One thing everyone agrees on is that
Ungoliant does not have a satisfactory history that quenches ones thirst for knowledge.
I can only speculate on my own opinion of Ungoliant and her origin, so don't knock it till you read it!
I am a firm beleiver that she was a
Maiar, though counted great among the
Ainur in origin. Though it easy to offer this opinion, I suppose I need to back it up. I am an advocate of the truth in myth and knowledge handed down by generations.
The Eldar knew not whence she came; but some have said that in
ages long before she descended from the darkness that lies about
Arda, when
Melkor first looked in envy upon the Kingdom of
Manwe, and that in the beginning she was one of those (
maia) that he corrupted to his service.
Ordinarily, if this was passed through generation to generation by Mankind, it would most likely lose much of it's potency over the generations and ages. However, as we are dealing with the Eldar, we can put much more stock in the source. Certainly this in itself is insufficent, though I feel is the key to understanding the logic behind the beleif by the Eldar.
It was known that those who had joined Melkor, had either been corrupted, or at the least simply given allegiance to him. Remember, when we consider the Ainur, it was the Eldar who divided them into
Valar or Maiar. The Valar we know as being the mightiest of the Ainur, though many Ainur, were still counted great among the Maiar;
Eonwe, Osse,
Melian, Tilion,
Sauron, Gothmog,
Olorin to name but a few. Others who may fall into this category, though unclear, could be Thuringwethil, Ungoliant, Draugluin,
Goldberry and
Bombadil.
Why then can we assume that they would fall into this category? I beleive that of those who took shape in
Middle-Earth had assumed a form similar to that of their nature.
The words of
Iluvatar to the Ainur in
Ainulindale capture my reasoning;
And I will send forth into the Void the Flame Imperishable, and it shall be at the heart of the world, and the World shall Be; and those of you that will may go into it...............
........thus it came to pass that of the Ainur some abode still with Iluvatar............but others, and among them many of the greatest and most fair, took their leave of Iluvatar and descended into it.
Although the Maiar were lesser in power to the Valar, they still had the ability to clad themselves in worldly raiment, to take form visible or invisible in the eyes of the Eldar. Many of the Maiar never left the confines of The Timeless
Halls, though many did, and when they did they left their spirit form behind. Whereas some such as
Balrogs were dreadful, twisted forms,
evil to behold and clad in wrath and malice. So too I fear was Ungoliant; she was dressed in lust and greed. When she is first discussed in the passage quoted by
Harad, there is no definition of form, simply that she was. Only after her pursuit from
Orome and her fleeing South. Long she lay unheeded, slowly venturing towards the light of the
Undying Lands....
for she hungered for light and hated it
In a ravine she lived, and took shape as a spider of monstrous form, weaving her black webs in the clefts of the
mountains
This was a development of her form, one she must have changed and eventually created for herself, but unlikely the form she originally held, for her lust, insatiable hunger and evil wove her form into what we accept as a huge spider. Only a Maiar could have had this ability, to create a form for itself. Yet it is known that she was powerful, even enough to almost destroy Melkor himself save the intervention of his Balrogs, which in my opinion makes her a Maiar, once counted great among the Ainur.
Well, that's my reasoning and I am throwing it open for debate.
