Gollum
MajorA loathsome little creature with large flat feet that he paddled with, peering with pale luminous eyes and catching blind fish with his long fingers. He has a dark shape, long whitish hands, two pale lamplike eyes that shine coldly, thin and tough build, and moves by padding after others or lying on a log and paddling with hands and feet. His head and eyes tend to be downward, he is sharp-eyed, and remains thin and tough still after centuries.
Gollum, once a hobbit named Sméagol corrupted over centuries by the One Ring, emerges in The Fellowship of the Ring as a loathsome, fish-eating wretch obsessively hunting his 'Precious,' tracking the Ring from Bilbo to Frodo. In The Two Towers, he serves as a treacherous guide for Frodo and Sam, his dual personality of sly Sméagol and vicious Gollum fracturing under the Ring's influence amid Sam's unyielding distrust. By The Return of the King, Gollum's ruinous lust culminates in betrayal at Mount Doom, where he seizes the Ring from Frodo only to plummet into the fire, inadvertently fulfilling the quest's purpose.
Physical Description
A loathsome little creature with large flat feet that he paddled with, peering with pale luminous eyes and catching blind fish with his long fingers. He has a dark shape, long whitish hands, two pale lamplike eyes that shine coldly, thin and tough build, and moves by padding after others or lying on a log and paddling with hands and feet. His head and eyes tend to be downward, he is sharp-eyed, and remains thin and tough still after centuries. A small emaciated creature with deathly pale skin stretched tight over his skeletal frame and shrunken belly, long bone-thin arms and legs that end in large flat hands and feet. His disproportionately large head rests on a scrawny neck that twists with eerie flexibility, crowned by sparse lank hair hanging like rank weed over prominent bony brows. Protruding pale eyes with heavy lids gleam with pale green or yellow light, set above a snivelling nose and a wide mouth lined with sharp yellow teeth and colourless lips. He crouches and crawls on all fours like a frog or insect with startling agility, his movements tense and predatory whether creeping down cliffs head-first or bounding away in sudden leaps. A lean, starved, haggard thing, all bones and tight-drawn sallow skin. A crouching shape, scarcely more than the shadow of a living thing, a creature now wholly ruined and defeated, yet filled with a hideous lust and rage. He has wide-splayed hands with long fleshless fingers, white fangs that gleam and snap, and eyes with a wild light flaming in them.
Gallery
Book 2: The Two Towers: Being the Second Part of the Lord of the Rings
Evolution
The Fellowship of the Ring: Being the First Part of the Lord of the Rings
A loathsome little creature with large flat feet that he paddled with, peering with pale luminous eyes and catching blind fish with his long fingers. He has a dark shape, long whitish hands, two pale lamplike eyes that shine coldly, thin and tough build, and moves by padding after others or lying on a log and paddling with hands and feet. His head and eyes tend to be downward, he is sharp-eyed, and remains thin and tough still after centuries.
- Gollum's physical description revealed as a pale-eyed, long-fingered creature dwelling in the Misty Mountains.
- Bilbo defeats Gollum in the Riddle-game and takes the One Ring, earning Gollum's eternal enmity as a 'thief'.
- Gollum escapes Moria after being captured by Sauron and begins tracking the Ring to the Shire.
- Gollum stalks Frodo, confirming him as the new Ring-bearer.
The Two Towers: Being the Second Part of the Lord of the Rings
A small emaciated creature with deathly pale skin stretched tight over his skeletal frame and shrunken belly, long bone-thin arms and legs that end in large flat hands and feet. His disproportionately large head rests on a scrawny neck that twists with eerie flexibility, crowned by sparse lank hair hanging like rank weed over prominent bony brows. Protruding pale eyes with heavy lids gleam with pale green or yellow light, set above a snivelling nose and a wide mouth lined with sharp yellow teeth and colourless lips. He crouches and crawls on all fours like a frog or insect with startling agility, his movements tense and predatory whether creeping down cliffs head-first or bounding away in sudden leaps.
- Frodo encounters and spares Gollum's life at the Emyn Muil, showing pity.
- Gollum is bound by Frodo's command and sworn to serve as their guide to Mordor.
- Gollum leads Frodo and Sam through the Dead Marshes and Ithilien.
- Gollum's Sméagol personality briefly resurfaces during a moment of kindness by Frodo.
- Sam's growing distrust peaks as Gollum plots to lead them to Shelob's lair.
The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings
A lean, starved, haggard thing, all bones and tight-drawn sallow skin. A crouching shape, scarcely more than the shadow of a living thing, a creature now wholly ruined and defeated, yet filled with a hideous lust and rage. He has wide-splayed hands with long fleshless fingers, white fangs that gleam and snap, and eyes with a wild light flaming in them.
- Faramir captures and interrogates Gollum in Henneth Annûn, warning Frodo of his treachery.
- Gollum guides Frodo and Sam through Cirith Ungol to Shelob's tunnel.
- Gollum betrays Frodo by leading him to Shelob, who poisons the hobbit.
- At Mount Doom, Gollum wrestles Frodo for the Ring, bites off his finger, and claims the Precious.
- Gollum falls into the Cracks of Doom with the Ring, destroying both himself and Sauron's artifact.
Relationships
Gollum's hatred for Bilbo as the 'thief' who won the Ring in their riddle contest begins in Book 1 and fuels his initial quest, persisting as backstory motivation across the series.
Evolves from predatory pursuit as Ring-bearer in Book 1, to a pity-driven alliance where Frodo tames and guides Gollum in Book 2, culminating in Gollum's violent betrayal and Ring-seizure in Book 3.
Sam's deep distrust and hostility toward Gollum as a threat to Frodo intensifies from Book 2 through physical confrontations and witnessing Gollum's treachery in Book 3.
Faramir briefly captures and distrusts Gollum in Book 3, recognizing his deceitful nature and warning Frodo.
Book Appearances
The Fellowship of the Ring: Being the First Part of the Lord of the Rings
First appears Ch 2
The Two Towers: Being the Second Part of the Lord of the Rings
First appears Ch 12
The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings
First appears Ch 2