Gollum
"My Preciousss..."
Gollum
This treacherous creature with dangerous eyes is known as Gollum, although once, many, many years ago he was not unlike a hobbit. Then he was called Sméagol and lived beside the River Anduin. It was in this River that the One Ring had been lost when King Isildur was ambushed by Orcs, and it was in this River that the One Ring had lain hidden for thousands of years.
On Sméagol's birthday he and his friend, Déagol, were out fishing in this river when Déagol was pulled into the river by a huge fish. Down in the mud and silt at the bottom of the river was something golden and shiny and forgetting his fish Déagol reached out and took it before returning to the surface. Sméagol saw what Déagol had found and asked him to give it to him as a birthday present, but Déagol refused saying that he had already given him a present and that the Ring was his. At this Sméagol grew angry and strangled poor Déagol and hid his body away so it would never be found, then he took the Ring as his own.
The Ring began to transform Sméagol, he muttered to himself and made a strange coughing noise in his throat which led people to begin calling him 'Gollum'. Soon Sméagol's own family shunned him and forced him to leave the pleasant area where he had grown up. He fled to the Misty Mountains, away from the sun and lived there, deep in the caves with just his 'precious' for company.
There the Ring would have stayed for many more years, if it were not for Bilbo, who became lost in the caves. The Ring was desperate to return to Sauron and as long as it stayed with Gollum it would never leave the caves again, Bilbo was it's way of escaping. When Gollum realised that Bilbo had his Ring Gollum had to leave the safety of his caves, for although he hated the Ring, he loved it at the same time. But before Gollum could get to the Shire to get back his precious he was captured by the servants of the Dark Lord who took him to Barad-dûr and tortured for information about the Ring's whereabouts. He gave up only two pieces of information. Shire and Baggins.
Gollum began following the Fellowship in the Mines of Moria and they were unable to lose him as he followed the pull of the Ring. When Frodo and Sam separated from the rest of the Fellowship he followed them and was eventually able to catch them up and attempted to take the Ring. However, instead of killing him while they had the chance Frodo enlisted Gollum as their guide as he promised them he could lead them out of the Emyn Muil and he knows the secret ways into Mordor. Yet only time will tell if Gollum can be truly trusted.
As you know Gollum's favourite game is Riddles.
Below is a riddle for you to try answering.
If you get it right, you'll get the password into Mordor as a prize!
"I know a word of letters three.
Add two, and fewer there will be."
Trust Gollum to lead you through the Dead Marshes
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