What was Gollum?
 

This is probably a stupid question but what was Gollum before he became a "loathsome creature"? Was his name Gollum before he had possesion of the ring?

Here is a link to the entry in the Barrow Downs Encyclopedia on Gollum:

Gollum

Thankyou very much!

Or, in short, Gollum was Smeagol the hobbit.

Originally, Gollum was a hobbit of the tribe of the Stoors, who lived near the Gladden Fields in his time. There his actual name was Sméagol, a translation of his Westron name Trahald, 'burrow-deep'. He got his nickname from a clicking sound he made with his throat at many occasions which sounded like 'gollum'. One day his cousin Déagol fished the One Ring out of the Anduin, which was washed there from the field where Isildur fell. Gollum, lusting for it, claimed it was righteously his, as it was his birthday. He then strangled his cousin in order to get the Ring. Then he took it up to the Misty Mountains and thats when Bilbo found it.

Hope that helps [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

thankyou! that did help! [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

YAY!!!!!! i got it right! i knew he was a hobbit :) :D

Hmmm.... I thought he was a hobbit. But not really a hobbit. A different race or something. I don't know. Thanks for the info though! [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]

yes smeagol(gollum) came from the tribe of stoors... I wonder what ME would have been like if Deagol had kept his ring instead of being killed by Smeagol (foolish Stoors)...

No, his name was Smeagol and he was a type of Hobbit that spent a good amount of time in water.

Gandalf to Frodo in The Shadow of the Past

Kermit the Frog after a rough night out on the town.

I never knew smeagol was a hobbit. I just knew that he strangled Deagol to get the ring. [img]smilies/evil.gif[/img]

That would be correct, Gollum was once a hobbit named Smeagol.

okay so far a all thats happened in this room is that people have stated (& re-stated) that gollum was a hobbit, right

Gollum, or Smeagol, was a hobbit of the Stoor strain, born in a settlement near Gladden fields. Around the year 2463, he obtained the ring, and odious to his family and friends, so he was driven out of the Stoor community, then he went into the Misty Mountains until 2941, when Bilbo found it. Gollum's real name, though, was Trahald, a northern Mannish name, meaning "burrowing"; the Anglicized Mannish equivalent to Trahald was "Smeagol". He was named Gollum by his family, because after he found the ring, he made an odd noise in his throat (almost like a purring sound). But the orcs of Cirith-Ungol called him "Her Sneak" because he served Shelob. Of course, he called himself "Precious". And Sam called him "slinker" or "stinker", depending on if he was "Good Smeagol" or "Evil Gollum".

Wow, Frodo. Thanks for that! [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

OK i think you guys have settled it but Gollum used to be a hobbity thing called Smeagol. Then on his birthday, his best friend Deagol found the one ring. Smeagol strangled him cos he wanted it. Then the ring poisoned his mind and he became gollum. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]