Gothmog as Pat

[Legate of Amon Lanc]

Originally Posted by radagastly

I voted for Gothmog as Nazgul. (which I suppose would also make him Man, of sorts). I know there is no evidence to either support or decry this view of him, but I have never imagined him as anything else in thirty years of reading/re-reading. I was actually surprised that anyone ever considered him to be anything else.

Really? Myself, I am actually surprised that someone even thought about him being a nazgul. Just wonderful! I mean, I love this plurality of opinions. Myself, when I saw the option "nazgul" in the poll, I thought: ah, interesting, but don't think anyone will go for it. From my point, I could say who I don't think he is. As I feel it, I cannot imagine Gothmog as:
simple "snaga" - this would certainly be quite embarassing
skurut-hai - well... maybe... but since he is too high-ranked, it would be very improbable. Certainly not that guy from the movie. No, never.
black númenorean - that's too high for him. Although after some thinking about it he might be something like that, from the first sight his name does not fit with it, I imagine something more "rough" than númenoreans (even black)
nazgul - as above. And anyway, Gothmog would hardly be his true name when he was still Man - but no one says nazgul keep their names when they fade out.
easterling - sucks
southron - sucks
variag of Khand - same as above
or whatever else of these men;
So it seems Gothmog is maybe troll - lol - probably olog-hai, or some hyperbrutal barbarian of far East beyond the maps of Middle-earth. If you ask what I imagined when reading that part where he is mentioned, I imagined just the rush of battle and some unspotted one Gothmog standing between thousands of Easterlings, Variags of Khand and black men of Far Harad. He's just Gothmog: he is what we is. Which brings me to...

Originally Posted by ninja91

For all we know, it could have been Tom Bombadil in disguise.

Talking about that, I'd consider him something like Tom Bombadil for the dark side. See: certainly powerful and mighty person (as Bombadil is in the terms of those who look at him without more deeper thoughts about who he is), not mentioned before and not mentioned after, but considerable for the course of the events.