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.

Below is a list of various items and monsters that are inspired in part or in whole by J.R.R. Tolkien and his works.

Tolkien-inspired beings

• Monsters:
  • h Hobbit
  • The various orcs (including goblins) and elves
  • W barrow wight
  • W Nazgûl
  • & balrog
  • @ Dark One
• Deities:
  • Elbereth
• Defunct monsters:
  • @ Earendil and Elwing
  • @ high-elf

Tolkien-inspired items

• lembas wafer
• cram ration
• mithril items
  • mithril-coats
• crystal ball
• Artifacts:
  • Sting
  • Orcrist
• Defunct features:
  • The Arkenstone
  • The Palantir of Westernesse

Tolkien-inspired locations

• Defunct features:
  • Elf quest

Tolkien-inspired features by variant

SLASH'EM

• Monsters:
  • s Shelob
• Artifacts:
  • The Arkenstone

dNetHack

• Monsters:
  • D Smaug
  • & Durin's Bane
  • & Lungorthin
  • ; Watcher in the Water
    • ; swarm of snaking tentacles
    • w long sinuous tentacle
• Items:
  • The Arkenstone
  • The Palantir of Westernesse
  • Shard from Morgoth's Crown
• Locations:
  • Elvish Racial Quest
  • Mordor Ruins Quest

UnNetHack

• Monsters:
  • & Durin's Bane
  • ; Watcher in the Water
• Locations:
  • Ruins of Moria

xNetHack

• Q Quendi - the elves of vanilla NetHack are moved into this monster class