Gollum, the Enigmatic Frog

“I don’t know where he came from, nor who or what he was.” 

If Bilbo can be compared (at least by trolls and such) to a clever rabbit, Gollum is a wicked little frog.  Though many people – understandably – are fascinated by his more complex portrayal in The Lord of the Rings, I think I actually prefer Gollum as the nasty, enigmatic creature in The Hobbit.  During the riddle game, Gollum thinks of “all the things he kept in his own pockets: fish-bones, goblins’ teeth, wet shells, a bit of bat-wing, a sharp stone to sharpen his fangs on, and other nasty things.”

There is something fascinating about a petty little creature without a history that possesses a great Ring of Power.  As a fallen hobbit, Gollum is a tragic figure.  As an evil frog-thing, he is something less nuanced but more exotic – almost a weak and corrupted version of Tom Bombadil's incarnation of natural energies, a slimy paddler in the dark and nameless pools of the mountains, a gurgle of malice gnawing at the stone heart of the world.

Image: Nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis (purple frog), by Karthickbala

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Nasikabatrachus_sahyadrensis.jpg