
THE CREBAIN (1954)
SOURCE: The Fellowship of the Ring by J. R. R. Tolkien (1954)
DESCRIPTION:"Sam thought they were a kind of crow of large size. as they passed overhead, in so dense a throng that their shadow followed them darkly over the ground below, one harsh croak was heard." (The Fellowship o the Ring by J. R. R. Tolkien)
NOTES: The Crebain of Fangorn and Dunland are servants of Saruman, acting as his spies.
HISTORY: The crebain are interesting because like the wargs and the oliphants they are the only evil animals in the story. Tolkien generally makes all of nature on the side of Gandalf and the ringbearers. Fred Saberhagen uses a similar idea in Empire of the East except the birds were small pterodactyls.