Ungoliant is the giant spider Shelob’s mother in J.R.R. Tolkien’s mythology.
Ungoliant appears in The Silmarillion as a powerful, primeval being allied temporarily with Melkor, later called Morgoth. She helps him destroy the Two Trees of Valinor and then consumes the light stored in the jewels known as the Silmarils. Her insatiable hunger eventually turns her against Morgoth.
Shelob, encountered by Frodo and Sam in The Two Towers, is described as a descendant of Ungoliant. Tolkien does not present Shelob as an ordinary animal; she belongs to a supernatural lineage of monstrous spiders connected to the darker histories of Middle-earth.
Ungoliant and Shelob are often confused because both are enormous spider-like creatures. Ungoliant is the older mythological figure and is associated with the First Age, whereas Shelob lives in the mountains above Mordor during the Third Age.