SOURCE: The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien (1937)

DESCRIPTION:"...Then the great spider, who had been busy tying him up while he dozed, came from behind him and came at him. He could only see the thing's eyes, but he could feel its hairy legs as it struggled to wind its abonimable threads round and round him..." (The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien)

NOTES: The distinction needs to be made here about spider sizes. H. G. Wells wrote about killer spiders, tarantula sized monsters. Tolkien created the large spiders then the giant spider in Shelob in The Lord of the Rings. The large size spiders are probably the most intelligent, possessing a language and cooperative behavior. They live in Mirkwood Forest in Middle Earth.

HISTORY: Tolkien once explained his spider monsters may have been inspired by a spider that lived outside his window in South Africa as a child. He claimed to have no real aversion to spiders, unlike Robert E. Howard who hated snakes and often had snake monsters. The cartoon version of The Hobbit featured the nasty spiders but wasn't allowed to show Bilbo kill them. (Such crazy restrictions back in 1978!) Instead there was a stupid spiral effect with a dumb sound effect.

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