Posted: March 20, 1999 at 20:16:20: by Goodgulf
: : Re-reading book 4 of LotR recently I found myself wondering about Gollum. In the journey through the dead marshes he is described as being pale and white. When the Hobbits meet Faramir, he is described (by one of Faramir's troops I think) as "an ill-favoured black fellow" or something similar. There are a number of other contradictory descriptions, if memory serves.: : Most illustrations show him as having brown skin but as a Hobbit (albeit one 'twisted' by bearing the One Ring for 900 or so years) I would presume that he had white skin to start with. He avoids the light so he wouldn't have a tan. : : Can anybody add any more information? : Hmmm, if he would have been white, he would have been far more easily spotted in the dark.
: Maybe, but this is really a daring hypothesis, he had chameleon-like abilities?
: Doc Described as being pale due to the years of living in darkness under the mountain, he was also a creature of filthy habits. If he was later described as being "dark" skinned, I would ascribe it more to dirt and mud than to pigmentation. In various illustrations he appears to be brown, grey, green...you name it. One item not mentioned is what effect the ring may have had. Perhaps he had finally started to fade, thus making him very difficult to see in the dark.
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