Fell beast
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In J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, the fell beast was a gigantic flying pterosaur-like creature on which the Witch-king of Angmar, Lord of the Nazgûl, rode during the Battle of the Pelennor Fields.
In book V, chapter 6 "The Battle of the Pelennor Fields" in The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien describes it thus:
- "[...] it was a winged creature: if bird, then greater than all other birds, and it was naked, and neither quill nor feather did it bear, and its vast pinions were as webs of hide between horned fingers; and it stank. A creature of an older world maybe it was [...]"
The fell beast attacked and eventually killed Snowmane, King Théoden's horse. The horse fell on Théoden and crushed him. Dernhelm (who revealed herself as Éowyn) defended the dying Théoden, and challenged and killed the beast.
Tolkien actually only used the name "fell beast" as a descriptor and not an actual name. However, since this creature lacked any real name, "fell beast" is often used to refer to it.
In Peter Jackson's trilogy of movies based on The Lord of the Rings, all the Nazgûl are shown as riding fell beasts after their horses were lost at the Ford of Bruinen. They are depicted as more dragon-like and serpentine creatures, i.e. their heads appear more like a snake's and they don't have beaks.
Although on screen the films never make this mistake, sometimes actors on the commentary tracks refer to the fell beast as a Nazgûl; this is incorrect. The fell beast is a creature that the nine Nazgûl ride, and the mistake probably arose because fell beasts are always seen with a Nazgûl atop them.fi:Siivekkäät pedot