J.R.R. Tolkien

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (January 3, 1892 - September 2, 1973) was a professor and writer best known for his works of literature set in the world of Middle-Earth, with the most famous of them being The Lord of the Rings. Most games with fantasy content (if not all) draw some sort of inspiration from him. NetHack is no exception: some monsters, such as the hobbit, are drawn directly from Tolkien's works, or else from Dungeons & Dragons, which also drew heavily from him. Every player who has so much as engraved Elbereth owes him a debt of gratitude.

Tolkien-inspired beings

• Monsters:
  • The Dark One
  • Hobbit
  • The various elves, orcs and goblins
  • Barrow wight
  • Nazgûl
  • Balrog
• Deities:
  • Elbereth

SLASH'EM

• Shelob

Tolkien-inspired items

• Sting
• Orcrist
• lembas wafer
• cram ration
• mithril coat

SLASH'EM

• The Arkenstone (defunct feature in vanilla)

Tolkien-inspired locations

• Ruins of Moria (UnNetHack)