Warg
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A warg (or worg) is a mythological creature that resembles a wolf, but is generally larger and more intelligent.
In Old Norse Warg (vargr) is a euphemism for wolf (ulfr), and still the modern Swedish word for wolf. Also cognate is Old English warg "large wolf". Moreover a wolf is called warg in Gilaki, an Iranian language which is spoken in Gilan, north of Iran.
The Proto-Germanic *wargaz meant "strangler", and hence "evildoer, criminal, outcast".
Closely related may be Classical Latin ferox from the earlier Proto-Italic root *feroc meaning "ferocious."
[edit] Norse mythology
In Norse mythology, wargs are in particular the demonic wolves Fenrir, Skoll and Hati. In the Hervarar saga, king Heidrek is asked by Gestumblindi (Odin),
- What is that lamp
- which lights up men,
- but flame engulfs it,
- and wargs grasp after it always.
Heidrek knows the answer is the Sun, explaining
- She lights up every land and shines over all men, and Skoll and Hatti are called wargs. Those are wolves, one going before the sun, the other after the moon.
But wolves also served as mounts for more or less dangerous humanoid creatures. For instance, Gunnr's horse was a kenning for "wolf" on the Rök Runestone, in the Lay of Hyndla, the völva (witch) Hyndla rides a wolf, and to Baldr's funeral, the giantess Hyrrokin arrived on a wolf.
[edit] Tolkien's Wargs
Taken from the Old English warg, the Wargs or Wild Wolves are a race of fictional wolf creatures in J. R. R. Tolkien's books about Middle-earth. They are usually in league with the Orcs whom they permitted to ride on their backs into battle. It is probable that they are descended from Draugluin's werewolves of the First Age.
The concept of wolf-riding Orcs first appears in The Tale of Tinúviel, an early version of the story of Beren and Lúthien written in the 1920s, posthumously published as part of The History of Middle-earth.
In The Hobbit, the Wargs appear twice, once in chasing Bilbo Baggins, Gandalf, and the dwarves just east of the Misty Mountains, and once at the Battle of Five Armies. They are said to have their own harsh language.
In The Lord of the Rings, they are most prominently mentioned in the middle of The Fellowship of the Ring, where a band of Wargs, unaccompanied by Orcs, attacks the Fellowship in Hollin. During the War of the Ring in 3018–19, wolves prowled outside the walls of Bree. Saruman kept Wargs in dens beneath Isengard, and during the War of the Ring he also sent Orcs mounted on Wargs into battle.
In Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings movie trilogy, Wargs appear to be more like "hyena/bear/wolf" hybrids rather than just wolves, in an effort to distinguish them from regular wolves by presenting them as some sort of distant, prehistoric cousin (Tolkien wrote that Middle-earth was a fictional prehistoric Earth). It should be noted, however, that although Tolkien never gave a fully complete description of the Wargs (he simply noted that they were demonic wolves), they do seem to have a regular wolf-appearance in both The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, and they are regularly called "wolves".
[edit] Wargs in other popular media
Subsequent appearances of the creatures in popular culture often owe much to Tolkien. In the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game, worgs appear as minor enemies. Similar to Tolkien's works, they are depicted as evil, intelligent wolves that speak their own language, and are often allied with goblin tribes. Worgs also appear in the massively multiplayer online role-playing game World of Warcraft as a wolf more common to undead areas; they are also used by the orcs as mounts. The large wolf-like enemies in the Castlevania video game series are also called Wargs.
Conversely, in the A Song of Ice and Fire fantasy novel series by George R. R. Martin, wargs are people who can live through a particular animal if they choose in a symbiotic relationship.
