The Encyclopedia of Arda - Ants (original) (raw)

Location Known to the Shire-hobbits, and presumably widespread Species More than 20,000 species in the family Formicidae Meaning From Old English æmette (of which the modern form emmet is very occasionally seen), ultimately from an ancient root meaning 'biter' or 'cutter' Indexes: Alphabetical: A Animals and Plants About this entry: Updated 30 January 2020 This entry is complete

Tiny insects that form large communal colonies under the rule of a single queen. Though Tolkien doesn't mention them directly, we can deduce their presence in Middle-earth from the fact that Merry discusses them briefly with Pippin on one occasion. Tolkien uses their qualities freely in similes throughout The Lord of the Rings, especially in reference to the Orcs of Mordor, whose military organisation and aggression are referred to several times as being ant-like. At one point Sauron is compared to an ant queen, with his Orcs acting as soldiers and workers just as the queen's in her colony. Indexes: Alphabetical: A Animals and Plants About this entry: Updated 30 January 2020 This entry is complete For acknowledgements and references, see the Disclaimer & Bibliography page. Original content © copyright Mark Fisher 2003, 2020. All rights reserved. For conditions of reuse, see the Site FAQ. Website services kindly sponsored by Discus from Axiom Software Ltd.A Discus profile report contains more than sixty pages of detailed and relevant information - explore our library of sample DISC reports.