What are the Nameless Things below Moria?

“Far, far below the deepest delving of the Dwarves, the world is gnawed by nameless things. Even Sauron knows them not. They are older than he. Now I have walked there, but I will bring no report to darken the light of day. In that despair my enemy was my only hope (…)"

This is all that Gandalf will tell of the horrors he encountered after falling after the Balrog, into the deepest depths beneath Moria. With this mysterious statement, Gandalf manages to spark in us our curiosity and the first embers of a great fascination with the most mysterious beings in all of Arda.
But what were these monstrosities? Where did they come from and how powerful are they?

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[SignumInterriti]

I know Gandalf probarbly just followed the Balrog to find a way out, but I love the idea that the two Maia, who were enemies but also knew each other literally forever, teamed up for a moment to fight their way out of the depths against the nameless things.

[secla_SC]

My interpretation of these Nameless Things is simply that they were so grotesque that just looking at them traumatized Gandalf, and so in that moment of despair he mentions, the Balrog was the only semblance of the world he knew.

[gauthamramesh]

Just imagine this.

An author like JRR Tolkien who can give anything or anyone an amazing cool name with great significance and meaning behind it chose to name those things in the deep places of the world as “Nameless”

Tolkien could have given them a kickass name but he chose not to. It’s because the fear of the unknown is the biggest fear there is.

[Uulfinn]

I think Ungoliant was one of these creatures. She seems to predate the valar and maiar entering Arda. She has no loyalty for Morgoth. She begins as a shapeless darkness before taking a form similar to a spider. Morgoth and Sauron are characterized by their desire for order and mechanization. The nameless things are chaos and have no order.

[Clonetrooper]

Makes you wonder what would the Dwarves have unleashed if they kept digging downward.

[khylerbane]

“The greatest emotion is fear, and the greatest fear of man is the fear of the unknown.”
-H.P. Lovecraft.
I’m paraphrasing, but that line is what comes to mind when I think of, read about, or hear about the Nameless Things.

[jamesw]

People forget that Tolkein was really good at writing horror when it did rarely appear in the legendarium.

[wrathshorts]

Speak not of the nameless things.
For to speak of them, is to try to know them.
This grants their attention.
And they will try to know you.

[thegingergrasshopper]

I feel the second theory is the better one.
If Tolkein, in his finished work, had just a couple sentences that only give a simple glimpse that something so powerful exists, Gandalf specifically mentions that he had to rely on a Balrog to escape there grasp. It would be reasonable to believe they were created out of the clash of the creation music, have no master but themselves, and thus would attack both Gandalf and the Balrog.

UncleFester84s comment would also make sense for the second theory. Ungolianth only had an agreement with Melkor and upon devouring the two trees of Valinor, she turned her eyes on his power. It took every Balrog in Arda to fight her back and let Melkor escape.

[UncleFester]

I'm pretty convinced both Ungolianth and the Watcher in the Water are of the same "specie" of the Nameless things. The former is especially interesting because of her it is said that she arrived on the world when Melkor for the first time looked on Arda with envy, which makes me believe that she might be an incarnation of envy itself, and by definition therefore... insatiable.
The other Nameless things could also be the incarnation of emotions and feelings that came during the building of Arda, if not at the time of the Music itself. As such they would be older than Sauron in that they arrived on the world before he entered it.

[gheathen]

Before time, before everything there was nothing. Before nothing there were monsters....

[sakemp]

The Balrog knew his way around down there and no Nameless Ones challenged him. He was down there slumped up for thousands of years. He or she or it wasn't bothered at all. As far as the Nameless ones, directly makes me think of H.P. Lovecraft

[richardthiede]

I've always felt that they were mindless beasts that existed in the void. That they were neither good or evil, just primodial.

[nickmedley]

Tolkien's attention to detail is extraordinary.

[richardsanchez]

I think Tolkien did a great job of adding an element of mystery and depth to the already amazing and mysterious world he created. In a way he left it up to us to imagine something that only we could come up with. Each one of us takes what we know about middle Earth and our interpretations of it and we come up with an idea of what these nameless things could be. Tolkien sort of gives us the ability to create or add to the lore of middle Earth ourselves. In essence we can write the story along with him. We can go on this journey together and it's lets us immerse ourselves even more into this amazing world we have grown to love.

[Galimeer]

I guess it's lucky the dwarves only ended up awakening a balrog

[mm]

The nameless things, I suspect, are "older than Sauron"... in the sense that they predate his KNOWLEDGE. They were in/under middle Earth before he left the undying lands. Possibly like Bombadil, they are an emergent expression of that deep under-realm.

[Mabon-sznz]

If the nameless things were actually created when the discord of Melkor corrupting the songs of Eru Illuvatar and the Aiunar and they entered Arda at that time, then Tom Bombadil also during the concord of the Ainur could also have been created and entered Arda, which would explain that he is the oldest good being and has no father. Can you delve into 'that' theory? Excellent video btw.

[jeremy]

Moria in general is just the most terrifying thing about LOTR to me, even more so than he likes of Sauron or Shelob. So, guess I have a brand new thing to fear them for 😅

[tomcarney]

The Nameless Things were older than Sauron because the concepts of Age and Time only exist in Ea. Even though Sauron helped sing the music that brought them into being, he did so from within the Timeless Halls. The Nameless things existed in the world and began to age before Sauron and the other Maiar and Valar descended into it.