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{{Short description|Monster in Tolkien's fantasy series}}
{{About|the fictional character|the animated being from Jewish folklore|Golem |other uses}}
{{Redirect|Smeagol|the sea slug|Smeagol (gastropod)}}
{{good article}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2023}}
{{Infobox character
| name      = Gollum
<!--PLEASE DO NOT ADD FAN ART IMAGES HERE, WIKIPROJECT MIDDLE-EARTH DOES NOT USE THEM IN INFOBOXES, THANKS-->| gender = Male
| image     = File:Gollum at Wellington Airport.jpg
| caption   = Sculpture of Gollum catching fish at [[Wellington Airport]], New Zealand, 2013, to mark the release of ''[[The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey]]''<ref>{{cite news |last=Child |first=Ben |title=Hobbit release marked with giant Gollum sculpture at Wellington airport |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2012/oct/29/hobbit-release-gollum-sculpture-airport |access-date=19 June 2020 |newspaper=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref>
| series    = [[The Hobbit]] {{no italic|and}} [[The Lord of the Rings]]
| full_name = Sméagol
| race      = [[Hobbit]] ([[Stoor (Hobbit)|Stoor]] branch)
| lbl24     = Book(s)
| data24    = {{ubl|''[[The Hobbit]]'' (1937)|''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'' (1954–1955)|''[[Unfinished Tales]]'' (1980)}}
}}
'''Gollum''' is a [[Tolkien's monsters|monster]]<ref name="Nelson 2008"/> with a distinctive style of speech in [[J. R. R. Tolkien]]'s fantasy world of [[Middle-earth]]. He was introduced in the 1937 [[Fantasy (genre)|fantasy]] novel ''[[The Hobbit]]'', and became important in its sequel, ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]''. Gollum was a [[Stoor Hobbit]]<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1980|loc=Part Three, IV. "The Hunt for the Ring", p 353, note 9}}</ref><ref name="Letter 214" group=T>{{harvnb|Carpenter|2023|loc=#214 to A. C. Nunn, c. late 1958-early 1959 "remigration of the Stoors ... Deagol-Smeagol incident" }}</ref> of the River-folk who lived near the [[Gladden Fields]]. In ''The Lord of the Rings'', it is stated that he was originally known as '''Sméagol''', <!--in BE, no extra words needed here-->corrupted by the [[One Ring]], and later named Gollum after his habit of making "a horrible swallowing noise in his throat".<ref name="Riddles in the Dark" group=T/>

Sméagol obtained the Ring by murdering his relative [[Déagol]], who found it in the [[River Anduin]]. Gollum referred to the Ring as "my precious" or "precious", and it extended his life far beyond natural limits. Centuries of the Ring's influence twisted Gollum's body and mind, and, by the time of the novels, he "loved and hated [the Ring], as he loved and hated himself."<ref name="Shadow of the Past" group=T/> Throughout the story, Gollum was torn between his lust for the Ring and his desire to be free of it. [[Bilbo Baggins]] found the Ring and took it for his own, and Gollum afterwards pursued it for the rest of his life. Gollum finally seized the Ring from [[Frodo Baggins]] at the Cracks of Doom in [[Mount Doom]] in [[Mordor]], but he fell into the fires of the volcano, where both he and the Ring were destroyed.

Commentators<!--listed and cited in body of article--> have described Gollum as a psychological [[Shadow (Jung)|shadow figure]] for Frodo and as an evil guide in contrast to the [[Istari|wizard]] [[Gandalf]], the good guide. They have noted, too, that Gollum is not wholly evil, and that he has a part to play in the will of [[Eru Iluvatar]], the omnipotent god of [[Middle-earth]], [[Economy of Salvation|necessary to the destruction]] of the Ring. For Gollum's literary origins, scholars <!--listed and cited in body of article--> have compared Gollum to the shrivelled hag Gagool in [[Rider Haggard]]'s 1885 novel ''[[King Solomon's Mines]]'' and to the subterranean [[Morlocks]] in [[H. G. Wells]]'s 1895 novel ''[[The Time Machine]]''.

Gollum was voiced by [[Brother Theodore]] in [[Rankin-Bass]]'s animated adaptations of ''[[The Hobbit (1977 film)|The Hobbit]]'' and ''[[The Return of the King (1980 film)|Return of the King]]'', and by [[Peter Woodthorpe]] in [[Ralph Bakshi]]'s [[The Lord of the Rings (1978 film)|animated film version]] and the [[BBC]]'s [[The Lord of the Rings (1981 radio series)|1981 radio adaptation of ''The Lord of the Rings'']]. He was portrayed through [[motion capture]] by [[Andy Serkis]] in [[Peter Jackson]]'s [[The Lord of the Rings (film series)|''Lord of the Rings'']] and [[The Hobbit film trilogy|''The Hobbit'']] film trilogies. The "Gollum and Sméagol" scene in ''[[The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers|The Two Towers]]'' directly represents Gollum's split personality as a pair of entities. This has been called "perhaps the most celebrated scene in the entire film".<ref name="Thompson 2011"/>

== Name ==

[[File:Prague-golem-reproduction.jpg|thumb|upright|One suggestion is that "Gollum" derives from [[golem]], a being in Jewish folklore (Prague golem pictured).<ref name="Ewbank Colloquium"/> ]]

The Tolkien scholar [[Douglas A. Anderson]], editor of ''[[The Annotated Hobbit]]'', suggests that Tolkien derived the name "Gollum" from [[Old Norse]] {{lang|non|gull/goll}}, meaning {{gloss|gold}}; this has the [[Dative case|dative]] form {{lang|non|gollum}}, which can mean {{gloss|treasure}}.<ref name="Ewbank Colloquium"/> Another suggestion is that it derives from [[golem]], a being in Jewish folklore.<ref name="Ewbank Colloquium">{{cite web |last=Wendling |first=Woody |title=The Riddle of Gollum: Was Tolkien Inspired by Old Norse Gold, the Jewish Golem, and the Christian Gospel? |url=https://pillars.taylor.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1158&context=inklings_forever |website=Volume 6: A Collection of Essays Presented at the Sixth Frances White Ewbank Colloquium on C.S. Lewis & Friends |date=29 May 2008 |access-date=16 October 2023 |at=Article 23 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201129134732/https://pillars.taylor.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1158&context=inklings_forever |archive-date=29 November 2020}}</ref>

In Appendix F of ''The Lord of the Rings'', [[Pseudotranslation in The Lord of the Rings|Tolkien pretends that]] the name "Sméagol" is a "translation" of the [[Middle-earth]] name {{lang|art|Trahald}} (having to do with the idea of "burrowing"), and rendered with a name based on [[Old English]] {{lang|ang|smygel}} of similar meaning.<ref>{{harvnb|Bosworth|Toller|1972|loc="smygel"}}</ref>

The rhyming name of his relative "Déagol" is from {{langx|ang|dēagol}}, meaning {{gloss|secretive, hidden}}.<ref>{{cite book |first1=Joseph |last1=Bosworth |author-link1=Joseph Bosworth |first2=T. Northcote |last2=Toller |author-link2=T. Northcote Toller |date=1972 |orig-date=1898 |title=An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary |publisher=[[Clarendon Press]] |location=Oxfordshire, England |url=http://www.bosworthtoller.com/007595 |chapter=Deogol |isbn=978-0-19-863101-9}}</ref> In Tolkien's ''[[Red Book of Westmarch]]'', the name "Déagol" is again supposedly a translation of the "original" name in the author-invented language of [[Westron]], {{lang|art|Nahald}}.<ref name="ntc">{{cite book |last=Tyler |first=J. E. A. |title=The New Tolkien Companion |url=https://archive.org/details/newtolkiencompan00tyle |url-access=registration |year=1977 |publisher=[[St. Martin's Press]]|location=New York City |isbn=978-0-380-46904-8}}</ref>

{|class="wikitable"
|+ Names and [[etymology]]
|-
! scope="col" |[[Old English]]
! scope="col" |Tolkien
! scope="col" |[[Westron]]
! scope="col" |Meaning
|-
|{{wikt-lang|ang|smugan|smygel}} ||Sméagol ||{{lang|art|Trahald}} ||creeping
|-
|{{wikt-lang|ang|deagol|dēagol}} ||Déagol ||{{lang|art|Nahald}} ||secretive
|}

== Appearances ==

=== ''The Hobbit'' ===
Gollum was introduced in ''[[The Hobbit]]'' as "a small, slimy creature" who lived on a small island in an underground lake at the roots of the [[Misty Mountains]]. He survived on cave fish, which he caught from a small boat, and small [[Orc (Middle-earth)|goblins]] who strayed too far from the [[Goblin Town|stronghold of the Great Goblin]]. Over the years, his eyes adapted to the dark and became "lamp-like", shining with a sickly pale light.<ref name="Riddles in the Dark" group=T/>

[[Bilbo Baggins]] stumbled upon Gollum's lair, having found [[One Ring|the Ring]] in the network of goblin tunnels leading down to the lake. At his wits' end in the dark, Bilbo agreed to a [[Riddle|riddle game]] with Gollum on the chance of being shown the way out of the mountains.<ref name="Riddles in the Dark" group=T/> In the first edition of ''The Hobbit'', Gollum's size is not stated.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last=Scoville |first=Chester N. |editor-last=Drout |editor-first=Michael D. C. |editor-link=Michael D. C. Drout |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B0loOBA3ejIC&pg=PA278 |title=Hobbit, The |encyclopedia=[[The J. R. R. Tolkien Encyclopedia]] |chapter=Scholarship and Critical Assessment |publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]] |location=Oxfordshire, England |date=2007 |isbn=978-0-4159-6942-0 |page=278}}</ref> Originally, he was also characterised as being less bound to the Ring than in later versions; he offered to give the Ring to Bilbo if he lost the riddle game, and he showed Bilbo the way out of the mountains after losing. To fit the concept of the ruling Ring that emerged during the writing of ''The Lord of the Rings'', Tolkien revised later editions of ''The Hobbit''. The version of the story given in the first edition became the lie that Bilbo made up to justify his possession of the Ring to the [[Dwarf (Middle-earth)|Dwarves]] and [[Gandalf]].

In the new version, Gollum pretended that he would show Bilbo the way out if he lost the riddle-game, but he actually planned to use the Ring to kill and eat him. Discovering the Ring missing, he suddenly realised the answer to Bilbo's last riddle – "What have I got in my pocket?" – and flew into a rage. Bilbo inadvertently discovered the Ring's power of invisibility as he fled, allowing him to follow Gollum undetected to a back entrance of the caves. Gollum was convinced that Bilbo knew the way out all along, and hoped to intercept him near the entrance, lest the goblins apprehend Bilbo and find the Ring. Bilbo at first thought to kill Gollum in order to escape, but was overcome with pity, and so merely leaped over him. As Bilbo escaped, Gollum cried out, "Thief, Thief, Thief! Baggins! We hates it, we hates it, we hates it forever!"<ref name="Riddles in the Dark" group=T/>

=== ''The Lord of the Rings'' ===

Gollum's real name was Sméagol, and he had once been a member of the secluded branch of the early Stoorish [[Hobbit]]s. He spent the early years of his life with his extended family under a [[matriarch]], his grandmother. On Sméagol's birthday, he and his relative Déagol went fishing in the [[Gladden Fields]]. There, Déagol found the Ring in the riverbed after being pulled into the water by a fish. Sméagol fell immediately under the Ring's influence and demanded it as a birthday present; when Déagol refused, Sméagol strangled him.<ref name="Letter 214" group=T/><ref name="Shadow of the Past" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1954a|loc= book 1, ch. 2 "[[The Shadow of the Past]]"}}</ref>

Sméagol later used the Ring for thieving, spying and antagonising his friends and relatives, who nicknamed him "Gollum" for the swallowing noise he made in his throat, until his grandmother disowned him. He wandered in the wilderness for a few years until he finally retreated to a deep cavern in the [[Misty Mountains]]. The Ring's malignant influence twisted his body and mind, and prolonged his life well beyond its natural limits.<ref name="Shadow of the Past" group=T/>

Gollum left his cave in pursuit of Bilbo a few years after losing the Ring, eventually reaching Dale by the [[Lonely Mountain]] and learning of Bilbo's return to the [[Shire (Middle-earth)|Shire]]. However, he was then drawn away from Bilbo's trail and towards [[Mordor]]. There he met the monstrous spider [[Shelob]] and became her spy, worshipping her and bringing her food. He was eventually captured by Sauron's forces and tortured, revealing to Sauron the names of "Baggins" and "the Shire". His testimony alerted Sauron to the existence and significance of hobbits in general and the Baggins family in particular. He was freed, but was soon caught by [[Aragorn]] and placed in the care of the [[Silvan Elves|Wood Elves]] of [[Mirkwood]]. Gandalf interrogated him about the Ring. He escaped from them (with the help of Sauron's [[Orc (Middle-earth)|Orcs]]) and descended into [[Moria (Middle-earth)|Moria]].<ref name="Shadow of the Past" group=T/>

Gollum began following the [[Fellowship of the Ring (characters)|Fellowship of the Ring]] in Moria, but was noticed by [[Frodo Baggins]], Gandalf, and Aragorn. He trailed the Fellowship to the edge of [[Lothlórien]]. He picked up their trail again as they left,<ref name="Great River" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1954a|loc= book 2, ch. 9 "The Great River"}}</ref> following them all the way to [[Rauros]], then pursued Frodo and [[Samwise Gamgee]] across the [[Emyn Muil]] when they struck out on their own towards Mordor.<ref name="The Taming of Sméagol" group=T/>

Frodo and Sam confronted Gollum in the Emyn Muil; Gollum nearly strangled Sam, but Frodo subdued him with his Elvish sword, [[Sting (Middle-earth)|Sting]], which had once belonged to [[Bilbo Baggins|Bilbo]]. Sam tied an Elvish rope around Gollum's ankle as a leash, but the mere touch of the rope pained him. Taking pity on the wretched creature, just as Bilbo once had, Frodo made Gollum swear to help them. Agreeing to the oath, Gollum swore by the Ring itself, and Frodo released him.<ref name="The Taming of Sméagol" group=T/> The unlikely company, guided by Gollum, made their way to the [[Morannon|Black Gate]], the main entrance to Mordor. Frodo's kindness brought out Gollum's better nature, and he made at least some effort to keep his promise. Sam, however, despised Gollum upon sight, and often warned Frodo of the creature's deception and slipperiness.<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1954|loc=book 4, ch. 3, "The Black Gate is Closed"}}</ref>

When they reached the Black Gate and found it well-guarded, Gollum offered to lead them toward an alternative entrance into Mordor. Along the way, Frodo and Sam were seized by [[Faramir]], and Gollum slipped away uncaught (but not unseen) and followed them.<ref name="Of Herbs and Stewed Rabbit" group=T/> When Frodo allowed Faramir to briefly take Gollum prisoner in order to spare his life, Gollum felt betrayed, and began plotting against his new "master". Faramir found out that Gollum was taking them to the pass of [[Cirith Ungol]], an entrance to Mordor through the [[Ephel Dúath]] mountains. He warned Frodo and Sam of the evil of that place, as well as the treachery he sensed in Gollum.<ref name="The Forbidden Pool" group=T/>

Frodo, Sam, and Gollum left Faramir and climbed the stairs to Cirith Ungol. Gollum slipped away and visited Shelob, planning to feed the hobbits to her and then get the Ring for himself when she was done. When he returned, he found the hobbits asleep, and the sight of Frodo sleeping nearly moved Gollum to repent. However, Sam woke up and spoke harshly to him, and the opportunity for redemption was lost.<ref name= "Stairs of Cirith Ungol" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1954|loc=book 4, ch. 8, "The Stairs of Cirith Ungol"}}</ref>

Gollum followed through with his plan and led Frodo and Sam into [[Shelob's Lair]]. There, Frodo was stung by Shelob, taken prisoner by Orcs, and hauled to the Tower of Cirith Ungol.<ref name="Shelob's Lair" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1954|loc=book 4, ch. 9, "Shelob's Lair"}}</ref> Sam rescued Frodo from the [[Tower of Cirith Ungol]] and, dressed in scavenged [[Middle-earth weapons and armour|Orc-armour]], the two made their way across the [[Gorgoroth (Middle-earth)|plateau of Gorgoroth]] to [[Mount Doom]]. When Frodo and Sam had almost reached their destination, Gollum attacked them, but Frodo threw him down. Sam faced Gollum on his own, letting Frodo continue up the mountain to finish their mission. Like Bilbo and Frodo before him, Sam spared Gollum's life out of pity, turned his back on the creature, and followed Frodo.<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1955|loc=book 6, ch. 3, "Mount Doom"}}</ref>

Moments later, Frodo stood on the edge of the Crack of Doom, but claimed the Ring for himself and put it on. Gollum struck, struggled with the invisible Frodo, bit off Frodo's finger, and seized the Ring. Gloating over his "prize" and dancing madly, he stepped over the edge and fell into the Crack of Doom, taking the Ring with him with a last cry of "Precious!" Thus, the Ring was destroyed and Sauron defeated. Sam cursed Gollum after his death, but Frodo urged his friend to forgive him, as without him the quest would have failed.<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1955|loc=book 6, ch. 4, "The Field of Cormallen"}}</ref>

== Characteristics ==

[[File:Large_Gollum_by_Tove_Jansson.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|A very large Gollum in [[Tove Jansson]]'s illustration for the 1962 [[:sv:Bilbo – En hobbits äventyr|Swedish translation of ''The Hobbit'']], before Tolkien stated that the monster was small<ref name="Holownia 2014"/>]]

{{further|Tolkien's monsters}}

In the first edition of ''The Hobbit'', Tolkien made no reference to Gollum's size, leading [[illustrating Tolkien|illustrators]] such as [[Tove Jansson]] to portray him as very large.<ref name="Holownia 2014">{{cite journal |last=Holownia |first=Olga |title='Hell, what a chance to have a go at the classics': Tove Jansson's take on Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, The Hunting of the Snark, and The Hobbit |url=https://barnboken.net/index.php/clr/article/view/191/547 |journal=Barnboken - Journal of Children's Literature Research |volume=37 |doi=10.14811/clr.v37i0.191 |date=31 December 2014 |quote= It could be argued, however, that large Groke-like Gollum, mountain-tall trolls, impish goblins and tribal wargs dancing against the backdrop of white snaky flames – all of the scary creatures which unlike the dwarves are placed in the centre of the frames – resonate with the rest of the illustrations that aim to evoke a sense of terror.|doi-access=free }}</ref> Tolkien realised the omission, and added in later editions that Gollum was "a small slimy creature."<!--1997 ed.--><ref name="Riddles in the Dark" group=T/> ''[[The Two Towers]]'' characterises him as slightly larger than Sam;<ref name="Shelob's Lair" group=T/> and later, comparing him to Shelob, one of the Orcs describes him as "rather like a spider himself, or perhaps like a starved frog."<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1954|loc=book 4, ch. 10, "The Choices of Master Samwise"}}</ref>

''The Hobbit'' states that Gollum had pockets, in which he kept a tooth-sharpening-rock, goblin teeth, wet shells, and a scrap of bat wing;<ref name="Riddles in the Dark" group=T/> it describes him as having a thin face, "big round pale eyes", and being "as dark as darkness".<ref name="Riddles in the Dark" group=T/> In ''The Two Towers'', [[rangers of Ithilien]] wonder if he is a tailless black squirrel.<ref name="The Forbidden Pool" group=T/> According to Sam in ''[[The Fellowship of the Ring]]'', he had "paddle-feet, like a swan's almost, only they seemed bigger" when Gollum was following their boat by paddling a log down the [[River Anduin]].<ref name="Great River" group=T/> In a manuscript written to guide illustrators to the appearance of his characters, Tolkien explained that Gollum had pale skin, but wore dark clothes and was often seen in poor light.{{sfn|Hammond|Scull|2005|p=447}}

In ''The Fellowship of the Ring'', [[Aragorn]] states that "his malice is great and gives him a strength hardly to be believed in one so lean and withered."<ref name="Council of Elrond" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1954a|loc=book 2, ch. 2 "[[The Council of Elrond]]"}}</ref>
In ''The Two Towers'', Gollum's grip is described as "soft, but horribly strong" as he wrestles with Sam.<ref name="The Taming of Sméagol" group=T/>

=== Personality ===

{{further|Mental illness in Middle-earth}}

[[File:Gollum s journey commences by Frederic Bennett (detail).jpg|thumb|Gollum by Frederic Bennet, 2014 (detail)]]

Sam notes that Gollum has two distinct personalities: the sinister "Stinker" and the submissive "Slinker", with a green glint in his eyes showcasing the change between them. In "The Passage of the Marshes" chapter, Sam overhears a debate between the two, with the nefarious "Stinker" ultimately coming out on top.<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1954|loc=book 4, ch. 2 "The Passage of the Marshes"}}</ref> However, as shown in "The Stairs of Cirith Ungol" chapter, Gollum often oscillates between good and evil. When Gollum stumbles upon Frodo and Sam outside of Shelob's Lair, he is briefly overcome and nearly repents, but this is ultimately ruined by Sam's skeptical remarks.<ref name= "Stairs of Cirith Ungol" group=T/> Tolkien describes this as the story's most tragic moment, and he claims "Sam failed to note the complete change in Gollum's tone and aspect. Gollum's repentance was blighted, Frodo's pity was wasted, and Shelob's Lair became inevitable."<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Carpenter|2023|loc=#246 to E. Elgar, September 1963 }}</ref>

Tolkien describes Gollum's personality after he had been captured by Frodo and Sam:<ref name="The Taming of Sméagol" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1954|loc=book 4, ch. 1 "The Taming of Sméagol"}}</ref>

{{blockquote|text=For that moment a change, which lasted for some time, came over him. He spoke with less hissing and whining, and he spoke to his companions direct, not to his precious self. He would cringe and flinch, if they stepped near him or made any sudden movement, and he avoided the touch of their elven-cloaks; but he was friendly, and indeed pitifully anxious to please. He would cackle with laughter and caper if any jest was made, or even if Frodo spoke kindly to him, and weep if Frodo rebuked him.<ref name="The Taming of Sméagol" group=T/>}}

Gollum hates everything [[Elf (Middle-earth)|Elf]]-made. In ''[[The Two Towers]]'', Sam bound Gollum's neck with Elven rope, which caused Gollum excruciating pain by its mere presence.<ref name="The Taming of Sméagol" group=T/> He was unable or unwilling to eat the ''lembas'' bread Sam and Frodo carried with them, and rejects cooked rabbit in favour of raw meat or fish.<ref name="Of Herbs and Stewed Rabbit" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1954|loc=book 4, ch. 4, "Of Herbs and Stewed Rabbit"}}</ref><ref name="The Forbidden Pool" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1954|loc=book 4, ch. 6, "The Forbidden Pool"}}</ref>

=== Speech ===

{{see also|Translating The Lord of the Rings#Challenges to translation}}

Gollum speaks in an idiosyncratic manner, indeed in an [[idiolect]],<ref>{{cite journal |last=Parra López |first=Guillermo |last2=Bartoll Teixidor |first2=Eduard |title=El tesoro lingüístico de Gollum. El uso del idiolecto en la caracterización de la identidad de los personajes de ficción y su traducción para el doblaje |journal=MonTI. Monografías de Traducción e Interpretación |issue=4 |date=2019 |doi=10.6035/MonTI.2019.ne4.12 |pages=343–370|hdl=10234/184489 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> often [[illeism|referring to himself in the third person]], and frequently talks to himself. In ''The Hobbit'', he always refers to himself as "my precious".<ref name="Riddles in the Dark" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1937|loc=ch. 5 "Riddles in the Dark"}}</ref> When not referring to himself in the third person, he sometimes [[nosism|speaks of himself in the plural as "we"]], hinting at his alter ego. The rare occasions when he actually says "I" are interpreted by Frodo as an indication that Sméagol's better self has the upper hand. Gollum also uses his own versions of words similar to the original words. He usually [[Reduplicated plural|adds -es to the end of a plural]], resulting in words such as "hobbitses" instead of hobbits or "birdses" instead of birds. When forming the present tense of verbs, he frequently extends the third person singular ending -s to other persons and numbers, resulting in constructions like "we ''hates'' it" (by analogy with "he hates it"). Gollum's speech emphasises [[sibilant]]s, often drawing them out.<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1955|loc=Appendix F: II, "On Translation"}}</ref>

=== Age ===

Through the influence of the Ring, Gollum's life was extended far beyond that of other members of his clan. An average hobbit lifespan is over 100 years, but a span of 556 years separates Gollum's finding of the Ring and its destruction, by which time he was almost 600 years old.<ref name="Shadow of the Past" group=T/>

== Analysis ==

[[File:Hugo Vogel - Kain erschlägt Abel.jpg|thumb|The story of Sméagol's murder of Déagol echoes the Biblical story of [[Cain and Abel]].<ref name="Nelson 2008"/> ''Cain Kills Abel'' by [[Hugo Vogel (painter)|Hugo Vogel]], 1922]]

=== Sméagol and Déagol ===

==== Cain, Abel, and Grendel ====

{{further|Beowulf in Middle-earth}}

Commentators including the theologian [[Ralph C. Wood]],<ref name="Wood 2003">{{cite book |last=Wood |first=Ralph C. |author-link=Ralph C. Wood |title=The Gospel According to Tolkien |url=https://archive.org/details/gospelaccordingt00wood |url-access=registration |year=2003 |publisher=[[Westminster John Knox Press]] |location=Louisville, Kentucky |isbn=978-0-664-23466-9 |page=[https://archive.org/details/gospelaccordingt00wood/page/55 55]}}</ref> and the critics Brent Nelson,<ref name="Nelson 2008"/> Kathleen Gilligan,<ref name="Gilligan 2011"/> and Susan and Woody Wendling<ref name="Wendling Wendling 2012">{{cite journal |last1=Wendling |first1=Susan |last2=Wendling |first2=Woody |title=A Speculative Meditation on Tolkien's Sources for the Character Gollum |journal=Inklings Forever: Published Colloquium Proceedings 1997-2016 |volume=8 |issue=1 |at=Article 28 |year=2012 |url=https://pillars.taylor.edu/inklings_forever/vol8/iss1/28/}}</ref> have remarked that Sméagol's murder of Déagol echoes [[Cain and Abel|Cain's killing of Abel]] in [[Book of Genesis|Genesis]] (4:1-18). Cain is jealous of his brother Abel; Sméagol is jealous of the shiny gold ring that his friend Déagol has found. Nelson observes that the names of the friends are similar, hinting that at least figuratively they are "brothers". Cain is guilty of Abel's murder, and ends up as a restless wanderer, never finding peace; Sméagol likewise is disowned and exiled by his family, and "wandered in loneliness".<ref name="Shadow of the Past" group=T/> Nelson, describing Gollum as a "famous monster",<ref name="Nelson 2008"/> notes that Tolkien was a famed scholar of the [[Old English]] poem ''[[Beowulf]]'', which he acknowledged was [[Beowulf and Middle-earth|a major source of his own fiction]];<ref name="Nelson 2008"/><ref group=T>{{harvnb|Carpenter|2023|loc=#25 to the editor of ''[[The Observer]]'', February 1938, stating "''[[Beowulf]]'' is among my most valued sources; though it was not consciously present to the mind in the process of writing" }}</ref> and that the ''Beowulf'' poet calls the monster [[Grendel]] one of the sons of Cain. Among the many parallels between Gollum and Grendel are their affinity for water, their isolation from society, and their bestial description.<ref name="Gilligan 2011">{{cite journal |last=Gilligan |first=Kathleen E. |title=Temptation and the Ring in J. R. R. Tolkien's The Fellowship of the Ring |journal=[[Inquiry: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Philosophy]] |publisher=[[Routledge]] |location=Abingdon, England |date=2011 |volume=3 |issue=5 |page=1 |url=http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/534/temptation-and-the-ring-in-jrr-tolkiens-the-fellowship-of-the-ring}}</ref><ref name="Nelson 2008">{{cite journal |first=Brent |last=Nelson |title=Cain-Leviathan Typology in Gollum and Grendel |journal=Extrapolation |volume=49 |issue=3 |date=2008 |publisher=[[University of Liverpool]] |location=Liverpool, England |page=466 |doi=10.3828/extr.2008.49.3.8 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/278016386}}</ref> The Wendlings add that just as Beowulf confronts three monsters, starting with Grendel, in ''The Hobbit'' Bilbo confronts three, starting with Gollum; and again in ''The Lord of the Rings'', Gollum is one of the three monsters that Frodo encounters.<ref name="Wendling Wendling 2012"/> 

The Tolkien scholar [[Verlyn Flieger]] suggests that Gollum is [[Tolkien's monsters|Tolkien's central monster]]-figure, likening him to both Grendel and [[the Beowulf Dragon|the ''Beowulf'' dragon]], "the twisted, broken, outcast hobbit whose manlike shape and dragonlike greed combine both the ''Beowulf'' kinds of monster in one figure".<ref name="Flieger 2004">{{cite book |last=Flieger |first=Verlyn |author-link1=Verlyn Flieger |editor1-first=Rose A.|editor1-last=Zimbardo|author-link2=Rose A. Zimbardo|editor2-first=Neil D.|editor2-last=Isaacs |title=Understanding the Lord of the Rings: The Best of Tolkien Criticism |year=2004 |publisher=[[Houghton Mifflin Harcourt|Houghton Mifflin]] |location=Boston, Massachusetts|isbn=978-0-61842-251-7 |chapter=[[Frodo and Aragorn: The Concept of the Hero]] |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780618422517/page/141 |pages=122–145}}</ref>

{{anchor|Wagner}}

==== Wagner's ''Der Ring des Nibelungen'' ====
{{further|Tolkien and the Norse}}

[[File:Arthur Rackham Siegfried and Mime (detail).jpg|thumb|upright|The shrunken gold-obsessed [[Regin|Mime]], described as a Gollum-like figure,<ref name="McGregor 2011"/> cowers behind the celebrating [[Sigurd|Siegfried]] in [[Wagner]]'s {{Lang|de|[[Der Ring des Nibelungen]]}}. Illustration by [[Arthur Rackham]], 1911]]

Jamie McGregor, writing in ''[[Mythlore]]'', compares Sméagol's murder of Déagol to [[Fafnir#In Wagner|Fafner]]'s murder of his brother [[Fasolt]] in [[Richard Wagner]]'s {{Lang|de|[[Der Ring des Nibelungen]]}}. He notes that Tolkien denied any comparison of his Ring with Wagner's, and that this was accepted by his biographer [[Humphrey Carpenter]].<ref name="McGregor 2011">{{cite journal |last=McGregor |first=Jamie |year=2011 |title=Two Rings to Rule Them All: A Comparative Study of Tolkien and Wagner |journal=[[Mythlore]] |publisher=[[Mythopoeic Society]]|location=East Lansing, Michigan|volume=29 |issue=3/4 Spring/Summer |pages=133–153, Article 10 |url=https://dc.swosu.edu/mythlore/vol29/iss3/10}}</ref> All the same, McGregor notes that Arthur Morgan identified evident parallels, starting with [[Alberich]]'s curse: there is only one ring; it is cursed; it gives limitless power; owning it brings only misery, and it consumes its owner, who becomes its slave; its owner is called the Lord; owning it is living death.<ref name="Morgan 1992">{{cite book |last=Morgan |first=Arthur |chapter=Medieval, Victorian and Modern: Tolkien, Wagner and The Ring |editor-last=Gray |editor-first=Rosemary |title=A Tribute to J. R. R. Tolkien |date=1992 |publisher=[[UNISA]] Medieval Association |location=Pretoria |pages=16–28}}</ref>

McGregor further compares Déagol's delight in the ring with the [[Rhinemaidens]]' innocent rejoicing in their gold: "And behold! when he washed the mud away, there in his hand lay a beautiful golden ring; and it shone and glittered in the sun, so that his heart was glad".<ref name="Shadow of the Past" group=T/> He draws a parallel between Sméagol's asking for the Ring with Fafner's; Déagol refuses, saying "I'm going to keep it", just as Fasolt says "I hold it: it belongs to me"; Sméagol derisively says "Oh, are you indeed, my love", and strangles him, turning by degrees into the wretched creature Gollum, while Fafner sourly says "Hold it fast in case it falls" and clubs Fasolt to death, becoming by degrees a treasure-fixated dragon.<ref name="McGregor 2011"/><ref name="Shadow of the Past" group=T/>

Much later, Bilbo blunders into Gollum's cave and finds the Ring by accident; he holds off Gollum with his sword, and escapes by winning a peaceful battle, a riddle contest; [[Sigurd|Siegfried]] is led by [[Regin|Mime]] to the dragon's den, kills Fafner to save himself from being eaten; and takes the ring as a bird's voice suggests it. Alberich had cursed the "thief" who took the ring; Gollum curses Bilbo for taking his Ring. On the other hand, McGregor writes, Siegfried is a hero, Bilbo, an [[anti-hero]]; and the shrunken Mime is the most Gollum-like character in Wagner's Ring Cycle.<ref name="McGregor 2011"/><ref name="Riddles in the Dark" group=T/>

=== Psychological pairings ===
{{further|Character pairing in The Lord of the Rings}}

A variety of commentators have suggested that Gollum constitutes a "[[Shadow (Jung)|shadow figure]]" for Frodo, as his dark ''[[alter ego]]'' ("other self") according to [[Carl Jung]]'s theory of psychological [[individuation]]. Some have identified many such "pairings", such as [[Denethor]] as a shadow for [[Théoden]], [[Boromir]] for [[Aragorn]], [[Saruman]] for [[Gandalf]], [[Ted Sandyman]] for Sam Gamgee, the [[Barrow-wight]] for [[Tom Bombadil]], and [[Shelob]] for [[Galadriel]], but the Gollum/Frodo pairing is by far the most widely accepted.<ref name="VV.2019">{{cite book |last=Honegger |first=Thomas |author-link=Thomas Honegger |chapter=More Light than Shadow? |title=Tolkien: Light and Shadow |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bGCzDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT152 |year=2019 |publisher=Kipple Officina Libraria |isbn=978-88-321-7907-1 |pages=151–154}}</ref>

The Tolkien scholar Charles W. Nelson described Gollum as an evil guide, contrasted with Gandalf, the good guide (like [[Virgil]] in [[Dante]]'s ''[[Inferno (Dante)|Inferno]]'') in ''The Lord of the Rings''. He notes, too, that both Gollum and Gandalf are servants of The One, [[Eru Ilúvatar]], in the struggle against the forces of darkness, and "ironically" all of them, good and bad, are necessary to the success of the quest.<ref name="Nelson 2002">{{cite journal |last=Nelson |first=Charles W. |title=From Gollum to Gandalf: The Guide Figures in J. R. R. Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" |journal=[[Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts]] |date=2002 |volume=13 |issue=1 |pages=47–61 |jstor=43308562}}</ref>

{{anchor|Moral conflict}}

=== Playing a part in a cosmic game ===
{{further||Christianity in Middle-earth#Moral conflict}}

David Callaway, writing in ''[[Mythlore]]'', notes that Tolkien, a devout [[Roman Catholic]], had made [[Middle-earth]] a place where good and evil are in conflict under an omnipotent god, Eru Ilúvatar: in other words, "his [[cosmology]] is [[Christian]]".<ref name="Callaway 1984">{{cite journal |last=Callaway |first=David |date=1984 |title=Gollum: A Misunderstood Hero |journal=[[Mythlore]] |volume=10 |issue=3 |url=https://dc.swosu.edu/mythlore/vol10/iss3/4}}</ref> Callaway describes Gollum as fitting into this framework as a being not wholly evil, able to make moral choices.<ref name="Callaway 1984"/>

The [[Episcopalianism|Episcopal]] priest [[Fleming Rutledge]] writes that at the [[Council of Elrond]], Frodo angrily resists the notion that Gollum was a Hobbit like himself. She adds that Gandalf describes the tale of Gollum's enslavement to the Ring as "a sad story" rather than as Frodo's description of him, "loathsome". Gandalf says that Gollum "had no [[Free will in theology|will]] left in the matter", and could not get rid of the Ring; instead, "the Ring itself .. decided things".<ref name="Council of Elrond" group=T/> Rutledge comments that the sad story has happened to everybody, trapped, as Christians believe, in "Sin and Death", and states that<ref name="Rutledge 2004">{{cite book |last=Rutledge |first=Fleming |author-link=Fleming Rutledge |title=The Battle for Middle-earth: Tolkien's Divine Design in The Lord of the Rings |year=2004 |publisher=[[William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company]] |location=Grand Rapids, Michigan |isbn=978-0-80282-497-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FRiViwMylSUC&pg=PA58 |pages=57–59 "Gollum and the Bondage of the Will"}}</ref>

{{blockquote|The genuinely revolting Gollum is central not only to the surface narrative, ... but also to the underlying theological drama.<ref name="Rutledge 2004"/>}}
 
Eru makes use of every being's choices for good: Callaway gives as example the way that [[Gríma Wormtongue]]'s angry throwing of the ''[[palantír]]'', a crystal ball-like stone of seeing, enables [[Pippin Took]] to look in the stone and reveal himself to [[Sauron]]; in turn, Sauron jumps to a wrong conclusion about the stone and the hobbit, which assists the Fellowship in completing their quest, destroying the One Ring. Similarly, Callaway argues, Gollum "is being partly manipulated by Eru in this cosmic chess game"<ref name="Callaway 1984"/> citing Gandalf's remark that Gollum "has some part to play yet, for good or ill".<!--The Two Towers--><ref name="Callaway 1984"/> Indeed, Gollum's ''[[alter ego]]'', Sméagol, struggles to be good, speaks the truth when questioned by Frodo, and guides them through the [[Dead Marshes]]. In short, as Tolkien writes, Gollum is "not altogether wicked".<!--Return of the King--><ref name="Callaway 1984"/> Finally, at the end of the quest inside Mount Doom, Gollum takes the Ring from Frodo, and causes it to be destroyed, completing the quest successfully at the moment that Frodo had announced that he would keep the Ring. Callaway calls this "the ultimate heroic self-sacrifice", arguing that Gollum acted "consciously" using "the good fraction in his mind finally overpowering the Ring's evil".<ref name="Callaway 1984"/>

=== Degenerate ===

[[File:Walter Paget - H. Rider Haggard - King Solomon&#039;s Mines - To those who enter the hall of dead (detail).jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|Gollum may derive from the "shrunken" Gagool in [[H. Rider Haggard|Rider Haggard's<!--British-->]] ''[[King Solomon's Mines]]''. 1888 illustration by [[Walter Paget (illustrator)|Walter Paget]]<ref name="Rogers 2000"/>]]

{{further|King Solomon's Mines}}

The English literature scholars William N. Rogers II and Michael R. Underwood compare Gollum to the similarly named<ref name="Rogers 2000"/> evil and ancient hag Gagool in [[H. Rider Haggard|Rider Haggard's]] 1885 novel ''[[King Solomon's Mines]]''; Tolkien acknowledged Haggard, especially his novel ''[[She (novel)|She]]'', as a major influence. They note that Haggard's tales share many motifs with Tolkien's ''The Hobbit'', including a non-heroic narrator who turns out to be brave and capable in a crisis; a group of male characters on a quest; dangers in caves; a goal of treasure; and return to a happy countryside. Gollum and Gagool both have a monstrous character, Gagool being described as

{{blockquote|a withered-up monkey [that] crept on all fours ... a most extraordinary and weird countenance. It was (apparently) that of a woman of great age, so shrunken that in size it was no larger than that of a year-old child, and was made up of a collection of deep yellow wrinkles ... a pair of large black eyes, still full of fire and intelligence, which gleamed and played under the snow-white eyebrows, and the projecting parchment-coloured skull, like jewels in a [[charnel-house]]. As for the skull itself, it was perfectly bare, and yellow in hue, while its wrinkled scalp moved and contracted like the hood of a [[cobra]]." —''King Solomon's Mines'', 1885<ref name="Rogers 2000">{{cite book |last1=Rogers |first1=William N. II |last2=Underwood |first2=Michael R. |editor=Sir George Clark |chapter=Gagool and Gollum: Exemplars of Degeneration in ''King Solomon's Mines'' and ''The Hobbit'' |title=J. R. R. Tolkien and His Literary Resonances: Views of Middle-earth |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ES0Hs75IVg0C&pg=PA121 |year=2000 |publisher=[[Greenwood Publishing Group]] |location=Westport, Connecticut |isbn=978-0-313-30845-1 |pages=121–132}}</ref>}}

Rogers and Underwood note that Gagool rejoices in "blood and death".<ref name="Rogers 2000"/> Like Gollum, she is human-like but distorted to a parody; she is shrunken and extremely old; her large eyes and speech are distinctive; and she is wholly materialistic, with a "terrible greediness and self-referencing" and "the insatiable claims of the naked ego".<ref name="Rogers 2000"/> They mention also the cultural background of the late 19th century, combining [[economic recession]], fear of moral decline and degeneration leading indeed to [[eugenics]], and a "for-the-moment [[hedonism]]" in the face of these concerns. They comment that Gagool can be seen as a "worst-case" embodiment of such [[Victorian era]] fears.<ref name="Rogers 2000"/>

Dale Nelson, writing in the ''[[J. R. R. Tolkien Encyclopedia]]'', suggests that Gollum may derive from [[H. G. Wells]]'s [[Morlocks]] in his 1895 novel ''[[The Time Machine]]''. They have "dull white" skin with a "bleached look", "strange large grayish-red eyes" with "a capacity for reflecting light", and run in a low posture somewhere close to all fours, looking like "a human spider", through having lived for generations underground in darkness.<ref name="Nelson 2013">{{cite encyclopedia |last=Nelson |first=Dale |editor-last=Drout |editor-first=Michael D. C. |editor-link=Michael D. C. Drout |title=Literary Influences, Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries |encyclopedia=[[J. R. R. Tolkien Encyclopedia|J. R. R. Tolkien Encyclopedia: Scholarship and Critical Assessment]] |year=2013 |orig-date=2007 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |location=Abingdon, England|isbn=978-0-415-86511-1 |pages=366–377}}</ref>

Tom Birkett, writing in ''[[A Companion to J. R. R. Tolkien]]'', likens Gollum to [[Hreiðmarr]]'s son in the ''[[Völsunga saga]]'', who took the shape of an [[otter]] to catch fish; in the myth, the gods pay a ring as ransom when they kill the otter. Birkett comments on the resemblance to Gollum of "this semi-aquatic creature, greedily devouring fish in a mountain pool".<ref>Birkett, Tom. "Old Norse", in {{harvnb|Lee|2020|pp=254 and 257 note 12}}</ref>

A 2004 paper in the ''[[British Medical Journal]]'' by supervised students at [[University College London]] noted that over 1300 websites had discussed possible diagnoses for [[Mental illness in Middle-earth|Gollum's apparent mental illness]], and argued that Gollum meets seven of the nine diagnostic criteria for [[schizoid personality disorder]].<ref>{{cite journal |first1=Nadia |last1=Bashir |first2=Nadia |last2=Ahmed |first3=Anushka |last3=Singh |first4=Yen Zhi |last4=Tang |first5=Maria |last5=Young |first6=Amina |last6=Abba |first7=Elizabeth L. |last7=Sampson |title=A precious case from Middle Earth |pmc=535969 |journal=[[British Medical Journal]] |date=2004 |volume=329 |issue=7480 |pages=1435–1436 |doi=10.1136/bmj.329.7480.1435 |pmid=15604176}}</ref>

== Adaptations ==

=== Animations ===

[[File:Gollum in Deitch 1967 Hobbit film.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Gollum does nothing in [[Gene Deitch]]'s 1967 short ''[[The Hobbit (1967 film)|The Hobbit]]'' except sit in his boat.<ref name="Suggap 1967"/>]]

Gollum's first known screen adaptation is in [[Gene Deitch]]'s 1967 short film ''[[The Hobbit (1967 film)|The Hobbit]]'', where his role is reduced from the action described in the novel to appearing in a single scene which depicts him sitting in his boat.<ref name="Suggap 1967">{{cite web |title=The Hobbit 1967 |url=https://suggap.com/movie/OWI3ODUzN2/the-hobbit |website=Suggap |date=January 1967 |access-date=1 February 2021}}</ref>

[[File:Gollum 1977 225x169.jpg|thumb|upright|A somewhat frog<!--yes, the source says this-->like Gollum in [[Rankin/Bass]]'s animated 1977 ''[[The Hobbit (1977 film)|The Hobbit]]''<ref name="Gilkeson 2019"/>]]

In the 1977 [[Rankin/Bass]] adaptation of ''[[The Hobbit (1977 film)|The Hobbit]]'' and its 1980 ''[[The Return of the King (1980 film)|The Return of the King]]'', Gollum was voiced by [[Brother Theodore]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Brother Theodore |url=https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/Brother-Theodore/ |website=Behind the Voice Actors |access-date=20 April 2020}}</ref> He appeared somewhat frog<!--yes, this is what the SOURCE says-->like.<ref name="Gilkeson 2019">{{cite web |last1=Gilkeson |first1=Austin |title=Middle-earth's Weirdest Movie: Rankin-Bass' Animated The Return of the King |url=https://www.tor.com/2019/04/24/middle-earths-weirdest-movie-rankin-bass-animated-the-return-of-the-king/ |publisher=Tor.com |access-date=7 May 2020 |date=24 April 2019}}</ref>

[[File:BakshiGollum.JPG|thumb|upright|Gollum in [[Ralph Bakshi]]'s animated 1978 version of ''[[The Lord of the Rings (1978 film)|The Lord of the Rings]]''<ref name="Gilkeson 2018"/>]]

In [[Ralph Bakshi]]'s 1978 animated film adaptation of ''[[The Lord of the Rings (1978 film)|The Lord of the Rings]]'', as in the [[The Lord of the Rings (1981 radio series)|1981 BBC radio dramatisation]], Gollum was voiced by [[Peter Woodthorpe]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Peter Woodthorpe |url=https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/Peter-Woodthorpe/ |website=Behind the Voice Actors |access-date=20 April 2020}}</ref><ref name="Radio Riel 2009">{{cite web |last=Pearse |first=Edward |title=The Lord of the Rings, Episode 2 |url=https://radioriel.org/content/daily-programme/riel-radio-theatre-the-lord-of-the-rings-episode-2/ |publisher=Radio Riel |date=15 January 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200115144511/https://www.radioriel.org/content/daily-programme/riel-radio-theatre-the-lord-of-the-rings-episode-2/ |archive-date=15 January 2020 }}</ref> Austin Gilkeson, writing on ''TOR.com'', called the prologue with the "snaring and transformation of Gollum" "beautifully rendered as black shadows cast against a red canvas" like a [[shadow play]] or a medieval [[tapestry]] come to life, with a mix of animation, painted backgrounds, and [[rotoscoping]].<ref name="Gilkeson 2018">{{cite web |last1=Gilkeson |first1=Austin |title=Ralph Bakshi's The Lord of the Rings Brought Tolkien from the Counterculture to the Big Screen |url=https://www.tor.com/2018/11/13/ralph-bakshis-the-lord-of-the-rings-brought-tolkien-from-the-counterculture-to-the-big-screen/ |date=13 November 2018 |publisher=[[Tor.com|TOR.com]] |access-date=17 June 2021}}</ref>

=== Television plays ===

[[File:Khraniteli_Gollum.jpg|thumb|upright|left|A green-clad Gollum with something like a cabbage leaf on his head, in Leningrad Television's 1991 ''[[Khraniteli]]''<ref name="Variety 2021"/>]]

In the [[Soviet Union|Soviet]]-era television film ''Сказочное путешествие мистера Бильбо Бэггинса, Хоббита'' (''[[The Hobbit (1985 film)|The Fairytale Journey of Mr. Bilbo Baggins, The Hobbit]]'') of 1985, a green-faced Gollum is portrayed by [[Igor Dmitriev]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Gilsdorf |first1=Ethan |title=A Very Weird Russian Hobbit from 1985 |url=https://www.wired.com/2013/01/russian-hobbit/ |publisher=[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]] |access-date=13 April 2020 |date=9 January 2013}}</ref>

A different Russian Gollum was played by Viktor Smirnov in [[Leningrad Television]]'s two-part 1991 TV play ''[[Khraniteli]]'', rediscovered in 2021.<ref name="5 TV 2021">{{cite web |last1=Vasilieva |first1=Anna |title="Хранители" и "Властелин Колец": кто исполнил роли в культовых экранизациях РФ и США |trans-title="Keepers" and "The Lord of the Rings": who played the roles in the cult film adaptations of the Russian Federation and the USA |url=https://www.5-tv.ru/news/337679/hraniteli-ivlastelin-kolec-kto-ispolnil-roli-vkultovyh-ekranizaciah-rfissa/ |publisher=5 TV |access-date=6 April 2021 |language=Russian |date=31 March 2021 }}</ref> ''Variety'' reported that "he's speaking Russian, sports orange eye-shadow and has what appears to be bright green cabbage leaves pasted to his head."<ref name="Variety 2021">{{cite web |last=Davis |first=Rebecca |title=Inside the Soviet 'Lord of the Rings': Cast Details Their Epic TV Movie, Uncovered After 30 Years |url=https://variety.com/2021/film/actors/russian-lord-of-the-rings-khraniteli-1234968603/ |publisher=Variety |access-date=13 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210512142851/https://variety.com/2021/film/actors/russian-lord-of-the-rings-khraniteli-1234968603/ |archive-date=12 May 2021 |date=2021 |url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Kari Väänänen]] portrayed Gollum ({{langx|fi|Klonkku}}) in the 1993 live-action television miniseries ''[[Hobitit]]'' [The hobbits] produced and broadcast by the Finnish network [[Yle]].<ref>{{cite news|first=Jukka|last=Kajava |title=Tolkienin taruista on tehty tv-sarja: Hobitien ilme syntyi jo Ryhmäteatterin Suomenlinnan tulkinnassa |trans-title=Tolkien's tales have been turned into a TV series: The Hobbits have been brought to live in the Ryhmäteatteri theatre |url=http://www.hs.fi/paivanlehti/arkisto/?haku=Klonkku&ref=arkisto%2F&page=4 |newspaper=[[Helsingin Sanomat]] |publisher=[[Sanoma]]|location=Helsinki, Finland |language=fi |date=29 March 1993 }} {{Subscription required}}</ref>

=== Jackson's feature films ===

{{further|Peter Jackson's interpretation of The Lord of the Rings}}

==== Andy Serkis, motion capture, and CGI ====

[[File:Gollum.PNG|thumb|upright=0.8|Gollum was voiced and performed by [[Andy Serkis]] in [[Peter Jackson]]'s live-action version of ''[[The Lord of the Rings (film series)|The Lord of the Rings]]'', using [[motion capture]].<ref name="rotoanimation"/>]]

In [[Peter Jackson]]'s [[The Lord of the Rings (film series)|''The Lord of the Rings'' film trilogy]], Gollum is a [[Computer-generated imagery|CGI]] character voiced and performed by the actor [[Andy Serkis]]. He is smaller than Frodo or Sam, but has considerable strength and agility. Barely glimpsed in ''[[The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring|The Fellowship of the Ring]]'' (2001), he becomes a central character in ''[[The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers|The Two Towers]]'' (2002) and ''[[The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King|The Return of the King]]'' (2003). The CGI character was built around Serkis's facial features, voice, and acting choices, and is depicted naked but for a loincloth. Serkis based the iconic "''gollum''" throat noise on the sound of his cat coughing up hairballs.<ref>{{cite book |first=Andy |last=Serkis |author-link=Andy Serkis |title=Gollum: How We Made Movie Magic |publisher=[[HarperCollins]] |location=London |date=2003 |page=[https://archive.org/details/lordofringsg00serk/page/4 4]|isbn=0-618-39104-5}}</ref> Using a digital puppet created by [[Jason Schleifer]] and [[Bay Raitt]] at [[Weta Digital]], animators created Gollum's performance using a mixture of [[motion capture]] data recorded from Serkis and the traditional animation process of [[key frame]], along with the laborious process of digitally [[rotoscoping]] Serkis's image and replacing it with the digital Gollum's in a technique coined ''rotoanimation''.<ref name="rotoanimation">{{cite video |title=The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers – Special Extended DVD Edition, The Appendices Part Three: The Journey Continues |medium=DVD |publisher=[[New Line Cinema]] |date=2002}}</ref> Daniel Timmons admired the motion-capture, stating that it brilliantly animated Gollum.<ref name="Timmons 2013">{{cite encyclopedia |last=Timmons |first=Daniel |title=Jackson, Peter |editor-last=Drout |editor-first=Michael D. C. |editor-link=Michael D. C. Drout |encyclopedia=[[The J. R. R. Tolkien Encyclopedia]] |year=2013 |orig-year=2007 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=978-0-415-86511-1 |pages=119–127}}</ref> Susan Booker said that Gollum "came to life for viewers" through Serkis's acting and Jackson's "electronic wizardry".<ref name="Booker 2005">{{cite book |last=Booker |first=Susan |chapter=Tales Around the Internet Campfire |editor-last=Croft |editor-first=Janet Brennan |editor-link=Janet Brennan Croft |title=Tolkien on Film: Essays on Peter Jackson's 'The Lord of the Rings' |title-link=Tolkien on Film |publisher=[[Mythopoeic Society|Mythopoeic Press]] |year=2005 |isbn=978-1887726092 |pages=259–282<!--265-->}}</ref> [[David Bratman]] however wrote "How much greater Sméagol's agony is in the book, how much more moving and better-written than the films", arguing that Tolkien's account of Gollum's being "in two minds about his role" is more appropriate than what he considers Jackson's unsophisticated dialogue, with its thrice-repeated "Leave now and never come back".<ref name="Bratman 2005">{{cite book |last=Bratman |first=David |author-link=David Bratman |chapter=Summa Jacksonica: A Reply to Defenses of Peter Jackson's 'The Lord of the Rings' films, after St. Thomas Aquinas |editor-last=Croft |editor-first=Janet Brennan |editor-link=Janet Brennan Croft |title=Tolkien on Film: Essays on Peter Jackson's 'The Lord of the Rings' |title-link=Tolkien on Film |publisher=[[Mythopoeic Society|Mythopoeic Press]] |year=2005 |isbn=978-1887726092 |pages=27–62<!--37-->}}</ref> 

In ''The Return of the King'', Serkis himself appears in a [[Flashback (narrative)|flashback]] scene as Sméagol before his degeneration into Gollum. This scene, originally for ''The Two Towers'', was held back to allow audiences to become familiar with Gollum and so relate better to the original Sméagol. The decision meant that Raitt and Jamie Beswarick had to redesign Gollum's face for the second and third films to resemble Serkis' more closely.<ref name="Lewis2012">{{cite book |last=Lewis |first=Justin |title=Andy Serkis - The Man Behind the Mask |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9TatDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT110 |year=2012 |publisher=John Blake |isbn=978-1-78219-089-9 |page=110}}</ref> Serkis again played Gollum in the 2012 prequel ''[[The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey]]''.<ref>{{cite news |last=Truitt |first=Brian |title=Andy Serkis plays dual roles for 'The Hobbit' |url=https://eu.usatoday.com/story/life/movies/2013/03/18/andy-serkis-the-hobbit-blu-ray-dvd/1997783/ |newspaper=[[USA Today]] |access-date=20 April 2020 |date=18 March 2013}}</ref> 

''[[Wizard (magazine)|Wizard]]'' magazine rated Serkis's Gollum as 62nd of the 100 greatest villains in visual media.<ref>''[[Wizard (magazine)|Wizard]]'' magazine, issue 177, 31 May 2006</ref> Serkis as Gollum was 13th on [[Empire (film magazine)|''Empire'']] magazine's "100 Greatest Movie Characters of all Time".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.empireonline.com/100-greatest-movie-characters/default.asp?c=13 |title=13. Gollum |publisher=[[Bauer Media Group]] |access-date=4 December 2010}}</ref>

==== The "Gollum and Sméagol" scene ====

{{Anchor|Gollum and Sméagol scene}}

{| class="wikitable floatright"
|+ The start of the "Gollum and Sméagol" scene<ref name="Thompson 2011"/><ref>{{cite web |last1=Galia |first1=Elril |title=The Two Towers Extended Edition Movie Script: Scene 29 ~ Gollum and Smeagol |url=http://www.ageofthering.com/atthemovies/scripts/thetwotowers29to32.php |website=Age of the Ring |access-date=31 July 2024}}</ref>  
|-
! style="width:  55px;" | Speaker 
! style="width: 160px;" | Dialogue 
! style="width: 140px;" | Notes
|-
| Gollum || We wants it. We needs it. Must have the precious. They stole it from us. Sneaky little Hobbitses. Wicked. Tricksy. False. || Distant shot; cut to closer shot, still of Gollum
|-
| Sméagol || No. Not master. || Camera arcs round to Gollum's other side, with "milder 'Sméagol' expression" 
|-
| Gollum || Yes, precious. False. They will cheat you, hurt you, lie! || Camera arcs back, again without a cut
|-
| Sméagol || Master's my friend. || First [[shot/reverse shot]] cut; 18 more follow
|}

In the "Gollum and Sméagol" scene (number 29) in ''The Two Towers'', Gollum's split personality is directly represented as a pair of entities. The screenwriters [[Fran Walsh]] and [[Philippa Boyens]] shaped it as an argument between the childlike "Sméagol" and the evil "Gollum". The film scholar [[Kristin Thompson]] called it "perhaps the most celebrated scene in the entire film", commenting that it "[drew] gasps from audience members ... at the first cut to Sméagol as an apparently separate character facing himself as Gollum."<ref name="Thompson 2011"/> She comments that the "subtle combination of framing, camera movement, editing, and character glances" requires frame-by-frame analysis to understand in full how Walsh's direction of the scene (to Jackson's instructions) manages "to suggest the conflict between Gollum's two sides".<ref name="Thompson 2011"/> The Tolkien scholar [[Tom Shippey]] describes Jackson's treatment of Gollum as "masterful all through" and the arguing with himself scene as "especially good and original".<ref name="Shippey 2005 p422">{{harvnb|Shippey|2005|p=422}}</ref>

The scene uses the long-established<!--since the 1910s--> [[shot/reverse shot]] convention for film dialogue between two people, switching between them, with a three-quarter view of each character, one looking to the left, one to the right. What is new is the technique's application to a single character.<ref name="Thompson 2011"/> Thompson notes however that the scene introduces Gollum and Sméagol by "arcing" continuously from Gollum to Sméagol and back again, rather than by [[cut (transition)|cutting]]. The argument then proceeds with nineteen shot/reverse shots. Thompson comments that "this scene's ability to make us apparently see two characters arguing with each other when only one is actually present creates an eerie, even astonishing moment that transcends the presentation in the book".<ref name="Thompson 2011">{{cite book |last=Thompson |first=Kristin |author-link=Kristin Thompson |chapter=Gollum Talks to Himself: Problems and Solutions in Peter Jackson's ''The Lord of the Rings'' |editor1-last=Bogstad |editor1-first=Janice M. |editor2-last=Kaveny |editor2-first=Philip E. |title=[[Picturing Tolkien: Essays on Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings Film Trilogy]] |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jNjKrXRP0G8C&pg=PA35 |year=2011 |publisher=[[McFarland & Company]] |isbn=978-0-7864-8473-7 |pages=25–45<!--35–36--> |access-date=2020-08-23 |archive-date=2021-07-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210713085043/https://books.google.com/books?id=jNjKrXRP0G8C&pg=PA35 |url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Fan film ===

Gollum is the eponymous character in ''[[The Hunt for Gollum]]'', an independently produced 2009 prequel to the Jackson films directed by [[Chris Bouchard]]. Bouchard's CGI Gollum, voiced by Gareth Brough,<ref name="FilmFront">{{cite web |title=The Hunt for Gollum, kortfilm fra 2009 |url=https://filmfront.no/utgivelse/26599/the-hunt-for-gollum |website=FilmFront |access-date=19 July 2020}}</ref> looks much like the Gollum of the Jackson films.<ref>{{cite web |last=Wired Staff |title=Review: Lord of the Rings Fan Film The Hunt for Gollum is an Impressive Achievement |url=https://www.wired.com/2009/05/review-lord-of-the-rings-fan-film-the-hunt-for-gollum-is-an-impressive-achievement/ |publisher=Wired |access-date=20 April 2020 |date=May 2009}}</ref>

=== Other media ===

Serkis and Gollum appeared on the [[2003 MTV Movie Awards]], when Gollum won "Best Virtual Performance" and went on to deliver an obscenity-laden acceptance speech in character, so well received that it won the [[Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thehugoawards.org/hugo-history/2004-hugos/ |title=2004 Hugo Awards |publisher=The Hugo Awards |access-date=10 April 2014  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110507164801/http://www.thehugoawards.org/hugo-history/2004-hugos/|archive-date=7 May 2011 }}</ref> 

In Canada, Gollum was portrayed by [[Michael Therriault]] in the three-hour stage production of ''The Lord of the Rings'', which opened in 2006 in [[Toronto]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Spencer |first=Charles |title=Lord of the Rings doomed to epic defeat |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1555080/Lord-of-the-Rings-doomed-to-epic-defeat.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1555080/Lord-of-the-Rings-doomed-to-epic-defeat.html |archive-date=11 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |date=20 June 2007 |quote=Only Michael Therriault's charismatically creepy and athletic Gollum, and James Loye and Peter Howe who make a touching double act as Frodo Baggins and Sam Gamgee, come to persuasive life.}}{{cbignore}}</ref> He won a [[Dora Award]] for the performance.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tapa.ca/doras/past_winners#a2006 |publisher=Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts |title=Doras |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081202041509/http://www.tapa.ca/doras/past_winners |archive-date=2 December 2008 |date=2008}}</ref>
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Gollum appears in a 1989 three-part comic book adaptation of ''The Hobbit'', scripted by [[Chuck Dixon]] and Sean Deming and illustrated by David Wenzel.<ref>{{cite web |title=About ''The Hobbit'' (Graphic Novel) |url=https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/226255/the-hobbit-graphic-novel-by-jrr-tolkien-illustrated-by-david-wenzel-adapted-by-charles-dixon/ |publisher=Penguin Random House |access-date=13 April 2020 |quote=a destiny that waits in the dark caverns beneath the Misty Mountains, where a twisted creature known as Gollum jealously guards a precious magic ring.}}</ref>

''[[The Lord of the Rings: Gollum]]'', a video game centred on Gollum, was released in 2023, for [[Microsoft Windows]], [[PlayStation 4]], [[PlayStation 5]], [[Xbox One]], and [[Xbox Series X/S]], by [[Daedalic Entertainment]].<ref name="Gollum 2023">{{cite web |url=https://www.gematsu.com/2023/03/the-lord-of-the-rings-gollum-launches-may-25-for-ps5-xbox-series-ps4-xbox-one-and-pc-later-for-switch |title=The Lord of the Rings: Gollum launches May 25 for PS5, Xbox Series, PS4, Xbox One, and PC, later for Switch |last=Romano |first=Sal |publisher=Gematsu |date=March 23, 2023 |access-date=March 23, 2023}}</ref>
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==Cultural references==

<!--[[File:Berlin Wall Gollum (cropped).jpg|thumb|A 2008 [[graffiti]] depiction of a Jacksonesque Gollum on the [[East Side Gallery]] of the [[Berlin Wall]] ]] too many images, this would be down among the references-->

The rock band [[Led Zeppelin]] mention Gollum and Mordor in their 1969 song "[[Ramble On]]", with the lyrics "Twas in the darkest depths of Mordor / I met a girl so fair / But Gollum, and the evil one crept up / And slipped away with her".<ref name="Meyer Yri 2020">{{cite book |last1=Meyer |first1=Stephen C. |last2=Yri |first2=Kirsten |title=The Oxford Handbook of Music and Medievalism |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RdbODwAAQBAJ&pg=PA732|year=2020 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-19-065844-1 |page=732}}</ref>

== See also ==

* [[Erdoğan–Gollum comparison trials]]

==References==

===Primary===

{{reflist|group=T|28em}}

===Secondary===
{{reflist|28em}}

=== Sources ===

* {{ME-ref|Letters}}  <!--Carpenter 1981-->
* {{ME-ref|RC}}       <!--Hammond Scull 2005-->
* {{cite book |editor-last=Lee |editor-first=Stuart D. |editor-link=Stuart D. Lee |title=[[A Companion to J. R. R. Tolkien]] |date=2020 |orig-date=2014 |publisher=[[Wiley Blackwell]] |isbn=978-1-119-65602-9 |oclc=1183854105}}
* {{ME-ref|ROAD}}     <!--Shippey 2005-->
* {{ME-ref|TH}}
* {{ME-ref|FR}}
* {{ME-ref|TT}}
* {{ME-ref|RK}}
* {{ME-ref|UT}}

== External links ==

{{Commons category|Gollum (Middle-earth)}}

* [http://www.tolkien.co.uk/ Tolkien website of Harper Collins] (the British publisher)
* [http://www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/features/lordoftheringstrilogy/ Tolkien website of Houghton Mifflin] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210424073011/http://www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/features/lordoftheringstrilogy/ |date=24 April 2021 }} (the American publisher)

{{Hobbit}}
{{Lord of the Rings}}
{{Authority control}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2018}}

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[[Category:Bearers of the One Ring]]
[[Category:Literary characters introduced in 1937]]
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