Eru Ilúvatar
Nelson writes that there is equally historical precedent for wicked guides, such as Edmund Spenser's "evil palmers" in "The Faerie Queene", and suggests that Gollum functions as an evil guide, contrasted with Gandalf, in "Lord of the Rings". He notes, too, that both Gollum and Gandalf are servants of The One, Eru Ilúvatar, in the struggle against the forces of darkness, and "ironically" all of them, good and bad, are necessary to the success of the quest.