Lord of the Rings Why Frodos Phial of Galadriel Works Against Shelob

Lord of the Rings: Why Frodo’s Phial of Galadriel Works Against Shelob

In Lord of the Rings, Frodo & Sam ward off the giant spider Shelob with the Phial of Galadriel, but the creature has deeper history with this object.

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Lord of the Rings Why Frodos Phial of Galadriel Works Against Shelob

There’s a larger backstory behind Shelob and the Phial of Galadriel in The Lord of the Rings. At the beginning of Peter Jackson’s The Return of the King movie adaptation, the treacherous Gollum leads Frodo Baggins and his oddly dedicated gardener, Samwise Gamgee, into the lair of a giant spider known as Shelob. The Hobbits are hopelessly outmatched against this fell beast, but are able to buy themselves an opportunity to escape thanks to the Phial of Galadriel, the gift Frodo received in Lothlórien. As the light shines, it temporarily cripples Shelob into retreat, despite having no negative effects on Frodo and Sam.

The Lord of the Rings movies don’t explicitly delve into the mechanics of this light and why Shelob is so averse to it. To the casual observer, it might look like Shelob is simply light-sensitive due to having too many eyes or, at the very least, “Elven magic” is at play. Indeed, the power of the Phial of Galadriel is intentionally vague – a “light in the darkness” that hurts evil souls and aids the pure-hearted. But the light inside is actually far more special than The Lord of the Rings lets on, as it derives from two ancient trees that were precursors to the sun and moon of Arda.

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Shelob’s history is directly linked to these trees and, therefore, to the Phial of Galadriel. The spider was spawned from a far greater arachnid-shaped creature called Ungoliant, who conspired alongside Melkor, the master of Sauron. Ungoliant was an eater of light and as part of the alliance with Melkor, devoured the light of these two mythical trees almost entirely – a key contributing factor to the wars that would later take place in Middle-earth. This raises the question of why Shelob would be so averse to a light that her parent happily gobbled up and craved.

J.R.R. Tolkien never clarifies why Shelob can’t stand the Light of Eärendil’s Star inside the Phial, but some reasonable conclusions can be drawn from The Silmarillion. Ungoliant was a creature of pure darkness and immense power, but after fleeing to Middle-earth with Morgoth, began breeding with much lesser creatures. It follows that Shelob wouldn’t possess the same immense natural power as Ungoliant, especially since she might’ve merely been a distant descendant, rather than Ungoliant’s direct child. In this scenario, Ungoliant’s bloodline would’ve greatly diminished by the time Shelob was born. Furthermore, Ungoliant in the ancient days regularly munched on light even before feasting on the two trees. Shelob, on the other hand, dwells eternally in darkness, perhaps never seeing light until two Hobbits waved a particularly potent one in her face. Compared to her offspring, Ungoliant was more accustomed to the light of the world.

A recurring theme in The Lord of the Rings are characters whose greed manifests their own demise. This is seen with Gollum, Denethor and Fëanor, and also Ungoliant, who eventually became so hungry she cannibalized herself. It would fit this running motif if Shelob’s sensitivity to light came about because her ancestor ate all the brightness there was to find in that part of Arda – leaving only the Unlight she spews forth.

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This desperate hunger gives another clue as to why the Phial of Galadriel works on Shelob in The Lord of the Rings – she’s a carnivore. While Ungoliant was certainly no vegan, her main diet seems to have been light, but we know Shelob feasts primarily on flesh because she pursues Frodo and Sam. This adds credence to the idea that Shelob is a lesser, more animalistic creature than her predecessor. And since the light of the Silmaril inside the star glass is known to repel evil, Shelob’s biology leaves her prone to the Phial’s effects, even if Ungoliant might’ve treated the Hobbits’ weapon as a light snack.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/lord-rings-frodo-shelob-galadriel-light-meaning-books/

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