We may earn a commission when you buy through links in our articles. Learn more.

Lord of the Rings: what race is Gollum?

Gollum, previously known as Sméagol, is one of the ring-bearers and one of the most important characters in Middle-earth. So what race is Gollum?

Lord of the Rings: What race is Gollum

One of the most common questions that come from the Lord of the Rings movies is: what race is Gollum? Alongside Frodo, Aragorn, and Gandalf, Gollum is among the most recognisable and popular Lord of the Rings characters in Middle-earth.

He was first introduced to audiences by Tolkien in The Hobbit. There, he was a mysterious creature that lived underneath the Misty Mountains, until he was discovered by Biblo Baggins. He possessed an equally mysterious magic ring, which Bilbo found and used to escape from his clutches. Then, Gollum’s story was continued in The Lord of the Rings. He played a central role in the story, and he acted as Frodo and Sam’s guide to Mordor and Mount Doom, where the pair were going to destroy Sauron‘s One Ring.

However, Gollum was still corrupted by the One Ring and was obsessed with it, and he betrayed Frodo and Sam. He reclaimed the One Ring, his “precious”, but he slipped into the cracks of doom where he was killed in the lava, and the One Ring was destroyed. But, still, Gollum remains a very mysterious character in the fantasy movies. There are plenty of questions that are commonly asked about the slippery character, including what race is Gollum?

What race is Gollum?

Gollum is a hobbit. Just like Bilbo, Frodo, and Sam, Gollum is one of the little folk who inhabit Middle-earth. The reason why he doesn’t look, act, or speak like an ordinary hobbit is because his life has been unnaturally extended by his possession of the One Ring, and he spent much of his life deep underground, in the roots of the mountains where he was isolated from all other creatures but fish, and an occasional lost Orc.

YouTube Thumbnail

There are other factors that differentiate him from the other hobbits we see in Lord of the Rings, too. Unlike the hobbits we see in the Shire, Gollum is a river hobbit, and one of the Stoors. Stoors are one of the three main types of hobbits. They had a love of water, and we see this characteristic in Gollum. In fact, when he was still known as Sméagol , it was when he was out boating that he found the One Ring.

To learn more about hobbits, check out our guide to the Harfoots in the fantasy series Rings of Power, and find out when we’ll see them next with the Rings of Power season 2 release date. Or, find out more about the new Lord of the Rings movie, with our guide to the Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim release date. You can also learn about the anime movie‘s characters Helm Hammerhand, Hèra, Freca, Wulf, Fréaláf Hildeson, and Éowyn.