A typical barghest.
About time I resurrected this relic of a category, eh? I’ve been playing a bit more as of late and my interest in the creatures of LotRO has been rekindled. One creature that has caught my eye was the barghest. You’ll likely first run into these beasts in the Barrow-downs, although different varieties roam most of the areas that follow.
Interestingly, there doesn’t appear to be any mention of the barghest in Tolkien’s writings. From what I can gather, Turbine included the creature based upon other fiction and folk–lore that seemed applicable. Barghests are an English creation; given that much of the Lord of the Rings pulls from similar sources, I think this was a pretty informed choice. Wikipedia has an entry on the creature with the following details:
Barghest, Bargtjest, Bo-guest, Bargest or Barguest is the name often given in the north of England, especially in Yorkshire, to a legendary monstrous black dog with huge teeth and claws, though in other cases the name can refer to a ghost or Household elf, especially in Northumberland and Durham (see Cauld Lad of Hylton). One is said to frequent a remote gorge named Troller’s Gill.
There is also a story of a Barghest entering the city of York occasionally, where, according to legend, it preys on lone travellers in the city’s narrow Snickelways. Whitby is also associated with the spectre. A famous Barghest was said to live near Darlington who was said to take the form of a headless man (who would vanish in flames), a headless lady, a white cat, a dog, rabbit and black dog. Another was said to live in an “uncannie-looking” dale between Darlington and Houghton, near Throstlenest.
Barghests are rendered in game as a sort of large, wild dog. They come in different colors and patterns, although all are similar. Barghests can’t take any additional forms in LotRO, but I suppose their natural form is hideous enough.
Battling a super powerful rabbit might be interesting though.
