It is well known among his fans that J.R.R. Tolkien inspired a new era of fantasy, which totally changed modern perception of what the genre should look like. Incorporating creatures into his stories, including elves, trolls, and dragons, shaped the world of fantasy as it is now known, and there have been hundreds of books and series that have built upon the foundations that he created. However, Tolkien didn’t just create fantastical stories, his literature drew inspiration from many amazing sources, including classical texts that he studied at Oxford University, and many mythologies including Norse and Icelandic. Interestingly though, he also incorporates elements from a genre that might be surprising to some fans: Horror.
Many of Tolkien’s stories contain elements that would typically be considered tropes in the horror genre nowadays, but at the time of his writing, they were quite rare and unusual. His books contain all sorts of ghosts, ghouls, gore, and violence alongside the mystical and whimsical creatures of his more fairytale lore. From the earliest stories in The Silmarillion, to the gruesome spiders in The Hobbit, and the most memorable villains and evil-doers in the Lord of the Rings, Tolkien’s work is strewn with horrifying events and beings whose very existence strikes terror into all who come across them.
One of the earliest examples of this in the lay of Beren and Luthien, the two lovers famed in Middle Earth for being one of the first-ever pairings between an elf maiden and a mortal man. In order to win Luthien’s father’s approval, Beren was tasked with retrieving a Silmaril from Morgoth’s lair, one of the most dangerous places in their world. Morgoth, who extinguished the light of the Trees of Valinor, the most sacred love of the elves, had all manner of cruel and torturous things stored up in his keep, and when Beren managed to gain the Silmaril from him, Morgoth sent his pack of werewolves after them.
In a bloody battle, Beren’s hand was torn off and eaten by Carcharoth, the most deadly of the wolves, and Beren later died of his wounds they were so bad. This is certainly one element of Tolkien’s stories that in modern day would fit into the horror genre. The other large creature known in many of his stories, that would be terrifying to viewers is the giant spiders that exist throughout Middle Earth and beyond. Creatures like Ungoliant, Shelob and the other spiders from the War of the Ring have been the subject of horror films the world over.
Similarly, the concept of the paranormal, the spirits from beyond the dead who linger on and are unable to leave the world, are a hugely successful concept in the horror genre. There are several such creatures in the Lord of the Rings, and the hobbits very nearly meet an early death in the first few chapters of the books because they run into one: The Barrow Wights. These evil ghoul-like creatures are the reanimated corpses of old kings who were buried in the barrow-downs around the Shire, and they feed on the wills of living creatures.
Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin are very nearly killed by one on their way to Bree. Luckily they are rescued by the wily Tom Bombadil, who casts the Wight away, and gives the hobbits 4 swords to protect themselves with in the future. Nonetheless, the Barrow Wights are akin to a sort of zombie that modern audiences would associate with a horror film or a post-apocalyptic world. Similarly are the Army of the Dead, the translucent soldiers who are sworn to the service of the king of Gondor. These undead beings are the very definition of lingering souls who have turned vengeful in their years trapped on earth, unable to leave until they fulfil their broken oath made upon the Stone of Erech which still holds power over them.
Then, of course, there are the Nazgul on their fell-beasts, the flying servants of the enemy who pursue Frodo and the others out of The Shire. These hooded figures in heavy black cloaks are horrible creatures that exist somewhere in the realm between the living and the dead. They drive fear into everyone who sets eyes upon them, so much so that some people go mad with it. They could easily be the haunting specters in a modern-day horror movie.
So, Tolkien himself was unaware of just what a legacy he would create in the crafting of his most famous stories, especially in the fantasy world, but perhaps even in ways and places he never would have expected. The gothic elements in his stories may have impacted a whole genre that fans have never realized all stemmed from this one remarkable man.