Shape Shifters

Shape Shifters refer to the creatures within Middle Earth that change their physical form at will. According to some folklore, they may shift into an animal or another guise through divine intervention or inherently superhuman ability. The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion illustrate some of these supernatural abilities that are often dismissed due to the lack of comprehensive explanation.

The Lord of the Ring series does not include the character of Sauron, but The Silmarillion portrays him as the Lord of Werewolves that can transform into a form of a werewolf or serpent. He shifts into the appearance of a werewolf when he fights with Huan.

As written in The Silmarillion:

“Therefore, he took upon himself the form of a werewolf and made himself the mightiest that had yet walked the world.”
“Then Sauron shifted shape from wolf to serpent, and from monster to his accustomed form, but he could not elude the grip of Huan without forsaking his body entirely.”

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It does not restrict Sauron from shifting to only one form.

The Valar are not limited to only one form. They can shift from one shape to another. They can be invisible or may dress themselves to make appearances of male or female beings. But most frequently, they prefer to shift into forms like the children of Illuvatar.

As stated on The Silmarillion: Ainulindale:

“Their shape comes of the knowledge of the visible world, rather than of the world itself; and they need it not, save only as we use raiment. Therefore, the Valar may walk, if they will, unclad, and then even the Eldar cannot perceive them, though they may be present. But when they desire to clothe themselves the Valar take upon them forms some as of male and some as female.”

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There are speculations that Maiar, who is the less powerful version of The Valar, has the same ability to shift their form. No facts point out that Maiar is different creatures from The Valar.

On The Silmarillion:

“With the Valar came other spirits whose being also began before the World, of the same order of the Valar but less degree.” Maiar and Sauron are delicate forms of The Valar. It explains why they have the power to transform their appearances.

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Beorn is a very mysterious character in Gandalf’s, The Hobbit. He lives solitary in his house near Carrock. Gandalf described him as a very great person who can change his skin at will. This skin-changing ability allows him to transform from being a man to a bear, and vice versa. In the novel The Hobbit, he plays as a great strong black-haired man during the day and a vast black bear at night. They provide insufficient facts about his origins, but the author recounts him in The Hobbit: Queer Lodgings as: “Some say he is a bear descended from the great and ancient bears of the mountains that lived there before the giants came. Others say that he is a man descended from the first men who lived before Smaug and the other dragons came into this part of the world, and before the goblins came into the hills out of the North. I cannot say, though I fancy the last is the true tale. He is not the person to ask questions of.” Beorn lives with intelligent animals such as horses and dogs. He also nurtures bees to grow bigger than hornets. These animals understand his language. The dogs can walk through their hind legs and lift objects using their front paws. It is not clear if these animals can skin-change as well, but they are eccentric kinds of animals.

Gandalf changes his appearance as a human or elf. He can also disguise himself as one elf or becomes invisible. They do not fully define his abilities, but there are some cues that his power carries some undefined limitations. In The Silmarillion, Tolkien says, “For though he loved the Elves, he walked among them unseen, or in a form as one of them.”

In Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit, Beorn is one of the shape-shifters that occupies the Misty Mountains before the orcs conquer them. Azog tortures and holds them captive for fun. Only Beorn escapes as a lone survivor.

These are the shape-shifters who live within the Middle Earth. Most of them have the power to transform their appearances into the form of animals or another creature. The misconception about shape-shifters is that werewolves in Arda are not one of them because it limits them to their natural forms. Different in some non-Lord of the Rings legends where werewolves can change into men.