Gollum

And when he said 'gollum' he made a horrible swallowing noise in his throat. That is how he got his name, though he always called himself 'my precious.'

Gollum, also known as Sméagol, was a creature (originally a Stoorish Hobbit) who bore the One Ring. He lived in the Misty Mountains for most of his life. In T.A. 2941 he lost the Ring to Bilbo Baggins. For the rest of his life he sought to recover his "precious" "birthday present". In T.A. 3019 he followed the Fellowship of the Ring and met Frodo Baggins. After leading Frodo into Mordor and betraying him to Shelob he finally seized the Ring in Sammath Naur. In his euphoria he died and destroyed the Ring after falling into the fires of Mount Doom.

Characteristics

Appearance

Sméagol was a Hobbit, but he spent long centuries in darkness and damp, influenced by the power of the Ring. It is possible that thanks to his hardy Hobbitish nature that he was not reduced to a wraith. However, he was reduced to a small, extremely thin and wiry person, with scrawny neck, pale skin, flat feet, long thin hands with clammy fingers, and large pale or green eyes that seemed to glow. His sense of sight, as well as his hearing and smelling, was very good, due to the time he spent underground.

He could move and climb silently like a spider, and although he had only six teeth left, he could give deep bites, even able to bite off Frodo's finger.

Personality

Sméagol was quick and strong, the most inquisitive and curious-minded of his community. He was interested in roots and beginnings. He owed his name to his interest in roots and deep pools; he dove, burrowed and tunnelled under trees, plants, and mounds. He tended to neglect anything that was higher, like the flowers, the trees and looking at the hills.

During his centuries of loneliness and under the Ring's influence, he seems to have developed something similar to a personality disorder: his "Gollum" personality was a slave to the Ring and would kill for it, overwhelming his former self, who still vaguely remembered things like friendship and love. Not having anyone else to speak to, he often quarreled with himself. Gollum both loved and hated the Ring and himself. He often referred both to the Ring and himself as "my Precious", perhaps confusing the two entities.

Years later, Samwise Gamgee would give two nickname to Gollum. Originally, Sam used the name Slinker to refer to Gollum's slinking around before they had captured him. He then came to use Slinker and Stinker to refer to the two contrasting sides of Gollum's personality, caused by possession of the One Ring for so long. Slinker was the fawning, desperate, and eager-to-please, "Sméagol" side demeanour; and Stinker was the plotting and sinister "Gollum" side of him. When he first came into the service of Frodo Baggins his Slinker side was more prominent but the closer they got to the Black Gate the more the Stinker side started to take over and Slinker became more like Stinker and Sam started using the name to generally refer to Gollum.

Other aspects of the Ring's corruption was the aversion to all living creatures, especially the Elves and all things Elven. The Elven rope burnt his skin, and lembas tasted like dust to him and choked him.

Sméagol, as a Hobbit, was perhaps good at heart, but he was relatively greedy and mean. Bilbo was corrupted far more slowly by the Ring because his adventures with it began with an act of mercy, while Gollum began his with murder.