Microphones in Middle-earth...the BBC Lord of the Rings

[Brian Sibley]

Originally Posted by Estelyn Telcontar

I have a question on pronunciation - I noticed that Sméagol and Déagol were spoken as "Smeegol" and "Deegol". I was under the impression that the vowels are separated into two syllables, as in the movie - Sme-a-gol, De-a-gol. As I read that Christopher Tolkien had given guidelines for pronunciation, which is correct?

As to Peter Woodthorpe's Gollum voice - it's perfect! I love the way he emphasizes the "g" with a swallowing sound when it's at the beginning of a word.

Not sure which is 'correct'; certainly, we followed Christopher Tolkien's pronunciation at the time...

Yes, Woodthorpe is a marvel! I think one or two members of the cast were seriously worried about being upstaged (!), but he fully embodied Gollum and, despite Andy Serkis' remarkable film performance, Woodthorpe's voice is still the one I hear when I read the book...