The Encyclopedia of Arda - an interactive guide to the world of J.R.R. Tolkien
Location
Found across Middle-earth, from the Shire to Mordor and doubtless beyond
Species
Any of hundreds of thousands of species within the order Diptera
Meaning
From Old English fleoge1
Other names
Gnats are a type of fly, and small biting flies associated with wetland regions are known as 'midges' (from which Midgewater Marshes took their name)

Indexes:

About this entry:

  • Updated 26 May 2016
  • Updates planned: 1

Flies

Harbingers of decay

Tiresome aerial insects: those in Mordor were marked with the sign of the Red Eye.


Notes

1

Actually the Old English word fleoge was not as specific as modern English 'fly', and could be used to describe flying insects of any kind. We see remnants of this old usage in names like 'butterfly', a creature which is certainly not a fly in the modern sense, but nonetheless retains the '-fly' from its Old English name, buttorfleoge.

Indexes:

About this entry:

  • Updated 26 May 2016
  • Updates planned: 1

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