we wonders, precious, we wonders *gollum*

[Thorongil]

Well, I would think any throat would make weird noises after being in a cold cave for like 500 years. I guess he just has a REALLY sore throat.

[Imladris]

No, he made the noise soon after he discovered the Ring:

He took to thieving, and going about muttering to himself, and gurgling in his throat. So they [his relations] called him Gollum , and cursed him, and told him to go far away;

Maybe he forgot how to laugh. The book says that he would eavesdrop on secrets and use his knowledge for wicked ends. Maybe he laughed in spite, but as time went on and he became so miserable, all that came out was a strangled sort of sound: Gollum. Now, if that's the case (which is doubtful but that's the first thought that came to me), it wouldn't sound like the movie version of Smeagol's gollum. I'm going on the fact that he "gurgled in his throat."

Or maybe he had a severe case of post-nasel drip he never got rid of.

[Lhunardawen]

This would sound stupid, but i guess the gollum sound came about due to Gollum's excessive fish-eating (or any other meat, for that matter).

IN The Hobbit :

And when he said gollum he made a horrible swallowing noise in his throat. That is how he got his name, though he always called himself "my precious."

So I agree with Imladris that it is not like the sound Gollum made in the movie. And what did he usually swallow? Fish!

Do I make sense?

[radagastly]

The name itself may have been inspired by "golem," a legend of a creature formed from clay and brought to life through the mysteries of the Kabbalah to be a servent of its maker. The stories I was able to find on the internet seem to all come from eastern Europe, and they all give the impression (to me) that they were stories told to frighten children, like a ghost story before bed-time. I believe Tolkien spent some time in Poland as a child. He may have heard the story there. Of course this is just a theory of mine. Maybe some of our more learned Barrow-downers can shed more light on it.

[Ainaserkewen]

I was just thinking that Radagastly.

Who can try and explain what weird, comical quirks that Smeagol developed after all those years? Whether or not they actually were supposed to mean something other than direct side-effects of his life...who knows.

[ElanorGamgee]

At an on-campus Tolkien forum I recently attended, I believe the professor mentioned that the name Gollum can be traced back to the Indoeuropean root word for "throat," gol, which could also mean "greed."

[Estelyn Telcontar]

Radagastly, that's an interesting thought, but I have my doubts as to whether Tolkien was influenced by the 'golem' legends. As far as I remember from the biography, he was never in Poland, certainly not as a child.