Attercop by Himring

Attercop

Beren felt his mind begin to fray. It had been difficult enough to maintain a degree of sanity fighting the encroachments of the Enemy as the sole survivor in Dorthonion, but there at least he had had the support of the dwindling number of friendly animals who remained his allies in that fight. In Nan Dungortheb, the battle against Unlight had been lost long ago.

Still, sane or no, he would not let that stop him. He would not let any overgrown spider bar his way, no matter how much malice it exuded.

‘Attercop, attercop, down you drop!’ he howled and charged.

Since that day, no spider has liked being called attercop. It has, they explain, unpleasant associations for them.

Chapter End Notes

As others have noted, "attercop" is simply an old word for a spider in English, especially for a venomous one. As spiders are presumably not ashamed of their venom, it becomes an insult in The Hobbit merely because Tolkien decided it was, and that suggests there could be an origin story for that.