Overview
Gollum is simultaneously the most pitiable and most dangerous figure in the tale. Tolkien uses him to argue that mercy is never wasted: Frodo’s pity is what allows the Ring’s destruction to happen at all.
Biography
Sméagol of the Stoors
Sméagol was a hobbit-like Stoor who took the One Ring from his cousin Déagol after Déagol found it in the Gladden River, and murdered him for it.
Gollum
The Ring stretched his life across centuries and twisted him. He dwelled beneath the Misty Mountains until Bilbo’s riddles won the Ring from him.
The long years
Gollum pursued the Ring, was captured and tormented in Mordor, and then followed the Fellowship. Frodo tamed him into a guide, while Sam never trusted him.
The Cracks of Doom
At the end he attacked Frodo on the slopes of Mount Doom and fell with the Ring into the fire, unintentionally completing the quest.
Arc & development
Character
Personality
- Splintered
- Cunning
- Pitiable
- Deceitful
- Obsessed
- To regain the Ring
- A fading wish for friendship, corrupted
Abilities & limits
Strengths
- Ring-sharpened senses
- Climbing and hiding
- A long, stretched life
Limitations
- Cannot master the Ring’s pull
- Physically weak
- Incapable of peace with himself
Relationships
Places
LocationMoria
The greatest Dwarven city, delved beneath the Misty Mountains, abandoned after the awakening of a Balrog.
LocationIthilien
The fair land between the Anduin and the Mountains of Shadow, contested by Gondor and Mordor.
LocationMordor
Sauron’s realm behind the Mountains of Shadow, ringed by the Ephel Dúath and Ered Lithui.
In the histories
Artifacts
Appearances
hobbit
“Riddles in the Dark”
The Two TowersThe guide through the Dead Marshes and Ithilien
The Return of the KingCirith Ungol and Mount Doom
In adaptation
Adaptation note
- Andy Serkis’s performance expands Gollum’s internal dialogue and gives the split personality a vivid external form.
Quotations
“We wants it, we needs it. Must have the precious.”
— The Lord of the Rings (a recurring motif of Gollum’s speech)
Sources
The Hobbit · 1937
Published in Tolkien’s lifetime. The primary narrative of Bilbo’s journey.
The Lord of the Rings · 1954–55
Three volumes: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, The Return of the King.
Related entries
CharacterFrodo Baggins
The hobbit of the Shire who carried the One Ring across Middle-earth to Mount Doom and destroyed it.
CharacterSamwise Gamgee
Frodo’s loyal gardener and companion, who carried him — and, briefly, the Ring — to the end of the quest.
CharacterBilbo Baggins
A respectable Shire hobbit who is swept into the quest of Erebor and becomes the first hobbit to bear the One Ring.
CharacterSauron
A Maia and former lieutenant of Morgoth, forger of the One Ring and the central antagonist of The Lord of the Rings.