So here’s the thing. I am a giant Tolkien nerd. I mean it’s not as though I can read Elvish or recite the lineage of Númenorian kings, but I know the ancient language of the Elves is called Quenya and I understand why Aragorn was such a big deal. Anyway, ever since my mother first read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy to me as a child, I have been utterly fascinated with J.R.R. Tolkien’s densely layered fantasy world filled with his meticulously crafted cultures and histories.
I also absolutely love Peter Jackson’s movie adaptations, a fact that probably hurts my Tolkien nerd cred a little bit. Sure, I wish Jackson had included Radagast the Brown and the Scourging of the Shire, but I also feel that he produced a cinematic masterpiece like nothing else I’ve seen in my lifetime. And the things he got right FAR outweigh the things he got wrong.
All of which brings us to the topic of today’s Movie Week post: the Watcher in the Water from Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (New Line Cinema, 2001).
The Watcher is a multi-tentacled beast that lurks at the bottom of a fetid lake on the edge of the western gate of Moria–the ancient realm of the Dwarves. It appears in one memorable scene about half way through the movie. (On the Extended Edition DVD, you can find it on disc 2, scene 33: “Moria.” ) The Fellowship, having failed to travel over the mountains, reluctantly decide their only remaining option is to go through the mines, but they are stymied by the Doors of Durin. While Gandalf tries in vain to puzzle it out, Hobbits Merry and Pippin attempt to amuse themselves by throwing stones into the lake, but Aragorn stops them with the warning “Do not disturb the water!” A smart guy, that Aragorn…
When smarty-pants Frodo figures out the riddle before Gandalf does, they both fail to notice that the rest of their party is getting increasingly nervous about disturbances in the water. Entering the cave, they quickly realize that they are surrounded by the corpses of slain Dwarves, and everyone starts to lose their shit. But before they can mount a full-scale retreat, a tentacle grabs Frodo and pulls him toward the lake. The ever dependable Sam hacks the tentacle loose, and it slithers back into the water. But then all hell breaks loose. Frodo is hoisted into the air, and we see the horrible visage of the Watcher for the first time. Aragorn and Boromir hack at its tentacles while Legolas shoots arrows into its face. They manage to rescue Frodo and keep the beast at bay long enough to retreat back into the cave. The last we see of the Watcher, it lunges up onto the shore and tears down the stone doors and much of the entry passage, blocking the way out. The Fellowship now has no choice but to proceed through the “long dark of Moria.”
With a few minor exceptions, this scene is fairly close to the original text, although it has been expanded for dramatic effect. (You can read it for yourself in The Fellowship of the Ring, Book II, Chapter IV: “A Journey In the Dark”). The Watcher in the Water is one of the few denizens of Middle-earth about which Tolkien says very little. Its tentacles are described as “pale green and luminous and wet” as well as “fingered.” It has a foul stench. When Frodo asks Gandalf if it was one creature or many (more than 20 tentacles had emerged from the water, but no more of the creature was seen), the Wizard replies, “I do not know, but the arms were all guided by one purpose. Something has crept, or has been driven out of the dark waters under the mountains. There are older and fouler things than Orcs in the deep places of the world.”
So what type of creature is the Watcher? In A Tolkien Bestiary (Gramercy Books, 1979), David Day refers to it as a Kraken (although this is not a term Tolkien ever used) and speculates that it was the remnant of beings spawned by the evil god Melkor in the ancient past. Many artistic renderings over the years depict it as a monstrous octopus or squid. Peter Jackson’s version is clearly cephalopod-inspired (conceptual drawings show several versions of a very octopus-like Watcher), but its toothed maw and three-fingered tentacles place it firmly in the realm of fantasy.
The Watcher in the Water also appeared in Ralph Bakshi’s animated film J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings (Universal Artists, 1979). I’ve only seen part of this movie (ages ago), and all I really remember are the strange rotoscoped live action sequences.
Lastly, I want to direct your attention to Amazon’s Omnivoracious blog, where guest blogger China Miéville (one of my favorite contemporary fantasy authors—I’m currently reading The City & The City, and it is amazing!) mentions the Watcher in the Water in his list of Five Reasons Tolkien Rocks.
Born in Providence, Rhode Island on August 20, 1890, Howard Philips Lovecraft would come to be considered one of the most influential American horror authors of the 20th century
