If you are like just about every person on the planet you have this great sculpture in your office or den. We all got them when we bought the first set of DVDs for The Fellowship of the Ring. Anyway, this got me thinking of all the versions of the “nasty little stinker” before the film. Unfortunately, JRR never drew him first. Tolkien was a good self-taught artist but he preferred the landscapes of his world to the characters.
So which one is your perfect Gollum? Is it the Brothers Hildebrandt’s calendar art from the 1970s?
Is it one of the animated versions, either Rankin-Bass or Ralph Bakshi?
Perhaps it is the comic version by David Wenzel?
If you are film fan, then maybe Alan Lee’s wonderful design work for the Peter Jackson movies?
Maybe you are a gamer and you prefer Gollum in lead?
Or a kid and you are very lucky to have him in Lego?
No matter which version you like the best, Gollum will always be one of the great villains because he is evil but also relatable. We can see his pain, his downward spiral. We fear and pity in equal measure. As Gandalf predicted: “Do not be too eager to deal out death in judgment. Even the very wise can not see all ends. My heart tells me that Gollum has some part to play yet, for good or ill…”
My favorite is the Frank Frazetta’s painting from 1973. Just so you know…
Love all of them