Fell beast
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In J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, fell beast is the author's description of the gigantic flying pterosaur-like creatures on which the Nazgûl rode on after being unhorsed at the Ford of Bruinen. The creatures are especially prominent during the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, where the Witch-king of Angmar, the Lord of the Nazgûl, rides his in battle against King Théoden of Rohan.
Tolkien used "fell beast" as a descriptor and not an actual name. ("Fell" in this sense is an archaic English word meaning "cruel", "evil" or "lethal".) However, since this creature lacked any real name, "fell beast" is often used to refer to it.
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Description and origin
In book V, chapter 6 of The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien describes it thus:
- "[...] it was a winged creature: if bird, then greater than all other birds, and it was naked, and neither quill nor feather did it bear, and its vast pinions were as webs of hide between horned fingers; and it stank. A creature of an older world maybe it was [...]"
Tolkien's description has lead some to think he meant an actual pterosaur. Tolkien however also referred to it as a naked "bird", as shown in the quote above. Indicating that they are not specifically pterosaurs, just "pterosaur-like", as it is widely believed today that most pterosaurs had hair. While this may not have been known during Tolkiens lifetime, it means that no matter his intent for the fell beast, it can only be described today as being pterosaur-like.
The fact that their depiction resembles that of the more popular fantasy genre dragon has lead some to identify the fell beasts as a dragons. This is incorrect as dragons are already well established in Tolkien's writing (see Smaug), and if they had been dragons, it is likely he would have simply called them such.
In the books
In The Fellowship of the Ring, at the River Anduin, Legolas shoots one down in the night as it approaches them.
In The Two Towers Gollum sees the Witch-king and his mount while guiding Frodo and Sam, and refers to the Ringwraiths as "Wraiths on wings".
In The Return of the King the fell beast attacked and eventually killed Snowmane, Théoden's horse. The horse fell on Théoden, crushing him. Dernhelm (who revealed herself as Éowyn) defended the dying Théoden, and challenged and killed the beast.
Sauron later sent the Nazgûl to Mount Doom after sensing the imminent destruction of the Ring, and some infer from this that all Nazgûl rode fell beasts.
In adaptations
1978 cartoon
In Ralph Bakshi's 1978 animated version of 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 that is the last we see of the fell beasts and their riders.
1980 TV special
In the Rankin-Bass 1980 animated version of The Return of the King, the Nazgûl ride winged horses, although the Nazgul Lord does ride a bird like creature when he confronts Eowyn.
Live-action movies
In Peter Jackson's film trilogy based on The Lord of the Rings, the fell beasts are depicted as being pterosaur-like creatures, and all nine Nazgûl are visible onscreen riding them.
Their features in the movies are in most cases similar to that of actual species of pterosaur with two major differences: The bone structure of their wings, which is much more bat-like than pterosaur-like, and their size, as no known pterosaur is as large as the fell beasts in the movies. These differences are likely attributable simply to the fact that it had to serve as a believable mount for the Nazgûl and the production team wanted the Fell Beasts to be physically capable of flying if they actually existed. This necessitated having the wingspan of a 747 jumbo jet, or approximately 65m. The decision to use a bat-like wing structure was based on the fact that the pterosaurs wing support (an extremely long fourth finger) would be far too weak to support the weight of a wing that large, as the largest known pterosaurs believed to be capable of flight have been found with wingspans of up to only 18m.
In the books there were some indications that the fell beasts had beaks. This was considered for the films, but ultimately it was decided to give them teeth. Either decision would have been in line with the overall description of the fell beast being pterosaur-like.
Although the mistake is never made in the films, the actors on the commentary tracks sometimes refer to the fell beast as a Nazgûl; this is incorrect. The fell beast is the creature that the nine Nazgûl ride, and the mistake probably arose because fell beasts are always seen with a Nazgûl atop them. Billy Boyd does refer to them correctly.
Similar creatures in other media
Some of the random encounters found in various early Final Fantasy games bear a striking resemblance to the fell beasts. This is likely due to the fact that Yoshitaka Amano, the character designer of the first six games, is a fan of Tolkien.
The Wyvern Rider and Wyvern Lord classes in the Fire Emblem series of games resemble the fell beast as well.fi:Siivekkäät pedot