Tolkien created numerous creatures for his fantastic world that we know from “The Lord of the Rings”. Did you know that there are vampires among them?
The Lord of the Rings: The vampire Thuringwethil in the service of Sauron. (Source: AI content generated by Netzwelt using Leonardo AI)
- Middle-earth is populated by orcs, trolls, balrogs and other dark creatures, including vampires.
- In the First Age of Middle-earth, when Sauron still serves under Morgoth, a vampire is under his command.
- Thuringwethil is her name and the vampire is Sauron’s messenger and can transform into a massive bat.
Fantasy author JRR Tolkien populated his fantastic world with dwarves, elves, humans and all sorts of other creatures and living beings. In the “Lord of the Rings” films we get to know some of them, but other characters and peoples are reserved exclusively for book connoisseurs!
In the books there is the head motz Morgoth, who strives and rages for rule over Middle-earth even before Sauron. What is probably less known is that there are also vampires in Tolkien’s legendarium. Namely will Thuringwethil called, a servant of Sauron.
She served as a messenger to Sauron and could take the form of a bat The Lord of the Rings: Thuringwethil is a vampire. She served Sauron in the First Age of Middle-earth. (Source: AI content generated by Netzwelt using Leonardo AI)
In the First Age of Middle-earth, Sauron was only a servant of Morgoth and not the ruler of the armed forces himself. Nevertheless, Sauron also commanded his own troops in the name of Morgoth and had powerful servants, including the vampire woman Thuringwethil. She served him as a messenger and could quickly bridge long distances in the form of a bat.
Thuringwethil is not the only winged servant of Sauron. In the Third Age, Sauron is served by the Nazgul, who ride furry beasts. We’ll tell you how fast the furry beasts can fly.
Even in her vampire form, Thuringwethil is winged. At the end of their wings are iron claws. Since she can change her form from vampire to bat and back, it is speculated that she is a skin changer like Beorn from “The Hobbit” or an Ainur like Sauron, the Balrog or Morgoth himself.
Tolkien does not specify many details and so it is unclear how exactly Thuringwethil dies. She was probably killed by the great wolfhound Huan. After her death, her bat fur is eventually used by the elf Lúthien Tinuviel to disguise herself and thus infiltrate Morgoth’s fortress of Angband.
Huan accompanies Lúthien to Angband, where she wants to free her lover, Beren. He is held captive by Sauron. In Angband there is a fight between Huan and Sauron, which Huan wins and Sauron flees.
The name Thuringwethil comes from the Elvish language Sindarin and means Woman of the Secret Shadow.
Lord of the Rings Quiz: How well do you know Middle-earth?
(Source: TMDB.org)
What else are the people of dwarves called?
It is extremely unlikely that we will see Thuringwethil in Amazon’s “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power”. The series takes place in the Second Age of Middle-earth, thousands of years after the death of the vampire. Season 2 of the “Lord of the Rings” series is currently being worked on.
| The Lord of the Rings: Reviewing the Rings of Power | |
| genre | Drama, Action & Adventure, Sci-Fi & Fantasy |
| First broadcast | September 1, 2022 |
| First broadcast in Germany | September 2, 2022 |
| Homepage | amazon.com |
| Other sources | |
| network | Amazon |
production | Amazon Studios, New Line Cinema, Harper Collins Publishers, Tolkien Enterprises |
| Squadrons |
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