Idle 'Runaway Bride' thought

[kangeiko]

This occured to me when I was watching, but then I promptly forgot it.

The Rachna (Arachnae? I couldn't hear them properly...) were 'born hungry', and are spider-people. Isn't that The Silmarillion's Ungoliant, one of whose spider-babies would later almost eat Frodo? Is this a deliberate reference, or is there some actual myth that both were based upon? As far as I know, the Arachnae myth had nothing to do with hunger, and everything to do with vanity...

I leave that to the Tolkein-knowledgeable amongst you.

Comments

[not-a-mouse.livejournal.com]

not sure the Ungoliant were born hungry. They were nasty beasties tho. I think there probably are spider myths... more on that later..

[kangeiko]

not sure the Ungoliant were born hungry.

See, that's the one thing I am sure of - they made a big deal of it, how it wasn't really her fault that she ate the trees and the light and everything, 'cause she was born that way. My knowledge of spider myths, however, is sketchy. hand over the details, or the bunny gets it. *squeak*

[selenak.livejournal.com]

I was thinking "Shelob" as well when she said that.

Re: Arachne the myth: vanity, hm, depends. I remember reading Ovid for the first time and discovering that I got the bowlderized version of the myth as a kid (where Arachne loses the contest with the goddess, can't stand it, and Athena punishes her), because the Ovidian version was just the other way around (Arachne wins, Athena can't stand it, destroys the work which depicts misbehaviour by the gods, Arachne, indignant over this injustice, hangs herself, and Athena changes her from dying woman into a spider to make up for her injustice).

[kangeiko]

I got the first version too - maybe it came from a different source? Hmmmm. *ponders*