The worst part of it all? Gollum knew it.To be sure, Tolkien had to grapple with the fact that the Middle-earth of Lord of the Rings was a lot more complicated, and vaster, than the Bilbo-sized version in The Hobbit. The Ring chose him as a 'holding cell' as it waited for its master and then abandoned him when the time came. On the contrary, he had no choice in the decision. Gollum isn't the driving force in possessing the Ring. The wizard's explanation reveals a critical part of the Gollum/Ring relationship. He hated the dark, and he hated light more: he hated everything, and the Ring most of all.' When Frodo challenges this notion, Gandalf clarifies that, 'He hated it and loved it, as he hated and loved himself. Gandalf comes to the same conclusion in 'The Fellowship of the Ring.' When the wizard explains Gollum's situation to Frodo, he says, 'He was altogether wretched. And that isn't just us playing armchair psychologist. The self-loathing creature both loves and hates the Ring. But it turns out that those words are only half correct. It doesn't matter if you're talking about the books or the movies, though, no character gets in Gollum's way more than Samwise Gamgee.Īll things considered, it seems like one could say with confidence that Gollum loves the Ring. But Sam turns out to be too feisty, and he sends Gollum packing - right before he takes on Shelob, too. At the same time, Gollum jumps Sam and tries to strangle him. Instead, Frodo runs ahead and is ambushed by Shelob. Remember, in the book Sam hasn't been sent away at this point.

It isn't until Gollum betrays Frodo to the clutches of Shelob that they finally come to blows.

But they tend to keep things civil most of the time. For instance, he clearly dislikes Gollum and makes up names for the bipolar creature, calling him 'Slinker' and 'Stinker.' There are even a few moments where Gollum and Sam butt heads. Much of Sam's distrust of Gollum takes place through internal dialogue. In the books, this relationship is similar, but it plays out a little less obviously. Things even get so bad that, right before Gollum betrays his master, he goes out of his way to get Sam out of the picture. He doesn't want the creature around, and he's really tough on the villain. In the movies, this antipathy is shown in a fairly straightforward manner.

Lord of the rings gollum original