The Garthim

"Then the Skeksis made the Garthim from the memories of sea creatures in their first world, quickened by the light of the Dark Crystal, though the skill of skekTek the Scientist, the power of skekUng the Garthim-Master. The strength of the Garthim was unbelievable, their stupidity incalculable. Their sole purpose was to destroy all they found. The Gelfling understood this and lived in fear of them; the Pod People never understood this, never realized thay had any connection with the castle from which no Pod slaves returned to tell their story."

"As soon as the Garthim appeared, the creatures of the World turned against them. Foremost among the enemies of the Garthim were the Landstriders, beasts of swift passage for the Gelfling that allowed themselves to be tamed to be ridden and subjected to the will of their rider. Destruction of the Garthim became their fiercest joy; their speed, their slashing blows, would leave a Garthim crippled before it knew it had been attacked."

"But not even the Landstriders could prevail against the multitudinous strength of the Garthim guided by the pitiless intelligence of the Skeksis. They bred the Crystal Bats to carry lenses of artificial crystal that sent images of all they saw back to the Crystal in the Skeksis' castle. At first the bats flew only in the dark, after the manner of their kind; but the Skeksis bred from the bolder and hardier strains, till no corner of the World was unknown to them. And when the Skeksis could direct the Garthim with their all-seeing crystal eyes, they made an end to the Gelfling."

The Skeksis Crystal Bats
The beasts that carried the spying crystals through the air werexahgniathanor, "skin-singed night-fliers"; "crystal bats" is a convenient approxiamation.

Text from The World of the Dark Crystal by Brian Froud,
Henson Organization Publishing/Alfred A. Knopf, New York 1982
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