What was the Nature of Vampires in Middle-earth?

Q: What was the Nature of Vampires in Middle-earth?

ANSWER: There are hardly any references to vampires at all in J.R.R. Tolkien’s writings, and they seem to be confined to his First Age legends. Thuringwethil, the messenger of Sauron, is said to have flown in a bat-shape or vampire-form when she traveled across Middle-earth. In some versions of the stories Sauron himself takes on a vampire shape after surrendering to Luthien and Huan. And in the Battle of Five Armies, some of the bats fasten themselves to fallen warriors “vampire-like” and suck their blood.

The word vampire has an uncertain etymology but it is believed to be derived from a Slavic word that may originally have meant something like “witch”. Tolkien mentioned in Letter No. 142, written in 1953, that he had at one time studied Serbian and Russian (without much success). Another possible etymological connection between Tolkien and Slavic languages is the name of Radagast the Brown, which some people suggest may be taken from a Serbian god or spirit.

Tolkien might have appreciated the posited original meaning of “vampire” enough to have restricted its use only to witch- and sorceror-like characters in his stories. So rather than introduce a Bram Stokerish strain of characters into Middle-earth he seems content to have simply melded the tradition of bat-transformation with the powers of some of his most evil characters. It seems unlikely that Tolkien really imagined any modern-style vampires in Middle-earth.

There is no Sindarin word for vampire but Christopher Tolkien translated Thuringwethil as “woman of secret shadow” in The Silmarillion (based on transforming gwath,wath into weth). According to some reader conjectures her name might also mean “secret sisters” or “hidden sisters” (thurin + gwethil). Gwethil is identified as the plural form of gwathel, “sister”.

Q: Was Thuringwethil One of the Maiar?

J.R.R. Tolkien never explained who or what she was. Many Tolkien fans assume she was one of the Umaiar who served Morgoth but she didn’t have to be. All we know about her is that she had a “bat-hame”, a “bat skin”. So she was a skin-changer and she used a magical bat-skin to that effect. Luthien Tinuviel acquired that bat-hame when she seized the island of Minas Tirith from Sauron.

Thuringwethil could have been a human woman, an orc woman, an elf woman, or some other creature – thus possibly one of the Umaiar. Her ultimate fate hasn’t been revealed, which suggests she may have been no more than a passing idea in Tolkien’s imagination. She is slightly more canonical than Boldog the Orc captain.

See also …

What Is the Brighton Manuscript?

Was Beorn in The Hobbit a Were-bear?

Magic by Melkor, No Returns Accepted (Classic Essay)

Kryptic Tales of Middle-earth? (Classic Essay)

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