Underdeeps

From Realms of Arda

Jump to: navigation, search


Type: Subearth Realm
Names: (Q. "Nuinkénbúli"1; S. "Nudevyn"2)
Location: Utter Edges

Contents

Short Description

"Far, far below the deepest delvings..." (LotRIII)

3Beneath the continents of Arda there exists another realm of life, little spoken of and little known, and only occasionally a factor in the affairs of the sun-lit surface. These are the Underdeeps, a half-legendary world of caverns and fungi and blind, gnawing creatures, dating back to the creation of the world and the evil manipulations of Morgoth.

Detailed Description

"There are strange things living in the pools and lakes in the hearts of mountains: fish whose fathers swam in, goodness only knows how many years ago, and never swam out again, while their eyes grew bigger and bigger and bigger from trying to see in the blackness; also there are other things more slimy than fish. Even in the tunnels and caves the goblins have made for themselves there are other things living unbeknown to them that have sneaked in from outside to lie up in the dark. Some of these caves, too, go back in their beginnings to ages before the goblins, who only widened them and joined them up with passages, and the original owners are still there in odd corners, slinking and nosing about." ( The Hobbit.pp. 78-9)


"Yet the lies that Melkor, the mighty and accursed, Morgoth Bauglir, the Power of Terror and of Hate, sowed in the hearts of Elves and Men are a seed that does not die and cannot be destroyed; and ever anon it sprouts anew, and will bear dark fruit unto the latest days." — Sil, p. 255

The Bowels of Endor

4Unbeknownst to most folk, much of Middle-earth lies beneath the surface of the ground. This broad, subterranean frontier is largely unexplored. Even the greatest of the familiar caves — Moria included — are little more than foyers to these "bowels of Endor." The Deeps merely suggest the nature and breadth of the world below.

The Dwarves of Moria differentiate the Under-deeps from the Deeps for two reasons: depth and origin. First, the Under-deeps lie well below the lowest reaches of Khazad-dûm. Second, the Under-deeps are exclusively volcanic in nature. Created by streams of molten rock and expanded by geothermal eruptions of super-hot gas, they are a combination of natural and supernatural forces. The hand of Melkor joined what was once a collection of countless, sundered cavern complexes.

Morgoth's Legacy

"The cry of Morgoth in that hour was the greatest and most dreadful that was ever heard in the northern world; the mountains shook, and the earth trembled, and rocks were riven asunder. Deep in forgotten places that cry was heard. Far beneath the rained halls of Angband, in vaults to which the Valar in the haste of their assault had not descended, Balrogs lurked still, awaiting ever the return of their Lord; and now swiftly they arose, ..." (Silmarillion: Of the Flight of the Noldor)


Morgoth forged the Under-deeps during the "Spring of Arda," before the birth of the Sun and the Moon, when Endor was illuminated by the light of the Two Lamps. This maze of tunnels and chambers reached out of Utumno and extended (east-west) the length of the Iron Mountains. Principal north-south passages cut beneath the Hithaeglir in the West and the Orocarni in the East. Additional "roads" (see the Under-roads) joined these passages at major junctions, the greatest of which lay beneath the caverns at sites like Thangorodrim, Gundabad, Moria, and Aglarond.

Although Endor changed during the Elder Days, especially after the War of Wrath, the core of the Under-deeps survive. Morgoth's subterranean legacy still serves dark purposes. At various points it houses lairs for foul monsters, roads for evil armies, and timeless prisons for the lost denizens of a bygone time. Now, though, travel between the ancient underground sites is difficult, if not impossible, for all but the greatest (and luckiest) explorers.

3While the energies that drive life in the upper world are derived from the lights of heaven, most particularly the sun, the cycles of life in the Underdeeps are dependent, for the most part, on the remaining Essence left in the deep Earth by the original Song of Creation. Morgoth, who hated the lanterns the Valar made to light the world, tried to make the Underdeeps part of his domain, and many of his creatures and monsters still live there. These beings and the other life-forms of the Underdeeps are alien to the inhabitants of the surface and men who encounter them are typically in great danger. Miners whose diggings have accidentally broken into caverns or crevices of the Underdeeps typically discover the mistake when a miner is burned by a fuzzy stain on a rock wall, blinded by a burst of spores, or slain by some peculiar crawling horror that seems to be whispering terrible names as it drags the softer parts of the body back into the crevice from which it came.

Understandably, people seal off or abandon any mine or cave so invaded. The Dwarves, who are somewhat tougher and have long experience in these matters, use fire and skillfully laid traps and stonework to protect their passages and works from the uglier denizens of the netherworld. The Goblins use methods similar to those of the Dwarves, but they also encourage the penetration of some forms of Underdeep life into their dwellings. If the creature involved is not unmanageable, it is one more way of ensuring that the Men they prey on in the night will not follow them down into the deeper darkness of their homes.

The Peoples and the Underdeeps

Hobbits and Men (and most Elves), who keep their dwellings and mines shallow and near to light and green grass, avoid the Underdeeps. Dwarves and Goblins, most of whom prefer to dwell far beneath the earth, deal with the higher levels of the netherworld routinely and consider it a dependable source of food, herbs, and raw materials.

Flora

Plants of the Underdeeps include fungi, molds, slimes, and similar things that are capable of growing and living without light. Mushrooms large enough to feed whole families and strong enough to cut for timber are found beneath Khazad-dûm and Goblin-gate, as well as in the Orc-warrens behind Carn Dûm. Less spectacular growths are found in the caverns beneath Creb Durga in Cardolan, and some periodically infect the deeper mines of the North Downs of Arthedain.

Fauna

Animals of the Underdeeps include variations on beasts found in the surface world, such as bats, rats, and crawling insects, as well as altered creatures, such as blind fish and white, eyeless snakes. Grotesqueries spawned by Morgoth at the beginning of time and evil also appear; Kraken, Cave Drakes, and slithering, eyeless things that sense life magically and drain it with a cold touch.

Gazetteer

Note: Surface site, when present, is given in parenthesis.

See also

Characters of Note

Adventures


References

Retrieved from "http://www.kingtape.se/realmsofarda/index.php?title=Underdeeps"