Gollum: Stinker and Slinker
The eyes, chico, they never lie.
Book Four of The Two Towers is action packed. An adventure where the unlikeliest people pair together for a seemingly common goal. Gollum, a character already introduced in the first book of the series, finally has a chance to speak and reveal his true character.
In the book, there is an immediate dislike for Gollum from Sam’s perspective (Frodo, however, seems to have matured and changed his mind about Gollum).
With this dislike, Sam decides to keep a watchful eye (no pun intended) on Gollum. In one moment, Sam awakes to Gollum having a conversation with himself debating stealing the Ring.
Gollum was talking to himself. Sméagol was holding a debate with some other thought that used the same voice but made it squeak and hiss. A pale light and a green light alternated in his eyes as he spoke (Tolkien 632).
A green and a pale light? Okay, so obviously there are two consciousness within Gollum. But why these colors? Well, it is common knowledge that green is associated with envy, one of the seven deadly sins. But what exactly does envy mean?
Envy is a painful or resentful awareness of an advantage enjoyed by another joined with a desire to possess the same advantage (Merriam-Webster).
If one character is in pain throughout the novel, it is the character of Gollum. He is in a constant battle within himself. His whole physique changed because of the Ring. The way his body is described is quite painful as well:
A small black shape was moving with its thing limbs splayed out. Maybe its soft clinging hands and toes were finding crevices as holds that no hobbit could ever have seen or used, but it looked as if it was just creeping down on sticky pads, like some large prowling thing of insect-kind. . . Now and against it lifted its head slowly, turning it right back on its long skinny neck, the hobbits caught a glimpse of two small pale gleaming lights, its eyes that blinked at the moon for a moment and then were quickly lidded again (Tolkien 613).
Again, Gollum’s eyes are mentioned. It seems that he is possessed by some type of envy that continues to control him. Potentially has controlled him from the moment he saw the Ring.
Knowing that Gollum has two entities (?) within him, Sam dons on him two different names: Slinker and Stinker. At first I read this and just laughed. It’s just Sam being Sam. However, I became more bothered by these names. Why did he choose them specifically? Well, it’s time for another etymology dive.
Slinker. There is an icelandic term SlÃkr that literally means man (Icelandic Dictionary). Slinker is the one, from this definition, with the pale eyes.
Stinker. While I could not find an icelandic term that correlates to Stinker (other than literally meaning stinky), the word stinker is found deriving from Old English—stincan—meaning a mean, paltry fellow (Etymology Dictionary). Paltry, for those who may not know, means inferior or small, both of which Gollum is portrayed as. Stinker is the one, from this definition, with the green eyes (the eyes of envy).
From this, we can assume that Tolkien knew the two entities within Gollum are both man (Sméagol) and a vicious, envious character (Gollum).
It is very interesting to see how Tolkien utilizes the eyes and color to signify the two different meanings that Sam uses when referring to his enemy, Gollum. Gollum is a very tortured character indeed.
I hope my tangent made sense and that you enjoyed the ride! If there are other histories of the words Stinker and Slinker, please let me know.
I loved your deep dives into this especially with including the Old English and Icelandic terms. Also, the expression of colors in terms of what they represent is a nice touch and very fitting for Gollum. I truly admire Tolkien's choice to physically prove that there are two entities inside of one small body. To me, it is similar to verbal art (both Sméagol and Gollum having a conversation) vs visual art (the different eye colors) and how the different art forms allow for similar or different interpretations (aka what Frodo, Sam, and others thought about them if they cared to listen or look hard enough).
I should've known these nicknames where more "jokes" with language. This is classic Tolkien stuff, only he would find two words that have dual meanings, one in modern language, one in ancient, but they both describe different aspects of the same character. I'm glad you brought this to my attention, otherwise I would've never realized. Great job as always!