chase and hunt them down; had it tried to leave it would be welcomed by the group! Though after the first week of fighting Gandalf, it may have piqued some concern! :D
The Balrogs fought one of these, I think "Ungoliath" has one of those nameless things, shes very old and ancient like a primordial darknes and no one knew her origin, and yet she got defeated by the balrogs, morgoth feared her but the balrogs didnt.. they came to her with their swords and flames and she has forced to flee away
I always liked the implication that besides the evil that came from gods and spirits that formed the world in bad intensions, the nature of existence itself brings entitys to life that are even worse.
I am probably not the only one who thinks of lovecraftian monsters when listening to this. It is the greatest kind of horror - the nameless, ancient beings so alien to us is that we can only imagine the archaic horror.
@@DonBetong They absolutely sound like something right out of Lovecraft, real cosmic horror vibes, even from the tone conveyed via Gandalf. I think InDeepGeek mentioned in their video on this subject that it’s likely because both Tolkien and Lovecraft were fans of Lord Dunsany, who came before them both and evoked similar impressions in his work (if I recall he wrote A LOT, across a number of genres). It’s been a long time since I took my Tolkien course in school, but I don’t see him as a huge Lovecraft fan, or if he was he would not have agreed with his views on… much of anything, other than perhaps objective view of what is or is not good writing.
Ungoliath absolutely feels like one of these nameless things, "weaving the webs of starless void at the deep places of the earth" Morgoth had to run away from her as she turned her gaze upon him, and the only thing that finally destroyed her was her own hunger consuming herself.
I don't see how the nameless things could be older than Sauron or Gandalf. Sauron and Gandalf were present with Iluvatar when the world was sang into existence
I know Tolkien never wrote it, but I have a theory. That things were in the Void before the Timeless Halls and Eü, things as old as Erü but not all powerful like Erü, but also outside of his power. And that after Arda was formed, they wormed into the circles of the world, slinking into the deep places under shadow in the earliest days, deeper and deeper until they came to the very roots of the world. They aren't evil, they just ARE the opposite of Erü's creationism; nihilism I guess. Making them older than Sauron and Melkor. It's probably a good thing they're down there and not up on the surface or too close to "the deepest delving of the Dwarves". They're is a letter by Tolkien I believe, about Ungoliant, where he says that maybe Ungoliant is a personification of the Void and it's hunger, so it wouldn't be too out of the question I think. They could also be the manifestation of Melkor's contempt, hatred, jealousy, malice, rebellion, and evil that he put into his chords during the Ainurlindale. The Ainurlindale didn't make Eü and Arda, Erü made those BASED OFF the Ainurlindale they sung. Hence why there is some cruelty in the world. But I'd like a game set in these deep slimy lightless chasms and caverns😊
@traceygamer20 I would agree with this interpretation. Those creatures where created from songs sung by Melkor. Personifications of the worst parts buried deep in the roots of the world. Perhaps parts of them had existed before creation in the void, finally given form by Melkor's song.
Well, “Sauron” didn’t always exist from the beginning, Mairon did. “Gandalf” didn’t exist until a millennium into the 3rd age. Not sure if that’s what was meant but it’s one angle from which it could be correct.
@@traceygamer20 A good take. Also important to remind ourselves that this is all fiction, so we will never know exactly who/what/where/when/why/how everything is, just as J.R.R. Tolkien didn't know it all either, as he first sketched, then fleshed out his creation; only having the span of a normal human life to contemplate and update his work. I sense a lot of metaphor here too, as well as some concepts likely borrowed (consciously or not) from H.P. Lovecraft's recurring themes and characters. Even if Tolkien could have lived three lifespans, I suspect he would continue to develop, refine, then reevaluate and alter a variety of thins, while we, of only one lifespan, would not live to see the end. Those born much later would probably still encounter a vast store of lore that was yet not complete.
I like the idea that there are creatures, or beings, that remain mysterious and unexplained. Deconstructing every last detail of the world would rob it of mystery - and by extension, enjoyment.
So true. I love lovecraftian horror and i cant help but think this was tolkien's nod to him. Im so fascinated with the nameless things and a part of me would love to see SOMETHING that gives us an idea of what they are but youre right. In some cases, the questions are better than answers especially when it comes to ancient agents of darkness and destruction
@@rjzavala87 Amen to that! I've been watching a few video essays on the Nameless Things. It's a very compelling concept! One of them cited one of Tolkien's letters - in which he stated that not everything in the world needed explaining. Ungoliant, Shelob, the Watcher, the Nameless Things - I LOVE the idea that there were dark powers that even Morgoth and Sauron didn't touch!
@@solitarysurreal3652 ''I LOVE the idea that there were dark powers that even Morgoth and Sauron didn't touch!'' I couldn't have stated that sentence any better. If Sauron went to battle these things it would be evil versus an even greater evil that outmatches the madness and pure evil that Sauron is capable of and makes his exploits insignificant
11:13 Might you have misspoken? Gandalf pursued the Balrog deep into the roots of Earth where they might have encountered the Nameless Things but they duelled all the way up to the peaks where he defeatd & threw Balrog down. Gandalf is fully spent & after that, passes out, awaiting his judgment, really unable to do anything mor, let alone journey again through the deepest places?
I’m so sorry, but is this an AI generated video? You repeat information several times, the way you say Moria changes through the video, you incorrectly quote Aragorn speaking of things gnawing the world, and none of the images have art credits, but they do all have little odd things off about them.
It may indeed just be algorithm slop, but others may just not be confident in the sound of their voices... as a decent writer with a shitty voice, I can relate- if that is indeed the case.
I think you might be wrong, Gandalf 's metaphysical journey wasn't in the bowels of the earth. He fell with the Balrog into the Abyss, chased it to the peak, and then fought it, falling with it as they destroyed the mountain. Then his spirit travelled to Valinor and was sent by the Valar as Gandalf the white.
That is not correct. His body died but his spirit returned to Eru who directly intervened and sent him back to Arda. It was not the Valar who had anything to do with Gandalf's return but Eru
@richardwinters339 I agree, the valar didn't have the authority after their original plan to send the istria failed. Eru Illuvatar steps in ad sends Gandalf back
I always thought of their origin as Melkors disruption and curruption as Arda was formed. When he brought his own influence in while the other Valar worked together. And twisted things in the foundation of the world itself.
A few minutes ago i wrote the same, it also came in my mind right away when and how they were discribed at the beginning off the Video! Greetings from Austria 🙂
Personally i think the nameless things are beings from outside eru's creation, that generally only stray into its fringes and subsist by consuming scant amounts of the concept of the world. Staying beings more of concept and allegory than flesh and blood so long as they do not venture into the world too far. I think this because gandalf never calls them evil, just dark. The connection between light and dark good and evil is strong in lotr but gandalf doesn't tend to shy from calling evil at face value. So i think gandalfs obvious discomfort of them must stem from a different reason.
Meh, a lot of overthinking here. Most of the quotations are, in the best traditions of storytelling, teeing-up the Balrog for his grand entrance. All this talk of other, malevolent forces ignores that Moria was repopulated under Durin VII and held until dwarves ended. Sure, the Nameless things, they're alluded to entities, but their influence on the narrative is being overstated.
I interpret Tolkien's writings of the "nameless ones" to mean that they were sang into existence by Eru Ilúvatar and the "Music of the Ainur." So they would have existed from the very beginning of Arda, before the Valar or Maiar arrived in Middle-Earth. So when the "nameless ones" are described as being older than Sauron, I interpret that to mean that they existed before Sauron or any of the other Maiar or Valar arrived in Arda.
I completely agree. It could not mean anything else. Since the Valar, Mairon (Sauron) and the other Maiar were sung into existence by Eru Ilúvatar before the existence of Arda and the nameless ones, Mairon is actually older than the nameless ones. However, in the context with Tolkien's story, the nameless ones existed in Arda before the arrival of the Ainur, and certainly before Mairon took the name Sauron when he followed the Valar Melkor to middle-earth. Which makes the nameless ones presence in Arda older than even the Ainur. I would put Tom Bombadil into the same category - He is as old as Arda and existed before the arrival of the Ainur, having been sung into existence through the Music of the Ainur.
How did the dwarves dig dangerously close to the nameless things or feel their presence or disturb them? Gandalf was clear that the dwarves never came near them.
You contradicted Gandalf's words, and attributed a famous Gandalf quote to Gimli. I'm not only disliking this video but I'm not watching anymore of your content because I don't trust your accuracy.
The thought of something being more dangerous and unknown than the main villian is always cool. My only issue is that nothing else comes of it. Its just kinda there.
I have my own theory. Eru awoke and was alone. He then sang the Ainur into being. To do that, he first hummed a prefect note to set that pitch, then cleared his throat and sang the Ainur. That first note and throat clear, unintentionally, became Tom and the Nameless Things. Eru needed a place to put them, since they were not the angelic being he planned. So, he had the Ainur sing the Ainulindalë to create a world, without telling them the reason it was needed. This is why the Nameless Things can be older the Sauron and how he knows them not. It also gives a reason for Bombadil saying he is oldest. I believe Tom’s purpose was to keep reign of the Nameless Things. This too says to why he didn’t participate in any of the wars throughout the ages and set his own boundaries. Those wars were beneath him.
You’re a nerd obsessing over a made up world. Of course you’re right, because it’s fantasy and there is no wrong with the interpretation of fantastical tales
@@mishaDorjan and you’re a troglodyte, making fun of people that have a passion for things more profound and meaningful than your fantasy sports leagues, your Andrew Tate videos and your Diddy parties.
@@mishaDorjan and you’re a Troglodyte that likes to make fun of people who have a thoughtful passion and respect for more profound learning experiences that have nothing to do with your fantasy sports leagues, your Andrew Tate fandom, and your Diddy parties…
It makes perfect sense to connect those foreboding foreshadows of an unknown ancient horror and larger danger than the Orcs on Moria, however as the Balrog/Durin´s Bane hadn´t been found what it was before meeting it, and its true nature was also unknown, that foreboding sense of ancient doom could be implying it at the same.
The Namelss Things are not friends or Foe, they are just foreign being that exist out of the plots and struggles of the protagonits... which makes them frightening
“I have looked upon all that the universe has to hold of horror, and even the skies of spring and the flowers of summer must ever afterward be poison to me.”
Not really a fan of this video. He pretty much repeated the same things over and over again, but never revealing the origin, appearances, motives, etc. of these nameless things. A one minute video would have been more than sufficient.
11:32 "Then darkness took me, andi I strayed out of thought and time, and I wandered far on roads that I will not tell." I think that's Gandalf telling how he died and his spirit wandered in the world beyond death.
Since Moria was successfully rebuilt in the 4th age, I suspect that the nameless things, like so much else of the more fantastical inhabitants of middle earth faded away as the world continued to change into a more grounded, less magical state as it aged.
I would've wished some more (of your) well-educated speculation. To me, it seems Like they are in some substantial ways related to Ungolianth, who also crawled Out of the primordial darkness
Makes perfect sense that regardless on how mighty the Balrog were, there is no way one alone could make to get rid of ALL the Dwarves population in Moria, if by chance he wasn´t joined or aided by something else which in combination made so much confusing and deadly to properly identify it as a simple Balrog itself. After all though it has been a lot of time since the very last time, either the Elves, Dwarves or Men met a Balrog, they kinda ought to be well acknowledged somehow on the Ancient Stories of First Age, and as the First Original and Greater Dark Lord before Sauron, Morgoth rellyied heavily on their help too then. The Balrog seems to have known them more than anyone, so sad he couldn´t tell more about it.
I LOVE your videos, and this is a really cool topic. This video felt very repetitive, though. There was a lot of "older than ___", "more evil than ___: "gnawing at the roots of the earth. " I wouldn't have minded a shorter video or this being included in a "the evils of the world" video.
I have to wonder if there isn't a simpler explanation for the Nameless Things - consider: Eru Iluvatar would not have baked them into his song, and even Morgoth would not have intentionally created something more powerful than he. No, it's more likely that the characters speaking of them are simply wrong about their age; they could well be a consequence of Morgoth's Ring, when he corrupted creation with a portion of his power...he just didn't know about them, or didn't foresee them, and therefore couldn't tell Sauron about them. Remember, the Ainur are almost omnipotent, but they are _not_ omniscient...and we know they make mistakes (Morgoth and Sauron are proof of that). Of course, the meta explanation is simply that Tolkien loved to put unexplained details in his work...sometimes it's a benevolent presence like Tom Bombadil, sometimes it's the nasties.
"Gandalf ventured into realms beyond the known world, encountering forces older than even the Valar. These roads that he will not describe, may have led him into the very layer of the nameless things, those ancient beings that gnaw at the foundations of the earth. His reluctance to speak of them underscores the idea that these creatures are beyond the understanding of wisest beings in Middle Earth." He must have encountered the generative AI.
Very nice, gets me chills those unknown horrors, spirits and powers. Now you can clearly understand were Games Workshop did got their inspiration for the Chaos gods and legions. Its purely chaos those nameless things!
How much evil can one really get up to down there? Clearly they’re not evil enough to have ever came up to the surface to cause shit. There I’ll be down there to survive and happy they don’t have to fucking talk to Wizard’s and shit
Exactly right?? They just dwelve in the depths of the earth not really doing anything evil, serial killers, rapists, criminals in general do a lot more evil than these things that dont really seem to do anything…🤷🏻🤷🏻they lamee
Cmon, man. You can't honestly make a 15 min video about something Tolkien devoted a total of 2 sentences to. There's nothing else to say about the Nameless Things.
so saurons gone, but the nameless remain, it would of been a cool book if Tolkien delved into a story with the heroes of middle earth battling a few of these ancient things..
Maybe they are older in the sense that they have been longer on Arda. The Ainur sung Arda into creation, including the nameless things (or as a byproduct of the discord), and descended into Arda after they were already created. So they are older in that sense.
The Valar themselves existed before Arda. Why can't entities even they fear exist? Morgoth feared Ungolionth because she was of the Void, a realm beyond the knowledge of the Valar.
The Nameless Things present a theological problem as well. According to Tolkien, all things have their origin in Eru, and Eru never created anything bad. So where did they come from, and why does He allow them to exist?
You are correct, because those things are not bad. They are beyond good and evil, they just are - and they are creatures of primordial chaos beoynd Eru's influence since all those nameless beasts come from the void and Eru didn't create the void. Eru came from timeless halls to the empty and dark world and he started giving life - creating. The void was already there. Concept of good and evil only exists on an earthly level, everything that happens on Arda is just a tiny episode in the great cosmic show. Eru is the Great Creator - his nature is that of constant giver ever-expanding and never going back, therefore he is kind of limited by his own divine nature since he doesn't ( I am not saying he can't) repair anything, he doesn't change nothing all he has done was good but due to free will all can turn bad. Considering this Eru walks hand in hand with forces of chaos from the void because imo nameless things act as cleaning company devouring everything that went wrong and also so that the creation process may continue endlessly because if anything interrupts continuity of creation then all meaning of existance is lost. So if there were no greater forces of chaos at play acting as cleaners, Eeu would have to personaly change what went wrong and that act would contradict his very nature of creator/giver which could cause whole creation to perish, and since Eru doesn't go back and doesn't change - everything would stop existing at once even Eru himself would disappear for all eternity.
I believe the Nameless Things were blinked into existence through Morgoth's interference with Illuvatar's theme, during the initial forming of Middle-Earth.
There’s no way unless they’re fallen Maiar, that they could be older than Olorìn or Mairon. Even then they’d be all the same age, I’m sure all the Ainur are older than Ungoliant and Tom Bombadil.
In fact he, apart from magic, can be considered similar to Daenerys Targaryen. She had also a dispotic agenda, considering herself the only one that can rule both westeros and essos and her "truth" was the only legit truth. Daenerys devoted herself in "freeing" the world Sauron devoted himself to healing the middle earth
Nameless things are just mindless beings. They wouldn't possess evil, they just are. They are what's under the rock before you pull it up to see a cluster of bugs.
The existence of the Nameless Things hints that regardless of the Dwarves regaining Moria´s domain some time later after the end of The Lord of the Rings story, on the Fourth Age, they might not be ever lasting after all, and an impending DOOM will came from the deeppest regions of their domain as before and perhaps even more deadly than with the Balrog before.
Tolkiens world is actually so thinly grazed trough on the big screen, and its such a shame. i mean i guess we have rings of power now wich just does not do tolkien justice imo. this video however..
This feels like a badly generated AI script! There are Nameless Things in the deep places of the world, of Middle-Earth, not just in Moria, as this video keeps repeating... And more importantly, how can you have a video about the Nameless Things, focus on Moria and not even mention The Watcher in the Water??? who is arguably more of a Nameless Thing (considering it's origin is unknown) then the Balrog of Morgoth?!?!
OMG there is the key-word about hinting on the Nameless Things indeed being kinda sensed by the Dwarves before and as they wake up Durin´s Bane - which they didn´t knew was a Balrog untill very late as the Fellowship met him - the word is GNAWED as Gandalf tells about them later on!!
I always imagined that the Nameless things were different species of gigantic insects and all kinds of gigantic slithering things like slugs and snails but with mouths full of teeth.
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I love how Tolkein merely hinted at what lies deep within the abyss of Middle Earth and not going into detail about these ancient horrors. Simply stated in passing, nothing more.
Oh, Tolkien did write about them. But he burnt all the manuscripts. Unfortunately, a young scholar of him had meticulously copied them all on microfilm, wanting to publish them. He died in mysterious circumstances and, by a random stroke of luck, the microfilms were discovered in the men's restrooms by prof. Randolph Carter, who was at the time, giving a lecture on ancient Polynesian myths at the University of Oxford. Realizing the implications of what he found, he immediately took the microfilms to Arkham. The films are held there, under lock and key, in the section of Forbidden Tomes and only accessible to a handful of individuals around the globe.
I have been able to investigate them, yet I do not want to burden humanity with such knowledge of a nature that's blasphemous against the very existence of life and the universe. May the scholar's death serve as a stark warning against such perilous pursuits.
Iä! Iä! Cthulhu fhtagn! Ph'nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn!
Gandalf indicates that the Balrog was almost a "comfort" A being he understood that he needed to chase. What confronted them both made even the Balrog look "ordinary" as a foe to be understood. Was even the Balrog afraid? Gandalf does not say this outright, but who knows??
As a being of Fear and Terror, I don't imagine afraid is in its vocabulary, iykwim [much like the "menu" that the meat's back on for, is for the Orc's! >XD].
Really had it been afraid it didn't have to chase and hunt them down; had it tried to leave it would be welcomed by the group!
Though after the first week of fighting Gandalf, it may have piqued some concern! :D
The Balrogs fought one of these, I think "Ungoliath" has one of those nameless things, shes very old and ancient like a primordial darknes and no one knew her origin, and yet she got defeated by the balrogs, morgoth feared her but the balrogs didnt.. they came to her with their swords and flames and she has forced to flee away
@andreinicolae7078 tbf, in that passage, is described as if there are hundreds of balrogs descending upon her
I always liked the implication that besides the evil that came from gods and spirits that formed the world in bad intensions, the nature of existence itself brings entitys to life that are even worse.
What
Eru and the minor gods the ainur creating all and then leaving it to be. That is what Tolkien did.
Entropy beings. Not evil or good just beings of chaos and destruction.
@TheLiamis correct
"Right! The poison for Kuzco, the poison chosen especially to kill Kuzco, Kuzco's poison. That poison?"
I think Tolkien meant for there to be no explanation for what they are, which makes them even scarier
I am probably not the only one who thinks of lovecraftian monsters when listening to this. It is the greatest kind of horror - the nameless, ancient beings so alien to us is that we can only imagine the archaic horror.
I said the same thing myself about a day or two ago, there something truly creepy about them, Not sure if JRT was awere of Lovecraft work🤔
@@alanaspinall7147 he was aware
I came to the comments to mention Lovecraft, or see if anyone else had.
@@DonBetong They absolutely sound like something right out of Lovecraft, real cosmic horror vibes, even from the tone conveyed via Gandalf. I think InDeepGeek mentioned in their video on this subject that it’s likely because both Tolkien and Lovecraft were fans of Lord Dunsany, who came before them both and evoked similar impressions in his work (if I recall he wrote A LOT, across a number of genres).
It’s been a long time since I took my Tolkien course in school, but I don’t see him as a huge Lovecraft fan, or if he was he would not have agreed with his views on… much of anything, other than perhaps objective view of what is or is not good writing.
Take a shot each time he says gnaw.
Or every time he mentions that they’re older than everyone else and live deep.
Or when he make-up quotes. This is AI bullshit.
I should be able to understand the nameless things by the time I’m done 😂😂
The video is very repetitive
I won't take a shot because I don't drink, but I will take a "toke" each time he says it.
Aside from Moria, I was thinking about Ungoliant and how she came into being, if not by Morgoth’s doing? A mighty Valar he was and yet feared her.
Ungoliath absolutely feels like one of these nameless things, "weaving the webs of starless void at the deep places of the earth" Morgoth had to run away from her as she turned her gaze upon him, and the only thing that finally destroyed her was her own hunger consuming herself.
Morgoth was diminished and ungoliant was empowered by the two trees
I don't see how the nameless things could be older than Sauron or Gandalf. Sauron and Gandalf were present with Iluvatar when the world was sang into existence
I know Tolkien never wrote it, but I have a theory. That things were in the Void before the Timeless Halls and Eü, things as old as Erü but not all powerful like Erü, but also outside of his power. And that after Arda was formed, they wormed into the circles of the world, slinking into the deep places under shadow in the earliest days, deeper and deeper until they came to the very roots of the world. They aren't evil, they just ARE the opposite of Erü's creationism; nihilism I guess. Making them older than Sauron and Melkor. It's probably a good thing they're down there and not up on the surface or too close to "the deepest delving of the Dwarves". They're is a letter by Tolkien I believe, about Ungoliant, where he says that maybe Ungoliant is a personification of the Void and it's hunger, so it wouldn't be too out of the question I think. They could also be the manifestation of Melkor's contempt, hatred, jealousy, malice, rebellion, and evil that he put into his chords during the Ainurlindale. The Ainurlindale didn't make Eü and Arda, Erü made those BASED OFF the Ainurlindale they sung. Hence why there is some cruelty in the world. But I'd like a game set in these deep slimy lightless chasms and caverns😊
@traceygamer20 I would agree with this interpretation. Those creatures where created from songs sung by Melkor. Personifications of the worst parts buried deep in the roots of the world. Perhaps parts of them had existed before creation in the void, finally given form by Melkor's song.
Well, “Sauron” didn’t always exist from the beginning, Mairon did. “Gandalf” didn’t exist until a millennium into the 3rd age. Not sure if that’s what was meant but it’s one angle from which it could be correct.
@@traceygamer20 A good take. Also important to remind ourselves that this is all fiction, so we will never know exactly who/what/where/when/why/how everything is, just as J.R.R. Tolkien didn't know it all either, as he first sketched, then fleshed out his creation; only having the span of a normal human life to contemplate and update his work. I sense a lot of metaphor here too, as well as some concepts likely borrowed (consciously or not) from H.P. Lovecraft's recurring themes and characters. Even if Tolkien could have lived three lifespans, I suspect he would continue to develop, refine, then reevaluate and alter a variety of thins, while we, of only one lifespan, would not live to see the end. Those born much later would probably still encounter a vast store of lore that was yet not complete.
@@landofalwayswinter666 Gandalf was originally known as Olorin and was there as long as Mairon aka Sauron
I like how Tolkien basically leaks in some inspiration from Lovecraft’s works due to the incomprehensible existence of the Nameless Things.
It's all a dream within a dream anyway. All hail the Blind Idiot God!
In my opinion these could be the remnants of Melcor's discord that he did during the creating of Arda.
This makes the most sense. Otherwise where else did they come from. Unless Eru made them first. 🤔
Yea thats othe only logical explination, nothing can be older then that.
bingo!!
@@darrellparris3549who's to say that, arda is not just earth 30.0 and, that Eru has reset creation multiple times...
The Pits of Utemundo
Did he just repeat the exact same thing in different ways for 15 minutes?
no human wrote or narrated this I believe
I like the idea that there are creatures, or beings, that remain mysterious and unexplained. Deconstructing every last detail of the world would rob it of mystery - and by extension, enjoyment.
So true. I love lovecraftian horror and i cant help but think this was tolkien's nod to him. Im so fascinated with the nameless things and a part of me would love to see SOMETHING that gives us an idea of what they are but youre right. In some cases, the questions are better than answers especially when it comes to ancient agents of darkness and destruction
@@rjzavala87 Amen to that! I've been watching a few video essays on the Nameless Things. It's a very compelling concept!
One of them cited one of Tolkien's letters - in which he stated that not everything in the world needed explaining. Ungoliant, Shelob, the Watcher, the Nameless Things - I LOVE the idea that there were dark powers that even Morgoth and Sauron didn't touch!
@@solitarysurreal3652 ''I LOVE the idea that there were dark powers that even Morgoth and Sauron didn't touch!''
I couldn't have stated that sentence any better. If Sauron went to battle these things it would be evil versus an even greater evil that outmatches the madness and pure evil that Sauron is capable of and makes his exploits insignificant
11:13 Might you have misspoken? Gandalf pursued the Balrog deep into the roots of Earth where they might have encountered the Nameless Things but they duelled all the way up to the peaks where he defeatd & threw Balrog down. Gandalf is fully spent & after that, passes out, awaiting his judgment, really unable to do anything mor, let alone journey again through the deepest places?
He's clearly reading AI generated gibberish. I'm guessing it didn't fully understand the original writing.
@@falumir1466it's just an ai reading. Tell it to create a script and make it read it for you, easy 10 minute job for a video
I’m so sorry, but is this an AI generated video? You repeat information several times, the way you say Moria changes through the video, you incorrectly quote Aragorn speaking of things gnawing the world, and none of the images have art credits, but they do all have little odd things off about them.
They only started posting like 3 months ago. I think all the content here is AI generated.
Yeah it's shitty AI, which is such a shame because there are people out there trying to make better, human content but are overshadowed by slop
Yeah it’s all AI. Makes no sense.
It may indeed just be algorithm slop, but others may just not be confident in the sound of their voices... as a decent writer with a shitty voice, I can relate- if that is indeed the case.
100 percent t AI
I think you might be wrong, Gandalf 's metaphysical journey wasn't in the bowels of the earth. He fell with the Balrog into the Abyss, chased it to the peak, and then fought it, falling with it as they destroyed the mountain. Then his spirit travelled to Valinor and was sent by the Valar as Gandalf the white.
yes, the text is AI generated and is not accurate.
That is not correct. His body died but his spirit returned to Eru who directly intervened and sent him back to Arda. It was not the Valar who had anything to do with Gandalf's return but Eru
@richardwinters339
I agree, the valar didn't have the authority after their original plan to send the istria failed. Eru Illuvatar steps in ad sends Gandalf back
The giant spider came from the void not from the Creator. So perhaps the nameless things also came from the void 🤔
I always thought of their origin as Melkors disruption and curruption as Arda was formed. When he brought his own influence in while the other Valar worked together. And twisted things in the foundation of the world itself.
They sound almost lovecraften🤔
That's how they're interpreted in Lord of the Rings Online. There are weird alien creatures way down at the bottom of the endless stair in moria
It is a concept that predates both.
Tolkien took inspiration from many mythos, so it's not surprising in the slightest
Thats where Tolkien got the idea
A few minutes ago i wrote the same, it also came in my mind right away when and how they were discribed at the beginning off the Video! Greetings from Austria 🙂
Personally i think the nameless things are beings from outside eru's creation, that generally only stray into its fringes and subsist by consuming scant amounts of the concept of the world. Staying beings more of concept and allegory than flesh and blood so long as they do not venture into the world too far.
I think this because gandalf never calls them evil, just dark. The connection between light and dark good and evil is strong in lotr but gandalf doesn't tend to shy from calling evil at face value.
So i think gandalfs obvious discomfort of them must stem from a different reason.
Meh, a lot of overthinking here.
Most of the quotations are, in the best traditions of storytelling, teeing-up the Balrog for his grand entrance.
All this talk of other, malevolent forces ignores that Moria was repopulated under Durin VII and held until dwarves ended.
Sure, the Nameless things, they're alluded to entities, but their influence on the narrative is being overstated.
Yeah, I agree. We do have SOME ideas. Teh one being int he story that is like them, and named is Ungoliant.
@@marhawkman303 I was thinking they were beings like Ungoliant who could have come from the Void itself.
@@minuette1752 Yeah and... more than one Ungoliant is a terrifying idea.
I interpret Tolkien's writings of the "nameless ones" to mean that they were sang into existence by Eru Ilúvatar and the "Music of the Ainur." So they would have existed from the very beginning of Arda, before the Valar or Maiar arrived in Middle-Earth. So when the "nameless ones" are described as being older than Sauron, I interpret that to mean that they existed before Sauron or any of the other Maiar or Valar arrived in Arda.
I completely agree. It could not mean anything else. Since the Valar, Mairon (Sauron) and the other Maiar were sung into existence by Eru Ilúvatar before the existence of Arda and the nameless ones, Mairon is actually older than the nameless ones. However, in the context with Tolkien's story, the nameless ones existed in Arda before the arrival of the Ainur, and certainly before Mairon took the name Sauron when he followed the Valar Melkor to middle-earth. Which makes the nameless ones presence in Arda older than even the Ainur. I would put Tom Bombadil into the same category - He is as old as Arda and existed before the arrival of the Ainur, having been sung into existence through the Music of the Ainur.
How did the dwarves dig dangerously close to the nameless things or feel their presence or disturb them? Gandalf was clear that the dwarves never came near them.
You contradicted Gandalf's words, and attributed a famous Gandalf quote to Gimli. I'm not only disliking this video but I'm not watching anymore of your content because I don't trust your accuracy.
The only thing more terrifying than Sauron are these souless AI generated videos.
I feel like this video could be about a third shorter if ideas weren’t repeated and rephrased so much
The manifestation of Melkors discord.
They wouldn’t be older than Sauron in that case…
The thought of something being more dangerous and unknown than the main villian is always cool. My only issue is that nothing else comes of it. Its just kinda there.
Thank you for covering this subject, ive been very curious about this topic.
I have my own theory. Eru awoke and was alone. He then sang the Ainur into being. To do that, he first hummed a prefect note to set that pitch, then cleared his throat and sang the Ainur.
That first note and throat clear, unintentionally, became Tom and the Nameless Things. Eru needed a place to put them, since they were not the angelic being he planned. So, he had the Ainur sing the Ainulindalë to create a world, without telling them the reason it was needed.
This is why the Nameless Things can be older the Sauron and how he knows them not. It also gives a reason for Bombadil saying he is oldest. I believe Tom’s purpose was to keep reign of the Nameless Things. This too says to why he didn’t participate in any of the wars throughout the ages and set his own boundaries. Those wars were beneath him.
You’re a nerd obsessing over a made up world. Of course you’re right, because it’s fantasy and there is no wrong with the interpretation of fantastical tales
@@mishaDorjan and you’re a troglodyte, making fun of people that have a passion for things more profound and meaningful than your fantasy sports leagues, your Andrew Tate videos and your Diddy parties.
@@mishaDorjan and you’re a Troglodyte that likes to make fun of people who have a thoughtful passion and respect for more profound learning experiences that have nothing to do with your fantasy sports leagues, your Andrew Tate fandom, and your Diddy parties…
@@mishaDorjanit's about what is internally consistent. Stop being a Debbie downer.
Great theory, makes sense.
It makes perfect sense to connect those foreboding foreshadows of an unknown ancient horror and larger danger than the Orcs on Moria, however as the Balrog/Durin´s Bane hadn´t been found what it was before meeting it, and its true nature was also unknown, that foreboding sense of ancient doom could be implying it at the same.
I’ve been through the desert on a thing with no name…
Oooo do tell
@@traceygamer20 the ocean is a desert with its life undergrouns
The Namelss Things are not friends or Foe, they are just foreign being that exist out of the plots and struggles of the protagonits... which makes them frightening
didnt know dwarved had 6 fingers 1:55 lol
“I have looked upon all that the universe has to hold of horror, and even the skies of spring and the flowers of summer must ever afterward be poison to me.”
Badass quote
Not really a fan of this video. He pretty much repeated the same things over and over again, but never revealing the origin, appearances, motives, etc. of these nameless things. A one minute video would have been more than sufficient.
Gandalf might have solo'd an Elite, but lower still in Moria is effectively Elder Gods.
11:32
"Then darkness took me, andi I strayed out of thought and time, and I wandered far on roads that I will not tell."
I think that's Gandalf telling how he died and his spirit wandered in the world beyond death.
Since Moria was successfully rebuilt in the 4th age, I suspect that the nameless things, like so much else of the more fantastical inhabitants of middle earth faded away as the world continued to change into a more grounded, less magical state as it aged.
Everybody’s complaint about misread quotes and not realizing this is an AI bot.
I would've wished some more (of your) well-educated speculation. To me, it seems Like they are in some substantial ways related to Ungolianth, who also crawled Out of the primordial darkness
Makes perfect sense that regardless on how mighty the Balrog were, there is no way one alone could make to get rid of ALL the Dwarves population in Moria, if by chance he wasn´t joined or aided by something else which in combination made so much confusing and deadly to properly identify it as a simple Balrog itself. After all though it has been a lot of time since the very last time, either the Elves, Dwarves or Men met a Balrog, they kinda ought to be well acknowledged somehow on the Ancient Stories of First Age, and as the First Original and Greater Dark Lord before Sauron, Morgoth rellyied heavily on their help too then.
The Balrog seems to have known them more than anyone, so sad he couldn´t tell more about it.
selmerilion explains it well enough when Morgoth messed up the music of creation and deployed evil things in Arda
The Nameless Things were just chilling in the deep dark, minding their own business, unless disturbed.
11:39 Why are you quoting Gandalf's description of his experiences after he defeated the Balrog as if he was still in the chasms of Moria?
Did you confuse Gimli with Gandalf?
Why would a Frodo quote mention himself?
I LOVE your videos, and this is a really cool topic. This video felt very repetitive, though. There was a lot of "older than ___", "more evil than ___: "gnawing at the roots of the earth. " I wouldn't have minded a shorter video or this being included in a "the evils of the world" video.
Because there's only a sentence about it in the books, this is just fluffy filler.
I have to wonder if there isn't a simpler explanation for the Nameless Things - consider: Eru Iluvatar would not have baked them into his song, and even Morgoth would not have intentionally created something more powerful than he. No, it's more likely that the characters speaking of them are simply wrong about their age; they could well be a consequence of Morgoth's Ring, when he corrupted creation with a portion of his power...he just didn't know about them, or didn't foresee them, and therefore couldn't tell Sauron about them. Remember, the Ainur are almost omnipotent, but they are _not_ omniscient...and we know they make mistakes (Morgoth and Sauron are proof of that).
Of course, the meta explanation is simply that Tolkien loved to put unexplained details in his work...sometimes it's a benevolent presence like Tom Bombadil, sometimes it's the nasties.
They sound like Fallen Vallar that had taken a demented form OR the Creatures that Melkor made in Utamundo
Ungoliant vould well be 1 of them. She fits the description.
"Gandalf ventured into realms beyond the known world, encountering forces older than even the Valar. These roads that he will not describe, may have led him into the very layer of the nameless things, those ancient beings that gnaw at the foundations of the earth. His reluctance to speak of them underscores the idea that these creatures are beyond the understanding of wisest beings in Middle Earth."
He must have encountered the generative AI.
nAImless things. Even Sauron knew not the Black Box hallucinations in the Dark Forest of the internet the devs had awoken.
Very nice, gets me chills those unknown horrors, spirits and powers. Now you can clearly understand were Games Workshop did got their inspiration for the Chaos gods and legions. Its purely chaos those nameless things!
How much evil can one really get up to down there? Clearly they’re not evil enough to have ever came up to the surface to cause shit. There I’ll be down there to survive and happy they don’t have to fucking talk to Wizard’s and shit
Exactly right?? They just dwelve in the depths of the earth not really doing anything evil, serial killers, rapists, criminals in general do a lot more evil than these things that dont really seem to do anything…🤷🏻🤷🏻they lamee
when gandalf fight balrog, it shows us about hollow earth..
Cmon, man. You can't honestly make a 15 min video about something Tolkien devoted a total of 2 sentences to. There's nothing else to say about the Nameless Things.
I think they formed from Melkors part in the original song that created Arda
so saurons gone, but the nameless remain, it would of been a cool book if Tolkien delved into a story with the heroes of middle earth battling a few of these ancient things..
Why do I get the feeling this is an AI generated script with an AI voiceover?
So it's not just me.
Everything is gonna be involving it at some point. Ill never get used to. It all feels soulless
Dam! The artwork you're using is amazing!
Thank you!
Almost all the pictures are AI. Nothing is accurate. They have 6 fingers etc.
@@patmaghthey're still pretty good
How can they be older than the Valar if the Valar are the ones who sang the world into creation?
Maybe they are older in the sense that they have been longer on Arda. The Ainur sung Arda into creation, including the nameless things (or as a byproduct of the discord), and descended into Arda after they were already created. So they are older in that sense.
The Valar themselves existed before Arda. Why can't entities even they fear exist? Morgoth feared Ungolionth because she was of the Void, a realm beyond the knowledge of the Valar.
I like the idea of there being things even older than Eru outside of creation with equal or maybe greater power. Cosmic horror rocks
The Nameless Things present a theological problem as well. According to Tolkien, all things have their origin in Eru, and Eru never created anything bad. So where did they come from, and why does He allow them to exist?
You are correct, because those things are not bad. They are beyond good and evil, they just are - and they are creatures of primordial chaos beoynd Eru's influence since all those nameless beasts come from the void and Eru didn't create the void. Eru came from timeless halls to the empty and dark world and he started giving life - creating. The void was already there.
Concept of good and evil only exists on an earthly level, everything that happens on Arda is just a tiny episode in the great cosmic show. Eru is the Great Creator - his nature is that of constant giver ever-expanding and never going back, therefore he is kind of limited by his own divine nature since he doesn't ( I am not saying he can't) repair anything, he doesn't change nothing all he has done was good but due to free will all can turn bad. Considering this Eru walks hand in hand with forces of chaos from the void because imo nameless things act as cleaning company devouring everything that went wrong and also so that the creation process may continue endlessly because if anything interrupts continuity of creation then all meaning of existance is lost. So if there were no greater forces of chaos at play acting as cleaners, Eeu would have to personaly change what went wrong and that act would contradict his very nature of creator/giver which could cause whole creation to perish, and since Eru doesn't go back and doesn't change - everything would stop existing at once even Eru himself would disappear for all eternity.
2:10 didn't know that the dwarves had 6 fingers
In Norse mythology the dragon Nidhogg gnaws at the roots of the World Tree Yggdrassil .
Also called jormungandr
No that the midgard serpent the creature that knaw the roots i belive are seperate @@ALushPair
@@sykune hah it's been so long, you're right, I had confused the two!
Very cool! Thanks!
I believe the Nameless Things were blinked into existence through Morgoth's interference with Illuvatar's theme, during the initial forming of Middle-Earth.
My head canon is that they are Fraggles.
Fate, Eru Iluvatar’s nightmares, predecessors. Ha, they’re the readers of the story… they only notice us in sensory deprived Moria.
do dwarves have 6 fingers? 1:55
or AI doing its thing again?
That is not dead which can eternal lie, and with strange aeons even death may die - hp lovecraft
There’s no way unless they’re fallen Maiar, that they could be older than Olorìn or Mairon. Even then they’d be all the same age, I’m sure all the Ainur are older than Ungoliant and Tom Bombadil.
Excellent video! As Love craft said “ indescribable “ ….
Sauron wasn't that evil, Morgoth was evil. Sauron wanted to rule Arda because he felt he was the most competent to do it.
In fact he, apart from magic, can be considered similar to Daenerys Targaryen. She had also a dispotic agenda, considering herself the only one that can rule both westeros and essos and her "truth" was the only legit truth. Daenerys devoted herself in "freeing" the world
Sauron devoted himself to healing the middle earth
He is evil because he has no problem murdering and enslaving everyone who disagrees with him lol
@@DarthPlasmanot to mention the countless evil things he’s done such as the Great Plague
He is a mass murderer, enslaver, and dictator that would remove all free will from the peoples of Middle-earth. He. Is. Evil!
Behold! I shall name what even the Balrog feared, Sauron did not understand, and Morgoth would leave well alone! Uranium. You’re welcome.
Nameless things are just mindless beings. They wouldn't possess evil, they just are. They are what's under the rock before you pull it up to see a cluster of bugs.
So just think lovecraft entities deep in the earths crust basically
Just a little glimpse of Lovecraft in Tolkien's legendarium
@8:20 did you mean to write "Legolas" and not "Gimli"? 🤔
The existence of the Nameless Things hints that regardless of the Dwarves regaining Moria´s domain some time later after the end of The Lord of the Rings story, on the Fourth Age, they might not be ever lasting after all, and an impending DOOM will came from the deeppest regions of their domain as before and perhaps even more deadly than with the Balrog before.
Have to wonder what Gollum would say about the Nameless Things of Moria since he lived there for centuries.
I believer the quote “There are older and fouler things than Orcs in the deep places of the world” is by Gandalf sirrrr
This video could've been compress to 4 minutes.
Why are you making up Aragorn quotes?
90% of what "Tolkien's Realm" said here just alluded to the Balrog, not the Nameless Things.
Tolkiens world is actually so thinly grazed trough on the big screen, and its such a shame. i mean i guess we have rings of power now wich just does not do tolkien justice imo. this video however..
Good video but why does it feel like ai created text?
Because it is.
This feels like a badly generated AI script! There are Nameless Things in the deep places of the world, of Middle-Earth, not just in Moria, as this video keeps repeating... And more importantly, how can you have a video about the Nameless Things, focus on Moria and not even mention The Watcher in the Water??? who is arguably more of a Nameless Thing (considering it's origin is unknown) then the Balrog of Morgoth?!?!
These videos are far better than rings of power
OMG there is the key-word about hinting on the Nameless Things indeed being kinda sensed by the Dwarves before and as they wake up Durin´s Bane - which they didn´t knew was a Balrog untill very late as the Fellowship met him - the word is GNAWED as Gandalf tells about them later on!!
I always imagined that the Nameless things were different species of gigantic insects and all kinds of gigantic slithering things like slugs and snails but with mouths full of teeth.
I had nameless things living under my bed and in my closet as a child, and yes, they are horrifying. 👺🦹♀️🧟👹
So this is where WoW got it from ? The void lords being one with azeroth and slowly destroying the world fits perfectly to what is said in this video
Why does Aragorn have elf ears lol?
This voice sounds exactly like one of the Black Library audio book readers.
The beginning of the video sounds like a warhammer 40k intro
Downvoted for excessive AI
I’m not sure what the plan for the unknown things were within middle earth. I’m curious if they were planned to be the next big villain.
Radagast makes a brief mention on this i do believe.
Common man the jumps and shoddy editing make it impossible to commit to a vid