Gollum
Ghoul and former Hobbit. Gollum was once a Hobbit of the Stoor strain called Sméagol, who was born not far from Gladden Fields in the Vales of Anduin. In 2463 of the Third Age, Smeagol�s cousin Deagol found the One Ring while fishing and Smeagol immediately murdered him for it. The power of the Ring lengthened Smeagol�s life, yet it warped him beyond recognition. Thereafter, he was called Gollum because of the nasty, gutteral sounds he made� when trying to speak. He became a ghoulish being who shunned light and lived by foul murder and eating unclean meat. He found comfort in dark pools in deep caverns. His skin became hairless, black and clammy, and his body thin and gaunt. His head was like a skull and his eyes bulged like those of a fish. His teeth grew long like Ore fangs, and his Hobbit feet grew flat and webbed. For nearly five centuries, Gollum lived hidden in caverns beneath the Misty Mountains. Then, in 2941, the Hobbit Bilbo Baggins made a fateful visit to his cavern and took the One Ring from Gollum. In 3019, Gollum at last hunted down Frodo Baggins, the new Ringbearer, but try as he might, he could not overcome him. For a time Frodo almost seemed able to tame Gollum, but Gollum lived by treachery. So it was at the final moment, when the power of the Ring overcame even the good Frodo upon Mount Doom, Gollum attacked the Ringbearer on the edge of the Cracks of Doom. Summoning all his evil strength, Gollum won the Ring by biting off Frodo�s finger, but at that moment of victory, he toppled backwards with his precious prize down into the fiery bowels of the Earth.
