Gollum
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Gollum is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium. He was first introduced in the author's fantasy novel The Hobbit, and later became an important supporting character in its sequel, The Lord of the Rings.
Originally known as Sméagol, he was later named Gollum after the noise he made in his throat. Though his date of birth is unknown, he was born in the Third Age and died on March 25, 3019 of that Age. His life was extended far beyond its natural limits by the effects of possessing the One Ring. His one desire was to possess the Ring which had enslaved him, and he pursued it for 76 years after he lost it.
Also see: Timeline of Arda.
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[edit] Back story
The Fellowship of the Ring explains that Gollum had once been named Sméagol, a member of the secluded branch of the early Stoorish Hobbits. Sméagol spent the early years of his life with his extended family under a matriarch, his grandmother. In 2463 T.A., Sméagol became the fourth bearer of the One Ring, after Sauron, Isildur, and Déagol, his relative. [1] On Sméagol's birthday, he and Deagol went fishing in the Gladden Fields north of Lothlórien. It was there that Déagol found a gold ring, after being pulled into the water by a large fish. Sméagol demanded the ring as a birthday present and strangled Deágol when he refused. Sméagol was quickly corrupted by the Ring, using it for thieving and spying. He was soon banished by his people, and was forced to find a home in a cave in the Misty Mountains. The Ring's malign influence twisted his Hobbit body and mind and prolonged his life far beyond its natural limits. He called it his "precious" or his "birthday present," the latter as a justification for killing Déagol, a crime that haunted Gollum for the rest of his life.
He lurked in the Misty Mountains for over 400 years, living on raw fish, which he caught from his small boat, and juvenile Orcs who strayed too far. He found Elven food repulsive. Over the years, his eyes adapted to the dark; Tolkien describes them as lamp-like, shining with a sickly pale light, yellow when calm, green when agitated.
During his centuries under the Ring's influence, he developed a sort of split personality: Sméagol, his "good" personality, still vaguely remembered things like friendship and love, while Gollum, his "bad" personality, was a slave to the Ring and would kill anyone who tried to take it. Years later, Samwise Gamgee would name the good personality "Slinker" (for his fawning, eager-to-please demeanour), and the bad personality "Stinker" (for obvious reasons). The two personalities often quarrelled when Gollum talked to himself (as Tolkien put it, "through never having anyone else to speak to") and had a love/hate relationship, mirroring Gollum's love and hatred for the Ring and for himself.
[edit] The Hobbit
In July, 2941 T.A, the Hobbit Bilbo Baggins stumbled upon the subterranean lake on which Gollum lived and found the Ring. Gollum had lost it in the network of caves leading to the lake, although in fact it is more appropriate to say that the Ring abandoned him, for it was known to have a will of its own; as Gandalf said later, it looked after itself, trying to get back to Sauron. After the famous Riddle Game, during which Gollum was unaware of his loss, he refused to show Bilbo the promised way out and plotted to murder him. When he went to get his "birthday present", however, he found that it was gone. He suddenly realized the answer to Bilbo's last riddle — "What have I got in my pocket?" — and flew into a rage. Bilbo inadvertently stumbled across the Ring's power of invisibility as he ran, allowing him to follow Gollum to the entrance of the cave. There, Bilbo at first thought to kill Gollum, but was overcome with pity, so he jumped over him to escape. As Bilbo ran, Gollum cried out, "Thief! Thief, Baggins! We hates it, we hates it, we hates it forever!"
In the first edition of The Hobbit, Gollum did not appear quite as wretched or as bound to the Ring. Tolkien revised this characterization to fit the concept of the Ruling Ring developed during the writing of The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien then explained the version given in the first edition was a lie that Bilbo made up to tell the Dwarves and Gandalf.
[edit] The Lord of the Rings
As Gandalf explained in The Fellowship of the Ring, Gollum left the Mountains and pursued Bilbo a few years later, but the trail was cold. He made his way into Mordor, where 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, but he revealed only the words 'Baggins' and 'Shire', which were misinterpreted as places in the Valley of Anduin. Yet, his testimony was sufficient to alert the Dark Lord of Mordor to the existence and significance of Hobbits in general and the Baggins family in particular. Gollum was freed, but caught by Aragorn, who, along with Gandalf, interrogated him about the Ring and placed him in the care of the Sylvan Elves living in Thranduil's kingdom in Mirkwood. He then escaped into Moria.
In The Lord of the Rings, Gollum met and started following the Fellowship of the Ring in Moria, and was spotted or heard by Frodo Baggins (nephew and heir of the hated Bilbo) and Gandalf on several occasions. On January 15, 3019 T.A., the Fellowship was divided when Gandalf seemingly died while fighting a Balrog, and Gollum continued trailing the remaining members. It is unknown how he crossed the Bridge of Khazad-dûm, but he came with them to Lórien without their knowing. Gollum followed their boats down Anduin (floating on a log) to Rauros, and pursued Frodo and Sam across the Emyn Muil when they struck out on their own towards Mordor. Gollum followed them, but after a confrontation in which he bit and nearly strangled Sam, Frodo subdued him. Frodo tied an Elvish rope around Gollum's ankle for a leash, but the mere touch of the rope pained him. Taking pity on the wretched creature, Frodo made Gollum swear to help them. Agreeing to the oath, Gollum swore by the "precious" itself, and Frodo released him. The unlikely company, guided by Gollum, made their way to the Black Gate, the entrance to Mordor.
Frodo's kindness brought out the "Sméagol" personality, and he made at least some effort to keep his promise. The two formed a strange sort of bond from both having been Ringbearers; it is implied that, in Gollum, Frodo saw his possible future, and wanted to save him so he could save himself. Sam, however, despised Gollum upon sight, and often warned Frodo of the creature's deception and slipperiness.
When they reached the Black Gate and found it to be well-guarded, Gollum told them not to go that way, convincing them that they would be caught. Gollum said he would lead them south, where he knew of another entrance into Mordor.
Frodo and Sam were apprehended by Faramir, and Gollum followed them. When Frodo allowed Faramir to briefly take Gollum prisoner, however, Gollum felt betrayed, allowing his bad personality to take control. Faramir found out that the place Gollum was taking them was called Cirith Ungol, and warned Frodo and Sam of the evil of that place, as well as the treachery he sensed in Gollum.
Frodo, Sam, and Gollum left Faramir and began crossing the pass of Cirith Ungol in the border-mountains of the Ephel Dúath. Gollum visited Shelob, planning to betray the Hobbits to her and then get the Ring for himself. When he returned the Hobbits were 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. Gollum followed through with his plan and led Frodo and Sam into Shelob's lair.
Just as Frodo warned him, Gollum's betrayal of his oath ultimately led to his undoing, for Frodo and Sam escaped from Shelob's lair and came against all odds to the volcano Orodruin, or Mount Doom. Gollum followed them all the way, seeking a chance to surprise them and take the Ring. When Frodo and Sam had almost reached their destination, Gollum attacked them, but he failed to get the Ring. Sam tried to bring himself to kill him, but relented out of pity and sheer disgust. He then unwisely turned his back on the beaten (but still wily) creature.
Moments later, Frodo was standing on the edge of the Crack of Doom, but, unwilling to destroy the Ring, claimed it for himself and put it on. Then Gollum attacked again, and the two fought while Frodo was invisible. Finally, Gollum bit off Frodo's finger and seized the Ring.
It was then that fate played its part, and Bilbo and Frodo's kindness (and, in a way, Sam's) in sparing Gollum's life was rewarded; After seizing the Ring, Gollum teetered on the edge of the great pit and, too elated at getting the Ring back to notice, lost his balance and fell into the fires of Mount Doom, taking the Ring (and Frodo's finger) with him with a last cry of "Precious!" Thus, the Ring was destroyed and Sauron was utterly defeated.
[edit] Appearance
Tolkien describes Gollum as either dark, bone-white or sallow (pale yellow). In a later manuscript Tolkien explained this by saying that Gollum had pale skin, but wore dark clothes and was often seen in poor light. [2] He was also very thin, mostly bald, and only had six teeth ("Teeth! teeth! my preciousss; but we has only six!" — The Hobbit, "Riddles in the Dark") Comparing him to Shelob, Tolkien also claims that he is "rather like a spider himself, or perhaps like a starved frog." He was of average hobbit size; in "The Choices of Master Samwise", there is a reference to Sam being "little less in height" than him. His eyes glowed green in the darkness, having adapted to his surroundings after hundreds of years underground; however they did so only when the "Gollum" personality was dominant.
[edit] Portrayal in adaptations
 Gollum, as portrayed in the 1977 Rankin/Bass animated adaptation of The Hobbit. |
 Gollum, as portrayed in the 1978 Ralph Bakshi animated adaptation of The Lord of the Rings. |
 Gollum, as created by Weta Digital, based on the performance of Andy Serkis, for The Lord of the Rings film trilogy. |
[edit] Film
In the Rankin/Bass animated versions of The Hobbit (1977) and The Return of the King (1980), Gollum is voiced by comedian "Brother" Theodore Gottlieb.
In Ralph Bakshi's animated film of The Lord of the Rings (1978) the voice of Gollum was supplied by Peter Woodthorpe. Here Gollum was animated through rotoscoping.
In the Peter Jackson film trilogy, Gollum is a CGI creature voiced by actor Andy Serkis, who also provided the voices of some of the Nazgûl and orcs. Barely glimpsed in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), he becomes a central character in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003). The CGI character was built around Serkis' facial features, voice and acting choices. 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 a process called keyframing. The laborious process of digitally "painting out" Serkis' image and replacing it with the digital Gollum's required large numbers of digital artists. Including all the lighting, composition and rendering, each frame of Gollum's performance took four hours to compute.
A minor controversy arose when Serkis was judged ineligible to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Serkis' supporters claimed that since he performed both the voice and the presence of the character through motion capture, he should be eligible for a nomination.
In The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Serkis himself appears in a flashback scene as Sméagol before his degeneration into Gollum. This scene was originally earmarked for The Two Towers, but was held back because it was felt that audiences would relate better to the original Sméagol once they were more familiar with who he became. The decision to include this scene meant that Raitt and Jamie Beswarick had to redesign Gollum's face for the second and third movies so that it would more closely resemble Serkis'. (The brief glimpses in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring are of an earlier model of Gollum.)
While Gollum's split personality was strongly implied in the original novels, it was made explicit in Jackson's films; screenwriters Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens included scenes in the Two Towers and Return of the King in which "Gollum" and "Sméagol" argue, with Serkis clearly altering his voice and body language to play the two as separate entities.
These adaptations have varied in how they depicted Gollum visually. In Bakshi's film, Gollum is dark, bald and gangly. The Jackson films depicted Gollum quite similarly, though pale. In contrast, in the Rankin/Bass adaptations, he is a pale green, frog-like creature with huge, pupil-less eyes.
[edit] Stage
In Canada, Gollum was portrayed by Michael Therriault in the three-hour production of The Lord of the Rings, which opened in 2006 in Toronto.
In the United States, Gollum was portrayed by Aretta Baumgartner in the Cincinnati productions of The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Two Towers (2002), and The Return of the King (2003) for Clear Stage Cincinnati. Baumgartner received a 2002 Cincinnati Entertainment Award for her portrayal of Gollum in The Two Towers. At Chicago's Lifeline Theatre, Gollum was played by Phil Timberlake in The Two Towers (1999) and Robert Kauzlaric in The Return of the King (2001).
[edit] Radio
In BBC's 1981 radio serial, Peter Woodthorpe reprised his role as Gollum.
[edit] Pronunciation
In the 1981 BBC radio adaptation, Ralph Bakshi's 1978 animated film and in the Peter Jackson movies, Sméagol is pronounced as /ˈsmiː.gɒl/, although the placement of the acute accent suggests that the correct pronunciation is /ˈsmeɪ.ʊg.ɒl/. On the other hand, in Tolkien's recordings of The Lord of the Rings he also pronounced it /ˈsmiː.gɒl/ or /ˈsmiː.ægɒl/, suggesting that éa should either be pronounced as /iː/ or as a diphthong /ɪæ/, and not as two distinct vowels /i/ and /æ/. Tolkien had a habit in his writing to put diacritics in varying places, as can also be seen in the name Eärendil, which also occurs spelt Ëarendil. "Sméagol" bears strong resemblance to Old English smēaġan, a verb meaning "to ponder". If this was Tolkien's intention, then the acute may have been meant to substitute for the macron. In any case, when trying to pronounce Sméagol, it should be kept in mind that the pronunciation rules given in the Appendices for The Lord of the Rings are for the Elvish languages, and not for (old) English representing Westron and related languages.
[edit] Name
Sméagol's "real" Westron name was Trahald, of the meaning "burrowing, worming in" or "apt to creep into a hole". In both Westron and Old English, Sméagol's name is related to Smaug's: Smaug's name in "true Dalish" was Trâgu, and the Trah- stem in Trahald and Trâgu is thus a cognate of the Germanic stem present in both Sméagol and Smaug (with a meaning of squeezing through a hole.)
[edit] In other media
In Sierra Entertainment's The Lord of the Rings: War of the Ring, a real-time strategy game based solely on the book, Gollum is a playable hero unit for the Minions of Sauron. Legolas and a guard of archers track him through Mirkwood, fighting giant spiders along the way.
In The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring video game by Surreal Software, also based only on the book, Gollum appears in a cutscene when the Fellowship of the Ring is within Moria, and is shown half hidden behind debris muttering to himself. He also appears during the final level at Amon Hen; when playing as Aragorn, Gollum appears on a cliff edge muttering to himself and walks away, and then doing the same on another cliff edge. Then the player heads to a small island and a cutscene can be shown with a conversation between Aragorn and Gollum, in which Gollum throws a fish at him; it becomes his weapon for the final mission, as well as the most powerful weapon in the game.
He also appears in Electronic Arts' games based on the Jackson films. In the real-time strategy game The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth, Gollum is a playable hero unit for Mordor. In its sequel, The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II, which is also based on the book, he is not playable. Instead, he walks around the map cloaked, carrying the Ring. When killed, he drops the Ring for a player to claim. When the Ring is returned to the player's fortress, they may summon a special "Ring Hero" — Galadriel for good factions and Sauron for evil. He also appears in the action game based on The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, accompanying Frodo and the player as the game progresses, but becomes a boss at Mount Doom, whom the player must throw into the lava below.
[edit] Trivia
- As stated above, in the books Gollum only had six white fangs. In Peter Jackson's film adaptations, Gollum has eight grotesque teeth.
- In the books it is stated that he has pockets, in which he keeps a whetstone, goblin's teeth, wet shells, and a scrap of bat wing, implying that he salvaged at least one. In film, he is invariably depicted in a loincloth
- In the Peter Jackson films, Gollum's pupils change size as he switches personalities, instead of his eyes changing colour as in the book.
- The flashback in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King was originally shot to be in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers - and is based on an account given by Gandalf in the chapter "The Shadow of the Past" in The Fellowship of the Ring.
- Andy 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. [1] This clip can be found as an easter egg in The Two Towers DVD.
[edit] Pop culture references
- In the South Park episode "Conjoined Fetus Lady", a nurse with a facial deformity, "Nurse Gollum", is presumably named after the character. Another episode of the series parodies the Lord of the Rings movies in general ("The Return of the Fellowship of the Ring to the Two Towers"), with Butters Stotch playing the role of Gollum, obsessed with retrieving his "Precious", in this case a pornographic tape.
- In the TV series, "Jimmy Neutron Boy Genius"; there is an episode where Jimmy and his friends get to star in a fake movie being made in Retroville. At one point, his father, Hugh, in thinking that he is starring as the roll of "Doughnut Boy" (his actual job on the set being the doughnut-boy) acts like Gollum in a section of the movie which spoofs The Lord of the Rings. He is shown stripped down to his underwear, on all fours, and declaring in an Gollum like voice; "We wants it, we needs it, we must have the precious doughnut ring!"
- In The Simpsons episode "Dude, Where's My Ranch?", a character called Cleany is briefly seen picking up the Simpsons' dishes at the Lazy I Ranch. He crawls on all fours, calls the garbage "my precious", and can be heard saying "Gollum! Gollum!" Cleany was also voiced by Andy Serkis.
- In one of the Class of 3000 episodes, Sonny Bridges is asked by one of his students that why the Blue Ribbon for a competition he once lost is so important. Throughout the episode, Sonny calls the ribbon, "Precious", in an imitation of Gollum's voice.
[edit] External links
[edit] Notes
- ^ Carpenter, Humphrey and Tolkien, Christopher (eds.) (1981). The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, #214. ISBN 0-395-31555-7.
- ^ Wayne Hammond & Christina Scull (2005). The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion. London: HarperCollins, pg 447. ISBN 0-00-720907-X.
| Preceded by Déagol |
Bearer of the Great Ring 2463 TA — 2941 TA |
Succeeded by Bilbo Baggins |
| Preceded by Frodo Baggins |
Bearer of the Great Ring 3019 TA |
Succeeded by Destroyed |
