Bears

There were black and brown bears in considerable number on the island of Númenor during the Second Age. Like all the animals on the isle, they were friendly to Men. Though they did not like to be disturbed, living far from humans within mountainous or rocky areas, with the great black bears being mostly found within the Forostar. Yet they often came to visit houses and were given honey. While sometimes on rare occurrences, a Númenorean may be killed by bears or a "bad bear" would occasionally raid domesticated beehives, neither race considered these reasons to make war on the other. The strangest occurrence between the relations of Men and bears were the "bear-dances", which were curious dances put on by the bears, often black bears, for the delight and entertainment of Men, by whose instruction these bear-dances may have been improved upon. The most famous of the bear-dances was the Great Bear-dance of Tompollë, performed annually in the Forostar during autumn.

Great and ancient bears had lived within the Misty Mountains for some time. Though by the late Third Age, their number had diminished. Gandalf told Bilbo that Giants had taken up their homes in that mountain range. According to Gandalf, some believe that Beorn, a skin changer, was a black bear that was descended from them.

The Sindarin word for "bear" was graw. Early Noldorin had two words for bear: brôg and megli, with the variation meglivorn ("Black bear").

The Quenya word is given as morco, sharing a Root with brôg. In Common Eldarin is given as morokō and mor(o)kē ("she-bear").

Adûnaic also had its own terms, specifically urug in "common" gender singular ("bear", as a species/creature), the masculine singular urgû ("male bear") and the feminine singular urgî ("female bear", "she-bear").

In the earliest outlines of The Fall of Gondolin, Tuor was clad in the skins of bears. The sinews of bears were also used to make bowstring and harp strings.

Mr. Bliss

Mr. Bliss includes three mischievous bears Archie, Teddy and Bruno, who more resemble teddybears in Tolkien's drawings.

Letters from Father Christmas

Bears in Letters from Father Christmas include Polar Bears, most notably the North Polar Bear and his nephews Paksu and Valkotukka and the Cave Bears, including Mr Cave Bear and his sons and nephews.

2003: The Hobbit (2003 video game):
Beorn appears only in the shape of a black bear.

2006: The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth:
Bears appear as wildlife on the "Mirkwood" map.

2007: The Lord of the Rings Online:
Bears are found within many places of Middle-earth and range in size between that of a large dog to a small elephant. They are typically not aggressive, but will fight if a player threatens them. Players that are lore-masters are able to use a bear as a combat pet.

2012-14: The Hobbit (film series):
Beorn appears in the form of a brown bear within both the second and the third films.

1. Esta ficha se ha importado inicialmente de TolkienGateway.net el día 21/05/2026.