Fell beasts

Template:Infobox course Les 'Fell beasts' , aussi appelés 'hell-hawks' étaient les créatures volantes sur lesquelles les Nazgûl montaient après avoir été désamorcés au Gué de Bruinen .

Histoire

Les bêtes tombées étaient des créatures ailées avec un bec et des griffes, semblables aux oiseaux mais beaucoup plus grandes que toute autre bête volante. La créature possédait un corps nu sans plumes, un long cou et une vaste peau entre ses doigts cornus. De plus, le corps de la créature dégageait une puanteur.

[...] c'était une créature ailée: si oiseau, alors plus grand que tous les autres oiseaux, et qu'il était nu, il ne portait ni plume ni plume, et ses vastes pignons étaient comme des toiles de peau entre cornes des doigts; et ça puait. Une créature d'un monde plus ancien peut-être [...]
— JRR Tolkien

Bien que l'origine exacte des bêtes soit inconnue, elles ont probablement été élevées par Sauron à partir d'une créature des jours anciens pour fournir des coursiers au Nazgûl.

On the River Anduin near Sarn Gebir, Legolas shot one down in the night as it approached the Fellowship of the Ring.

During the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, the Witch-king of Angmar, the Lord of the Nazgûl, rode his fell beast in battle against King Théoden of Rohan. The Lord of the Nazgûl, riding the evil beast, shot a dart which killed Snowmane, Théoden's horse (which fell on Théoden, crushing him). Dernhelm (who revealed herself as Éowyn) defended the dying Théoden, challenging and killing the beast.

Inspiration

Asked about the nature of the "steed of the Witch-king", Tolkien replied that the fell beast was not intended to be pterodactylic, but hesitantly acknowledged that it resembles a pterosaur and may have been a survivor of older geological eras.

Etymology

As in the expression "fell things" occurring earlier in The Lord of the Rings, the word fell in this sense is an archaic English word meaning "dreadful, terrible".

It may also be noted that the expression "fell beasts" is not used solely for the winged steeds of the Nazgûl: it was also used as a descriptor for various evil creatures of Mirkwood.

Portrayal in adaptations

Fell beasts in adaptations

The Return of the King (1980)   "Fell beast" in Middle-earth Role Playing   "Wild Fell Beast" in Middle-earth Collectible Card Game   Fell beast descending in The Lord of the Rings (film series)   The Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game   "Hell-hawk" in The Lord of the Rings Roleplaying Game   "Fell beast" in The Lord of the Rings: War in the North

1978: The Lord of the Rings:

One of the Nazgûl (possibly the Witch-king, for he carries a mace) is shown riding a fell beast. However, Bakshi's film only covers events up to the Battle of the Hornburg, so this is the last seen of the fell beasts and their riders.

1980: The Return of the King:

The Nazgûl ride winged horses. In the confrontation of Éowyn and the Witch-king, the latter rode a plump black-grey dragon-like animal.

1982-97: Middle-earth Role Playing:

The Fell Beasts are said to likely be "distant relatives of ancient Cold-drakes", and "grow to lengths of 30 feet (with 30-35-foot wingspans)". In the middle Third Age they live in mountainous areas of Mirkwood, presumably because of the Necromancer's presence at Dol Guldur. They are used as steeds by both the Nazgûl and a few Olog-hai warlords.

1995-8: Middle-earth Collectible Card Game:

'Fell Beast' increases the number of strikes of one Nazgûl hazard-creature. 'Wild Fell Beast' is a Drake which attacks with three strikes. With the card 'Fell Rider' the Ringwraith may move to a non-Darkhaven site (without allies and followers).

2001-3: The Lord of the Rings (film series):

The fell beasts are depicted as more Dragon-like and serpentine, i.e., their heads appear more like a snake's and they do not have beaks. This depiction came largely from John Howe's influence.

In the films, the fell beasts are used for attack much more often than in the books, with the Nazgûl usually swooping down and screeching, making the defenders at the gate of Minas Tirith run away, leaving Gandalf alone to face the Witch-king as he enters.

Although on screen the films never make this mistake, sometimes cast or crew members (Lawrence Makoare and Richard Taylor most notably) on the commentary tracks and the documentaries refer to the fell beasts as Nazgûl; this is incorrect. The fell beasts are the creature that the nine Nazgûl ride, and the mistake probably arose because fell beasts are always seen with a Nazgûl atop them.

2001-: The Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game:

The Fell Beasts are portrayed without beaks, reminiscent of the depiction in The Lord of the Rings: The Motion Picture Trilogy.

2002: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (video game):

A Nazgûl mounted on a fell beast (depicted as a dragon-like creature) appears in the Amon Hen stage of the PC and console versions of the game, where it serves as the final boss. In the first phase of the battle, the beast crawls on the ground and fights Aragorn (armed with his sword). During the second and final phase, it flies into the sky and shoots green fireballs from its mouth down at Aragorn (who shoots back at it with his bow), until it is weakened and finally shot down by Legolas in the game's ending cutscene.

2002-5: The Lord of the Rings Roleplaying Game:

Hell-hawks, employed as mounts by the Ringwraiths and found wild in southern Mirkwood and (after the War of the Ring) in Gondor, resemble a "cross between lizards and featherless birds". They were bred by Sauron in mockery of the Great Eagles.

2011: The Lord of the Rings: War in the North:

Agandaûr has several Fell beasts under his control. At the end of Chapter 1, Agandaûr flees on the back of one of them.

See also

• Images of Fell beasts