Gollum
Originally known as Sméagol, he was later named Gollum after the disgusting gurgling noise he made in his throat. His birth can be estimated to have happened c. the year 2430 of the Third Age. His death date is given as March 25, 3019 of the Third Age. His life was extended far beyond its natural limits by the effects of possessing the One Ring. At the time of his death, Gollum was about 589 years old, a remarkable age for a creature who was once a Hobbit, but he had been deformed and twisted in both body and mind by the corruption of the Ring. One of his chief desires was to possess the Ring which had enslaved him, and he pursued it for many years after he lost it.
Also see: Timeline.
Story
Early Life
Once a Stoorish Hobbit, Sméagol spent the early years of his life living with his extended family under a Matriarch, his grandmother. Around the year 2463 T.A. Sméagol became the fourth Bearer of the One Ring, after Sauron, Isildur, and Déagol. Déagol was his cousin, and on Sméagol's birthday they went fishing in the Gladden Fields north of Lothlórien. It was there that Déagol found a gold ring, after being pulled into the water by a large fish. Sméagol demanded the ring as a birthday present and strangled Deágol when he refused. Sméagol was quickly corrupted further by the ring and, banished by his people, was forced to find a home in a cave in the Misty Mountains. The Ring's malignant influence twisted his Hobbit body and mind and prolonged his life far beyond its natural limits. He called it his "Precious" or his "Birthday Present," the latter as a justification for killing Déagol.
He lived in the Misty Mountains for over four hundred years, living on raw fish, (which he caught from his small raft), and Goblins, and in later years he found Hobbit and Elven food repulsive.
During his centuries under the Ring's influence, he developed a sort of multiple personality disorder: Sméagol, his "good" personality, still vaguely remembered things like friendship and love, while Gollum, his "bad" personality, was a slave to the Ring and would kill anyone who tried to take it. Years later, Samwise Gamgee would name the good personality "Slinker" (for his fawning, eager-to-please demeanour), and the bad personality "Stinker". The two personalities often quarrelled when he talked to himself (as Tolkien put it, "through not having anyone else to speak to") and had a love/hate relationship, mirroring Gollum's love and hatred for the Ring and for himself.
Departure of the Ring
In July, 2941 T.A, during the Quest of Erebor, the Hobbit Bilbo Baggins stumbled upon the subterranean lake on which he lived and found the Ring. Gollum had lost the Ring in the network of caves leading to the lake, though in fact it is more proper to say that the Ring abandoned Gollum, for it was known to have a will of its own. As Gandalf says later, it looks after itself, trying to get back to Sauron. After the famous Riddle Game, during which Gollum was unaware of his loss, Gollum refused to show Bilbo the promised way out and plotted to murder him. When he went to get his "birthday present," however, he found that it was gone. He suddenly realised the answer to Bilbo's last riddle
