With that said, something is better than nothing, so let's dive in. The Grey Wizard has some pretty detailed hypotheses when it comes to figuring out Gollum's heritage. In the beginning of The Fellowship of the Ring , Gandalf explains to Frodo that he guesses Gollum's people were "of hobbit-kind; akin to the fathers of the fathers of the Stoors.
Who are the Stoors? Good question. Hobbit lore traditionally breaks down the original branches of the tiny race into three breeds: the Harfoots, the Fallohides, and the Stoors. The Stoors are heavier and broader than most hobbits, can grow facial hair, and they like boats — a distinctly unique feature compared to the other hobbit branches. So, while it's hard to know for sure, Gollum appears to be from a proto-hobbit race that lived near the Great River, likely five to six centuries before the events of The Lord of the Rings take place.
While connecting Gollum to hobbits is fairly obvious on the surface — after all, he pretty clearly isn't a dwarf, an elf, or a man — a more surprising piece of information is the fact that, per Gandalf's beliefs, Gollum is also likely descended from royalty within the hobbit ranks, or at least the closest thing to royalty within hobbit culture.
Not only is his family rich and powerful, but his grandmother is literally referred to at one point as a matriarch. In fact, he's specifically described, even at this early stage in life, as always looking downward. While underwater, he discovers the One Ring lying at the bottom of the riverbed, grabs it, and then splashes back up to the surface.
Talk about an overreaction. There, he slowly begins to realize that his newfound prize has more power than he realized. He keeps it secret and quickly decides to use his new ability for some not-so-savory activities. Over time, this turns into an addiction to hurting other people in one way or another. He discovers secrets about them and then uses his stolen knowledge to cause all sorts of crooked and evil mischief. He also takes to a life of thievery.
Naturally, this evil growth in his behavior has negative side effects on his relatives. They become increasingly annoyed and bitter towards their petty, mean-spirited family member. In fact, Gandalf recounts that they literally kick him in their frustration Talk about petty.
He also begins to adopt what can be boiled down to a glorified nervous tick: He gurgles in his throat. Hearing the strange sound, his relations begin to call him Gollum. Eventually, his relatives become fed up with the pesky, troublemaker. The dissension becomes so great that his grandmother, looking for any way to calm the chaos, finally exiles him in an effort to keep to the peace.
Weeping, Gollum leaves his childhood home and heads off into the wild. As Gollum adjusts to his new life in exile, he follows the Great River northward. During this time, he begins to adopt the habit of wearing the One Ring to invisibly catch fish and then eat them raw. Eventually, he branches off, following a tributary of the river that trickles down from the distant Misty Mountains.
Hoping to escape the bright, burning power of the sun, he worms his way into the underground mountain passages in search of a new home. Interestingly, part of Gollum's initial motivation in heading "underhill" isn't simply to escape the light or find a new home.
He also hopes to discover new, interesting things at the roots of the great mountain range. The effects team on Lord of the Rings had already designed their CG Gollum by the time Andy Serkis was cast to play the crucial character. The Gollum briefly seen in The Fellowship of the Ring is noticeably different, and much less sophisticated than later incarnations. Once they saw the incredibly expressive faces that Serkis pulled during his performances, they knew they had to incorporate them into the film, and decided to do a full Gollum overhaul.
Since they were mid-production, they had to accomplish this in record time. Gollum may seem like a singular figure in literature, but Tolkien actually based the character on Grendel, the marsh-dwelling villain of the Old English epic poem Beowulf. He emerges from hiding to murder patrons of a mead hall because he is tormented by their inaccessible merriment.
Grendel is also the direct descendent of Cain, the biblical character who slays his own brother. Both characters also speak in third person, and possess unnatural strength and lifespans. Tolkien originally wrote him as a jolly fellow who wants to award Bilbo the ring for correctly answering riddles. When the ring goes missing, Gollum is most apologetic, and he offers Bilbo a tasty fish as consolation.
When Tolkien began writing the Lord of the Rings trilogy, however, he wanted the ring to be the crux of the story. It no longer made sense for O. Gollum to be so casual about misplacing his literal reason for existence.
But when his editor never got back to him, Tolkien panicked. Mount Doom is already a pretty intense scene in The Return of the King , what with Sam and Frodo on the verge of death, stumbling up the mountain, and getting attacked by Gollum repeatedly. With a sinister look, he slips it on his finger and disappears. But, since everyone shows Gollum mercy throughout the films, he decided it would make Frodo too unlikeable if he ultimately succumbed to murderous rage.
Frodo only struggles to get the ring back, never explicitly completing his task by his own free will. His behavior became increasingly spiteful and anti-social, until they could take it no more. There is a theory that the potential for evil was in him all along, since he is the only ring-bearer, outside of Sauron, to commit murder. When the Black Gate was reached and found to be well guarded, Gollum convinced them not to go that way, saying that they would be caught and Sauron would regain the Ring.
Gollum said he would lead them south, where he knew of another entrance into Mordor, in which Frodo complied, despite Sam's suspicions. Frodo and Sam were caught by Faramir , and Gollum followed them.
When Frodo allowed Faramir to briefly take Gollum prisoner, however, he felt betrayed, allowing the "Gollum" personality to take total control. Faramir found out that the place Gollum was taking them was called Cirith Ungol. He then warned Frodo and Sam of the evil of that place.
Gollum visited the great spider Shelob , child of Ungoliant , because he was planning to betray the hobbits by turning them to Shelob for food and then take the Ring for himself. The fact that Gollum managed to forge an alliance with Shelob is also remarkable, as she was otherwise known for devouring and killing everything on sight.
When he returned the hobbits were asleep. The sight of Frodo sleeping nearly moved Gollum to repent, as he began to pet Frodo's hair. However, Sam woke up and spoke harshly to Gollum and all hope of redemption was lost.
Gollum followed through with his plan and led Frodo and Sam into Torech Ungol. Just as Frodo warned him, Gollum's betrayal of his oath ultimately led to his undoing, for Frodo and Sam escaped from her lair and also Cirith Ungol.
They came against all odds to the fiery volcano 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, he attacked, but failed to get the Ring. Sam, who had hated Gollum on sight, tried to bring himself to kill him, but he relented out of sheer pity and disgust, turning his back on the beaten but still wily creature.
Moments later, Frodo was standing on the edge of the Crack of Doom , but, unable to destroy the Ring, claimed it for himself and put it on. Then Gollum attacked the hobbits again. Gollum knocked out Sam with a rock whilst Frodo was invisible. But Gollum was able to track his footprints and jumped on Frodo. The two fought and finally Gollum bit off Frodo's finger with the ring on it.
Here Bilbo's long-ago kindness in sparing Gollum's life was rewarded, for Gollum then teetered on the edge of the great pit, overjoyed with finally reclaiming his "precious", then lost his balance and fell in, taking the Ring and finger with him along with a final cry of " Precious! The ring was burned in the molten lava and Gollum consumed with it. Had Gollum not lived to play this final part, there was a good chance that Sauron would have regained his Ring, as he knew where Frodo was as soon as he put it on.
Years after Gollum's death, Frodo would forgive him, as Gandalf had told Frodo that Gollum was not actually an evil being deserving death, but was actually a pitiful being, bound to the Ring's will, and that Frodo's fate would be like Gollum's if he kept the Ring.
Ironically the one being who suffered the most from the One Ring was the one who managed to destroy it in the end. The phrase can be found in Jewish and Christian folklore. A golem is an artificially-created being that is brought to life through supernatural means. This creature is typically intended to blindly serve its creator. It can be either villain or victim. All of this rings reminiscent of Smeagol's transformation into Gollum and his subsequent behavior toward and surrounding the One Ring.
It's never been confirmed, but given Tolkien's background as a devout Catholic, the name's religious undertones make perfect sense.
His faith was so strong that it famously convinced his friend and fellow author C. Lewis to convert.
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