Wild Wolves

A rare name used to describe the ferocious and intelligent wolves more usually known as Wargs. Found in the valleys on the eastern slopes of the Misty Mountains, these beasts had their own language and culture, and allied themselves with the Goblins who occupied the nearby mountains.

In the year III 2941, some of these Wild Wolves joined with the Orcs of the Misty Mountains in a quest for revenge against the slayers of the Great Goblin, who had been killed by Gandalf and the Dwarves who followed Thorin. These Goblins and Wargs eventually made their way eastward to the distant Lonely Mountain, where they fought in the Battle of Five Armies and suffered a devastating defeat.

Nearly eighty years later, a pack of Wild Wolves made a westward journey, crossing the Misty Mountains into the empty land that had once been Eregion. There, they stalked and attacked the Company of the Ring, but once again they were driven off by their quarry, who ultimately escaped into the Mines of Moria.

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There is perhaps some doubt over whether the phrase 'Wild Wolves' was intended by Tolkien as a name equivalent to Wargs. It only occurs in a single instance in The Hobbit, describing the wolves' involvement in the Battle of Five Armies, but even that reference is only fully capitalised in some later editions of the book. The phrase also appears a handful of times in The Lord of the Rings, where it is never capitalised, but in all those cases it is applied specifically to Wargs rather than wolves in general. On that basis, at least some connection seems to be intended, though whether 'Wild Wolves' is a meant as direct synonym for 'Wargs' remains open to question.