I am, in fact, alive! I have not forsaken you!
There is an interesting quote from Gandalf in the Mines of Moria that I would like to address:
“Far, far below the deepest delving of the Dwarves, the world is gnawed by nameless things. Even Sauron knows them not. They are older than he. Now I have walked there, but I will bring no report to darken the light of day.“
Well, Sauron is a Maia, one of the Ainur who came to Arda at the beginning of the world. There is but one who is older than he, and that is Eru Illuvatar himself, AKA God. So, how can there be nameless things in Arda that are older than the oldest being in Arda?!?!
Well, the answer is, nobody knows. But since when has that stopped us? In Riddles of the Dark, some such creatures were described to be ‘slimier than fish’, but there is no distinct or obvious connection here. But yet again, since when has that stopped us?
Some of you may recall the strange Sea Beast in the Amazon production, in the episode where Galadriel met Halbrand. The ship from Numenor saved them from it, but what was it? It was, in fact, a nameless thing, but was it Gandalf’s nameless thing?
It seems the Balrog knew these tunnels very well, but it also seemed that they were empty. Is it possible that such being died out before the coming of the Children of Illuvatar? What could these things be?
Well, I know I’ve given more questions than answers, but I guess this can join Tom Bombadil on the Unanswerable Questions list. Food for thought. Give me your ideas in the comments