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Dates
c. III 2440 - 25 March III 30191
Race
Hobbits
Division
Perhaps Stoors2
Settlements
Raised in a settlement by the Gladden River, Gollum later concealed himself beneath Goblin-town for centuries before emerging to seek his lost 'Precious'
Pronunciation
go'llum
Meaning
Said to derive from the guttural swallowing noises this creature habitually made
Other names
Sméagol
Titles
Slinker, Stinker

Indexes:

About this entry:

  • Updated 11 September 2015
  • Updates planned: 1

Gollum

Wretched slave to the One Ring

Map of the journeys of Gollum

(White) (1) After coming into possession of the Ring, Gollum travels into the Misty Mountains, where he remains from about III 2470 until his encounter with Bilbo Baggins. (2) He follows Bilbo's trail to Dale. (3) Having lost the trail he returns to the Vales of Anduin and wanders for about thirty years, finding himself drawn southwards. (4) On the borders of Mordor, he is captured by Sauron.

(Yellow) (5) Released from Mordor, he is captured by Aragorn, who takes him north to the Woodland Realm (6). He escapes and flees southward through the Forest; hiding in Moria, he becomes trapped within the West-gate.

(Green) (7) The Company of the Ring enter Moria and Gollum follows them. Passing southward around Lórien he follows them down the Great River until challenged above Sarn Gebir (8). Frodo and Sam later encounter him in the Emyn Muil, and he leads them to Cirith Ungol (9) where he betrays them. (10) He appears at Mount Doom and falls to his death with the Ring.

(White) (1) After coming into possession of the Ring, Gollum travels into the Misty Mountains, where he remains from about III 2470 until his encounter with Bilbo Baggins. (2) He follows Bilbo's trail to Dale. (3) Having lost the trail he returns to the Vales of Anduin and wanders for about thirty years, finding himself drawn southwards. (4) On the borders of Mordor, he is captured by Sauron.

(Yellow) (5) Released from Mordor, he is captured by Aragorn, who takes him north to the Woodland Realm (6). He escapes and flees southward through the Forest; hiding in Moria, he becomes trapped within the West-gate.

(Green) (7) The Company of the Ring enter Moria and Gollum follows them. Passing southward around Lórien he follows them down the Great River until challenged above Sarn Gebir (8). Frodo and Sam later encounter him in the Emyn Muil, and he leads them to Cirith Ungol (9) where he betrays them. (10) He appears at Mount Doom and falls to his death with the Ring.

Originally a creature of Hobbit-kind, who lived under the influence of the One Ring. When his friend Déagol found the Ring in the river Anduin (where Isildur had lost it more than two millennia before) Gollum murdered Déagol and stole the Ring. Coming under its power, he hid away in the Misty Mountains, and was drawn into the events at the end of the Third Age when he encountered Bilbo Baggins and lost his Magic Ring.


Notes

1

Gollum first appears in the Tale of Years in 'about' III 2463, when he murders his friend Déagol and steals the Ring. The birthdate of III 2440 given here is an estimate based on the assumption that Sméagol/Gollum would have been about twenty-five years old at this date. His long lifespan of almost 600 years is of course far longer than a Hobbit would normally live, and is due to the effects of the Ring.

2

Gollum's identification as a Stoor is based on Gandalf's words in The Lord of the Rings I 2 The Shadow of the Past, 'I guess they were of hobbit-kind, akin to the fathers of the fathers of the Stoors'. Gollum's people split from the other Stoors in the fifteenth century of the Third Age, when troubled times in Eriador led them to migrate back eastwards across the Misty Mountains, and settle on the banks of the Gladden River.

See also...

Anborn, Aragorn Elessar, Beetles, Black Hand, Black One, Company of the Ring, Dark Lord, Dead Tree, Déagol, Elvenking’s Halls, Elves of the Wood, Fire of Doom, Fish, Frogs, Gladden River, [See the full list...]

Indexes:

About this entry:

  • Updated 11 September 2015
  • Updates planned: 1

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