Gollum is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien

J. R. R. Tolkien

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College,...

's legendarium

Tolkien's legendarium

The phrase Tolkien's legendarium is used in the literary discipline of Tolkien studiesto refer to the part of J. R. R. Tolkien's high fantasy fiction being concerned with his Elven legends; that is, historic events that have become legendary from the perspective of the characters of The Lord of the...

. He was introduced in the author's fantasy

Juvenile fantasy

Juvenile fantasy is children's literature with fantasy elements: fantasy intended for readers not yet adult.The protagonists are usually children or teens who have unique abilities, gifts, possessions or even allies that allow them to face powerful adversaries...

 novel The Hobbit

The Hobbit

The Hobbit, or There and Back Again, better known by its abbreviated title The Hobbit, is a fantasy novel and children's book by J. R. R. Tolkien. It was published on 21 September 1937 to wide critical acclaim, being nominated for the Carnegie Medal and awarded a prize from the New York Herald...

, and became an important supporting character in its sequel, The Lord of the Rings

The Lord of the Rings

The Lord of the Rings is a high fantasy epic written by English philologist and University of Oxford professor J. R. R. Tolkien. The story began as a sequel to Tolkien's earlier, less complex children's fantasy novel The Hobbit , but eventually developed into a much larger work. It was written in...

.

Gollum was a Stoor Hobbit of the River-folk, who lived near the Gladden Fields

Gladden Fields

The Gladden Fields is a location in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth. In his works, the Gladden Fields are located where the Gladden river joins the Anduin....

. Originally known as Sméagol, he was later named Gollum after his habit of making "a horrible swallowing noise in his throat". His life was extended far beyond its natural limits by the effects of possessing the One Ring

One Ring

The One Ring is a fictional artifact that appears as the central plot element in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth fantasy novels. It is described in an earlier story, The Hobbit , as a magic ring of invisibility. The sequel The Lord of the Rings describes its powers as being more encompassing than...

, which he called "my precious" and "my birthday present"; it enslaved him to the point that he pursued it for the rest of his life after losing it to Bilbo Baggins

Bilbo Baggins

Bilbo Baggins is the protagonist and titular character of The Hobbit and a supporting character in The Lord of the Rings, two of the most well-known of J. R. R...

.

During his centuries under the Ring's influence, he developed a kind of split personality

Dissociative identity disorder

Dissociative identity disorder is a psychiatric diagnosis and describes a condition in which a person displays multiple distinct identities , each with its own pattern of perceiving and interacting with the environment....

: "Sméagol" still vaguely remembered things like friendship and love, while "Gollum" was a slave to the Ring who knew only treachery and violence.