A Hobbit of Stoor-kind who lived on the banks of the Anduin in the later Third Age. His friend Déagol came upon the One Ring, but Sméagol murdered Déagol and took the Ring. He was eventually exiled by his people, and crept into the roots of the Misty Mountains, where he became the creature of the dark better known as Gollum.
Notes
1 |
Sméagol's date of birth is nowhere given explicitly. The date of III 2440 is an estimate based on his acquiring the Ring in about III 2463, when he was evidently still quite young and childish, in Hobbit terms. |
2 |
The name Sméagol name derives from Old English, and in that language the vowel combination éa was a diphthong, pronounced approximately like 'ai' or 'ay' in modern English. So, strictly speaking, the name should be pronounced as if it were spelt 'Smaigol' or 'Smaygol', but the alternative pronunciation as 'Smeegol' is rather more natural to speakers of modern English, and is also very common.
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See also...
Aragost, Déagol, Gladden River, Gollum, Gollum’s Ring, Isildur, Ring of the Enemy, Ring-bearers, River Anduin, Slinker, Smials, Stinker, Tale of the Ring, The Ring, Trahald, [See the full list...]Window on the West
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About this entry:
- Updated 21 July 2002
- Updates planned: 12
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