Watcher in the Water

The Watcher in the Water is a scary fictional creature that supposedly lived in a stagnant lake near the West gate of Moria. According to J. R. R. Tolkien, the author of The Lord of the Rings series, Moria was a dark and still lake which came into existence after a dam formed on river Sirannon. As the years went by, the dam expanded – it became deeper and bigger. This meant that a lot of amenities hot affected. The most significant remnant of the gullying is The High Road connecting Khazad-dûm to Ost-in-Edhil. The damming occurred many years in the Second Age. Regardless, some people believe that Watcher in the Water makes the dam himself.

History depicts that the origin of the Watcher is underneath Moria. The Gandalf was sure about the Watcher such that he would call the creature old and foul, more than the Orcs. When the Dwarves tried to recolonize Moria, the Watcher killed Óin after they came to soy on the place using the West Gate. Upon reaching the lake, members of the Fellowship started feeling the presence of an evil being.

It was at this time that Boromir threw a stone into the water. The Watcher got irked and attacked Frodo immediately after Gandalf opened the gates and let the Fellowship in. In defense of his ally, Sam wielded a sword at the Watcher and injured it. The creature then let go of Frodo, also known as the Hobbit. Gandalf then commanded the Fellowship to run further into the gates to avoid the anger of the Watcher. Filled with rage, the Watcher went after the Fellowship. Its massive tentacles brought down trees, boulders, and the gate itself. As a result, Gandalf and his Fellowship had nowhere to run to – they were trapped in the darkness of Moria.

In his works, Tolkien referred to this creature as 'the Watcher in the Water', or sometimes 'the Watcher'. The encounter between the Fellowship and the Watcher first appeared in The Return of the Shadow. Here, Tolkien described the creature the same way he discusses it on other books in The Lord of the Rings series.

In a painting drawn in 1894, Ary Renan compared the Fellowship's passage past the Watcher and entry into Moria to Odysseus' passage through Scylla and Charybdis whirlpool. Because Tolkien left many questions unanswered about this creator, some have taken it upon themselves to try to explain its origins. David Day, the author of Tolkien: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, called it 'the great Kraken', a beast from Scandinavian folklore. In The Complete Tolkien Companion, J. E. A. Tyler compares the Watcher to dragons. He based his argument on the fact that the creature used its strength and speed to attack its enemies, a characteristic of dragons. According to Allison Harl, an essay writer, the Watcher is a Kraken that hailed and grew up in Morgoth in Utumno. He further explains that it served a gatekeeper whose only job was to prevent heroes from entering into its realm, both physically and spiritually. Other writers like Bill Moyers and Joseph Campbell have backed this theory. Similar to Ary Renan, English scholar Charles Huttar compared the encounter between the Fellowship and the Watcher in the Water to the Greek mythology where Odysseus had to deal with the devouring Scylla and Charybdis whirlpool. Jonathan Walter depicts the Watcher in the Water as a many-tentacled creature. Using the description given by Gandalf, he notes that Moria had an abundance of nameless things unknown even to Sauron and the Watcher fell under that category.

The Watcher in the Water appears several times on the rendition of The Fellowship of the Ring by Peter Jackson. [1] In one scene, Meriadoc Brandybuck and Peregrin Took disturb the creature by throwing rocks into the Water, and Gandalf was trying to figure out a way to get into Moria. This is different from what is in the novel, where it is Boromir that throws the stone. In either case, by the Gandalf figures out the password, the Watcher is already angry and attacks Frodo. This was despite attempts by Samwise Gamgee to defend Frodo. It took the intervention of the Fellowship to save him. Although Tolkien described the Watcher as a creature with 21 tentacles, only 12 are visible in the movie. This is because it was impossible to create video effects to render all the 21 limbs.

In The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age, [2] the Watcher in the Water is the first adversary that the Berethor party faces. After a fierce battle, Berethor finds a way into Moria. They later fight for a second time where they kill the Watcher for good.

In this title published by Electronic Arts, players use the Watcher as a power in The Goblins and Isengard. [3] The creature attacks its enemies by smacking them using tentacles. It later eats them to replenish its energy.

At the start of this game, players enter Moria where they create a unique character and weapons. Before this, there is a short prologue with the player standing at the walls of Moria. Here, you receive a legendary weapon that you use to slash the Watcher until it retreats and allows you to enter Moria. In one of the playable instances, you can kill the Watcher and receive one of the most valued and rarest trophies. However, it takes either a large group of players or advanced gamers to achieve this feat. It is worth noting that the killing of the Watcher in the Water remains a mystery because it is never confirmed in the books. [4]

In this video game, the Watcher has a similar role to that in the films. However, the encounter with the Fellowship has some additional events to make gameplay more enjoyable.

1. ^The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001).
2. ^The Lord of the Rings, The Third Age.
3. ^The Lord of the Rings, The Battle for Middle-earth II.
4. ^The Lord of the Rings Online™.