Gollum or Golem

[Mithalwen]

Originally Posted by Boromir88

Anyway, onto Golems...I think the Orcs would fit much better under 'golems.' They were slaves (and called ant-like) under the domination of Morgoth and Sauron. In Tolkien's earliest writings Morgoth made the Orcs out of rocks and clay (very golem-esque)...though he would scrap that idea. Still I think the Orcs are the best fit. And even the Orcs had a free will, though it seemed to be a rare occurance...the Orcs could beg and plead for mercy, and Shagrat and Gorbag's conversation is quite revealing towards the ability of Orcs to have a free will.

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Coincidentally I read something in Shippey's "Road to Middle Earth" which suggests something rather like this as a solution to the "problem of orcs" which Tolkien didn't quite grasp despite having gathered the pieces.

As for Golems - I came across a short story called The Golem in an anthology while researching my dissertation. I pounced on it because of the Tolkien links (it wasn't too relevant to my main man Maupassant ...) and was naturally somewaht disappointed to find that despite being genuinely creepy it had no evident connection to the slinking Smeagol.

I do think it interesting though that Smaug's name has a similar meaning to Smeagol though from Old German smugen (squeeze through a hole)...

Since Gollum could not bear the touch of anything elvish I doubt that he would have worn any clothing they may have provided him with in captivity after his escape, unless his original clothes were peculiarly durable he must have either stolen some or gone naked. Both are possible - many observers think him some kind of animal which seems less likely if he were clothed however the woodmen's reports make it possible that he stole some clothes from them which raises the interesting psychology of Gollum being motivated to cover his nakedness even when he was slipping "through windows to find cradles".... of course he could just have been cold....

However having gone to the Lord of the Rings exhibition and been confronted with the nether regions of a loincloth free troll (at eye level too..), I am grateful for the small mercy and remarkable staying power of Gollum's hanky and piece of string.....