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tolkiens legendarium - Does Shelob have a human form?


I watched a trailer for Shadow of War this morning and in it we see a human woman who, it turns out, is Shelob. I've only read the LOTR trilogy and, as far as I recall, we never see her appear as a human.


Do we ever see Shelob take human form in any other work by Tolkien? The Silmarillion maybe? Can she even do that?



Is this just for the benefit of the game?



Answer



The idea behind the creators of the game with Shelob's human form was:



  1. Because a talking spider would've been strange,

  2. They had Shelob interact with Sauron and assume she was this divine god-like spirit that was equal to Sauron,

  3. To "weave the fate" of Thalion in the same way Galadriel guided Frodo, and to do that as a spider would be confusing..


This is all covered in this video interview1 with the VP as well as the actress for Shelob.


Although they claim to have read to works, and have looked into the works, they have still taken liberties with the character. As is well known in the games, the majority of it is non-canon with many non-canon portrayals of characters and creatures. This was taken further with Shelob as they wanted to have this mythical character that is believed to weave the fate of Middle-earth as it is their opinion that (para-phrased) "Shelob is to thank for the destruction of the Ring"



Onto why Shelob can't take human form. As established in this answer here that Shelob is not a Maia but at best something similar to the spirits called to Middle-earth by Yavanna or Manwë. Neither of which are able to take human form. Shelob therefore, canonically, cannot take human form


Another reason why this form of Shelob is just a bunch of mumbo-jumbo, Shelob is not a force for good, her only intention is to live in the darkness and eat. She has no intention of helping the good and captured Frodo purely for eating purposes. Her role in the books is another obstacle for Frodo to have to get past and a way to show Sam as a hero of sorts.


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