# Gollum's appearance



## Laurelin (Jan 13, 2004)

_*While re-reading The Hobbit recently, one line in "Riddles in the Dark" caught my attention. Amid Tolkien's description of Gollum is the following line: "He was a Gollum - as dark as darkness, except for two big round pale eyes in his thin face."
To me, this implies that Gollum's skin is a deep black, which is apparently not the case. I suppose Tolkien could be referring to Gollum's character, spirit, or personality as dark, rather than his appearance. However, if that were the case, I would think the phrasing would be different. Describing Gollum "as dark as darkness" and then immediately contrasting that statement with "except for two big round pale eyes" reinforces the perception that Tolkien is providing a physical, and not metaphorical, description.
Could it have been that this description, written before The Lord of the Rings, was Tolkien's original conception of Gollum, which he later changed? I know that he went back and re-wrote a portion of "Riddles in the Dark" to bring it more in line with The Lord of the Rings, and I have read the original, though I don't believe this specific portion of the chapter was ever changed. 
Was it, perhaps, over-looked? Maybe I am just interpreting the sentence incorrectly. Has anyone else noticed this?*_


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## arisen pheonix (Jan 13, 2004)

im not sure....living underground his skin would have become pale and transparent in reality......perhaps he was just really really dirty?


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## Laurelin (Jan 13, 2004)

*Dirty with all that water around?*

_*I agree that his skin should be rather pale and transparent, what with his dwelling in darkness so deep under the earth for such a long period of time. That's why I found the description to be so odd and unbefitting.
As for his being "really, really dirty," I suppose that is a possibility. However, he lived on an island in the middle of a lake and was always fishing and paddling around in his boat, and I think it would be difficult for him to stay too dirty when he was always in and around water.*_


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## Gamil Zirak (Jan 13, 2004)

I would think that being in a deep dark cave would mean that everything would be dark save the eyes witch capture small glipses of light.


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## arisen pheonix (Jan 13, 2004)

good point...bilbo could have percieved him to be dark because only his eyes reflected the light...gollum as a cave dwelling creature would have avoided the light kindly provided by sting...but his eyes would have been luminous..rather like a cats


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## Gildor (Jan 13, 2004)

I agree that it may be more of a description of what the reader would see if he or she were looking at Gollum, though the way its worded does indeed lend the idea that he is black himself. 

Most of the glimpses we see of Gollum's origins come from the riddle game, so maybe Tolkien's idea for Gollum to be a corrupted Hobbit came more after the fact and was revised with the later changes. Someone who has or remembers the original version may be able to shed more light on it.


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## Lantarion (Jan 13, 2004)

Gamil Zirak said:


> I would think that being in a deep dark cave would mean that everything would be dark save the eyes witch capture small glipses of light.


Exactly; it was a physcial reference, but only in a photosensitive way.


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## Two_Trees (Jan 14, 2004)

The avatar of my eye looks like Gollum when he was in the dark caves.


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## Úlairi (Jan 16, 2004)

He's also swimming in what is likely to be stagnant water, however, he is supplied with fish and the lake must therefore be a part of a watercourse, but, being an underground lake, it never evaporates. Yuk!


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## Morgan LeFay (Jan 17, 2004)

Hi, it's my first post on this forum!

Well, I had different vision of the characters after reading "The hobbit" and Lotr.
I.e. Gandalf was described to be "the small wizard", but I don't remember him to be one in Lotr. As far as I remember there was no single word said about Elrond to be an elf. Gollum, as you said, was describe to be "dark" (well, there was dark in the cave, but always).
I don't remember more. Maybe Tolkien changed his visions during writing?


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## Starflower (Jan 18, 2004)

Morgan LeFay said:


> Hi, it's my first post on this forum!
> 
> Well, I had different vision of the characters after reading "The hobbit" and Lotr.
> I.e. Gandalf was described to be "the small wizard", but I don't remember him to be one in Lotr. As far as I remember there was no single word said about Elrond to be an elf. Gollum, as you said, was describe to be "dark" (well, there was dark in the cave, but always).
> I don't remember more. Maybe Tolkien changed his visions during writing?



welcome to the Forum Morgan LeFay !

In the Hobbit Elrond is described as 'Half-Elven', so that means he is part elvish. And where does it say Gandalf was 'the small wizard' ? Here's what my Hobbit says :"All that the unsuspecting Bilbo saw that morning was an old man with a staff. He had a tall pointed blue hat, a long grey cloak, a silver scarf over which his long white beard hung down below his waist, and immense black boots."


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## Morgan LeFay (Jan 18, 2004)

I'm very sorry. I haven't read Tolkien works in original, only in translation into my language. That's why I had bad vision about some characters. Our translator put a word "small", when it's only "an old man", not "a small old man". Sorry again.
I think I should read The Hobbit in english


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## Starflower (Jan 18, 2004)

don't be sorry, not everyone is an expert, that is why we have this forum, sothose who know can share their knowledge. May I ask what is your first language? Would it be difficult for you to obtain and read the Hobbit in English ?


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## Morgan LeFay (Jan 18, 2004)

My first language is Polish, but I wouldn't have big problem with reading The Hobbit in English if only I could get the book. I have LotR on my bookshelf, but I decided to read it first in Polish, and then try to do it in original. I'm not that brave, you know  .


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## Starflower (Jan 18, 2004)

it is good to read the works in English, especially since many of the words Tolkien used were invented by him. And it is difficult to translate words that dont exist in a dictionary into another language.


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