It is listed as a deer in most newer copies of The Hobbit. I beleive that the black river they were crossing was a stream that came down from Dol Guldur, which was on a hill explaining why a stream would be formed. The deer, maybe, was a guardian to keep travellers from crossing. It seems pretty likely that if that was the case, it was an evil deer. It doesnt seem very elvish to guard their path with a deer that tries to hurt people.
Just what I think. But it was definitely not Orome in any case. [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]
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Son of Isildur.
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