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Fellbeasts are giant, vicious flying creatures found in J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy novel, The Lord of the Rings. They also appeared in Peter Jackson's Middle-earth film series in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, appearing in the films The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.
The Witch-King of Angmar and the other Nazgûl rode these creatures during the War of the Ring.
Appearance
The fell beasts were described as large, winged creatures without feathers, similar to dragons that they could almost be mistaken for one. Its pinions were in between horned fingers; and its body gave off a stench. Fellbeasts resembled dragons but were large winged creatures that were bred by the Dark Lord Sauron for war purposes.
For the movie version, fell beasts are depicted as more Wyverns (dragon-like and serpentine creatures that walk on two legs), i.e. their heads appear more like a snake's and they don't have beaks, leading to the common misconception that they are dragons in the books; Tolkien definitely meant a pterosaur-like creature.
History
The Lord of the Rings
After losing their horses, the regrouped Nazgul were given fellbeasts as the new steed, which give them more ground in their search for One Ring. One of the Ringwraiths then came close in locating the Fellowship of the Ring while they camping at the western shore of the river Anduin, at which they describe his steed as "a great winged creature, blacker than the pits in the night." However, both he and his ride were driven away by an arrow fired from Legolas with his great bow of Lórien, resulting the beast to let out "a harsh croaking scream" as they vanished into the gloom of the Eastern shore.
The Two Towers
Frodo, Sam and Gollum encountered a fellbeast while passing through the Dead Marshes, wherein Gollum referred to the beasts as "wraiths on wings".