SOURCE: "The Mewlips" by J. R. R. Tolkien (The Adventures of Tom Bombadil, 1961)

DESCRIPTION:"Over the Merlock Mountains a long and weary way,/In a mouldy valley where the trees are grey,/By a dark pool's borders without wind or tide,/Moonless and sunless, the Mewlips hide." ("The Mewlips" by J. R. R. Tolkien)

NOTES: Tolkien never describes the monsters themselves only the dreary place they live. He does let us know what the mewlips intend to do: drown us, feed on us and keep our bones in a sack.

HISTORY: Tolkien's inspiration may have come from old legends about us faery creatures as Jenny Greenteeth or similar evil water spirits. This poem has always stuck with me becvause it is really the only horror poem he wrote.

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