Like Gandalf said, Gollum’s life was a sad story. When Frodo reminds Gollum of his previous name—Sméagol—he has a very sad and sympathy-inducing look on his face. Gollum has actually forgotten his name because of how long it’s been since anyone called him that. In fact, by the time of the events in The Lord of the Rings, Gollum was over 500 years old. There is some confusion among fans of what type of creature Gollum actually is, but Sméagol was indeed a Hobbit. He was one of the Stoors.
RELATED: LOTR: Every Character That Put On The Ring
The Stoors were also referred to as river-folk, and they were great fishermen. Gollum was one of these river-folk. But how did Sméagol make the transition into Gollum? On Sméagol’s birthday, he and his cousin Déagol went fishing in Gladden Fields. When Déagol was pulled out of their boat by a large fish, he discovered the Ring slightly buried in the Earth of the riverbed. Immediately, both Hobbits were captivated by the Ring. Because it was Sméagol’s birthday, he tried to get Déagol to hand over the Ring by demanding it as a birthday gift. When Déagol refused, the two Hobbits had an altercation where Sméagol choked Déagol—killing him and claiming the Ring. Sméagol then became the fourth Ring-bearer (after Sauron, Isildur, and Déagol).
Sméagol had been living with his grandmother, but when his people discovered what he had done, they banished him. Sméagol’s grandmother threw him out, and the other Stoors called him a murderer. Sméagol had no choice but to run away and find shelter in a cave in the Misty Mountains. It isn’t explained in the books exactly how Sméagol became the monstrous figure of Gollum, but it does say the Ring’s influence on Sméagol’s mind was so strong, it also twisted and deformed his body over time. The Ring extended Sméagol’s life far beyond the normal life expectancy of a Hobbit, and because Sméagol was an outcast with no friends or family left, he sort of went crazy living underground and isolated.
At first, Sméagol called the Ring his precious, but he later referred to it as his “birthday present.” As a way to cope with what he had done, Sméagol continued to think of the Ring as his birthday present to forget what he had done to Déagol. Deep in the Misty Mountains, Sméagol dwelt for over four hundred years. As shown in The Return of the King, Sméagol lived on raw fish, but he also ate other creatures like bats. Because of this new diet, Sméagol eventually came to hate “normal” food like Elf or Hobbit food.
Living underground without contact with anyone or without sunlight, Sméagol became sickly. He would produce a gurgling cough almost like he was choking. The sound of the cough was what led to him being known as Gollum. Being in the possession of the Ring for so long and without any socialization, Sméagol developed dissociative identity disorder or a “split” personality. Sméagol was of course the good side, and Gollum was the person who lived within Sméagol—causing him to have evil thoughts. Gollum would also not allow anyone to take his precious away from him, and would kill anyone who tried to. In The Lord of the Rings, Gollum refers to himself as “we” because the Ring (or his Gollum persona) would not allow Sméagol to think for himself. Gandalf says Gollum both loves and hates himself, and the Ring truly was a curse on Sméagol’s life making him hate everything he had become.
The Ring eventually abandoned Gollum and fell into the hands of Bilbo Baggins, who was lost in the caves. The two played a game of a series of riddles in agreement that if Bilbo won, Gollum would show him the way out, but if Gollum won, he would murder Bilbo. Bilbo asked, “what have I got in my pocket?” Gollum at this point didn’t realize his precious was lost, but when he discovered the Ring was gone, he went after Bilbo—who had discovered the Ring’s invisibility side effect. Bilbo took pity on Gollum, for he really was a sad creature, and he did not kill him but instead snuck away from Gollum using the Ring. Gollum cursed the Baggins’ name, saying “curse it and crush it! We hates it forever” while referring to Bilbo as a thief.
Gollum eventually left the caves to go after Bilbo, but instead discovered the Stairs of Cirith Ungol and Shelob (the giant spider). When he survived his encounter with Shelob, he was captured by Orcs and tortured until he revealed where the Ring was. In The Lord of the Rings, there is no sadder story than that of Sméagol’s transition into Gollum and loss of his free will.
MORE: LOTR: Where Do The Characters Go When They Put On The Ring?
