“Wraiths on wings!” Recently I rewatched The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings movies and that line by Gollum stuck in my head. Both Robert E. Howard and J. R. R. Tolkien had their winged monsters, though not all were baddies. (I have left out dragons on purpose. They deserve their own gallery.) The Ring Wraiths on their fell beasts:
The great shadow descended like a falling cloud. And behold! it was a winged creature: if bird, then greater than all other birds, and it was naked, and neither quill nor feather did it bear, and its vast pinions were as webs of hide between horned fingers; and it stank. A creature of an older world maybe it was, whose kind, lingering in forgotten mountains cold beneath the Moon, outstayed their day, and in hideous eyrie bred this last untimely brood, apt to evil. And the Dark Lord took it, and nursed it with fell meats, until it grew beyond the measure of all other things that fly; and he gave it to his servant to be his steed. Down, down it came, and then, folding its fingered webs, it gave a croaking cry, and settled upon the body of Snowmane, digging in its claws, stooping its long naked neck.
Howard had at least three: the winged man in “The Garden of Fear”, the harpies of “Wings in the Night” and my favorite, the winged ape in “Queen of the Black Coast”:
With fearful speed it was rushing upon him, and in that instant Conan had only a confused impression of a gigantic man-like shape hurtling along on bowed and stunted legs; of huge hairy arms outstretching misshapen black-nailed paws; of a malformed head, in whose broad face the only features recognizable as such were a pair of blood-red eyes. It was a thing neither man, beast, nor devil, imbued with characteristics subhuman as well as characteristics superhuman.
The result of these two giants of heroic fantasy liking the winged monster has resulted in most Sword & Sorcery and epic fantasy (you choose which labels you like) having plenty of winged monsters. They fall into distinct groups:
The Winged Warrior
These attackers are usually human in form with the added power of flight. Popular in the Science fantasy of Planet Stories, comic strips like Flash Gordon and the works of Edgar Rice Burroughs.
Winged Terrors
This is the largest and oldest group, including everything from harpies, to giant bats to demons. It’s ugly and it flies and it wants to kill you.
Fell Mounts
Sometimes the terrible beast can be tamed and used as a mount. Wraiths on wings, the Nazghuls and their fell beasts are iconic. Others include pterodactyls, winged horses and giant bats. Again, I left out the dragon riders.
Eagles
“The Eagles are coming!” Another famous line from The Lord of the Rings. The eagles always were Tolkien’s deus ex machina for a good ending. I’ve heard more than one grumpy fan ask, why didn’t Frodo just fly to Mount Doom on an eagle and get it over with quick? I’ve included other giant birds like hawks and owls here.
What struck me was: here is a fantasy scenario that has no real counterpart in history. Men have fought battles with swords and arrows for centuries, but until the invention of balloons and airplanes, aerial assailants weren’t a real threat. I suppose a knight could send his eagle or hawk to attack an opponent but the cost to such valuable animals would hardly be worth it. Tales of Harpies, the Roc, angels and demons, were just that, fantasy attackers who came from the sky. Wraiths on wings! Writers could dream of such terrible foes and add a dream quality that Tolkien and Howard certainly wanted as well.
