We Should Blame One Unexpected Character For Gollum's Death, According to Tolkien

Gollum is one of the most interesting characters in The Lord of the Rings, and perhaps the most tragic. One day, the Ring was found in the river by a hobbit named Deagol, while he was fishing with his cousin Smeagol.

Smeagol strangled him to get the Ring for himself.

The Hobbit quickly sank into his wickedness. His crimes were countless, so his grandmother banished Smeagol from the settlement.

The exiled Smeagol eventually settled in the caves beneath the Misty Mountains, where he gradually transformed into a creature almost unrecognizable. But thanks to the Ring, did not die there.

Over the centuries, the Ring and loneliness have twisted the psyche of the former Smeagol. Gollum forgot much, he had difficulty controlling his thoughts and actions and his personality got divided.

Somewhere in the depths, the personality of Smeagol still existed, naive and ingenuous. It had at least some ideas about friendship and love.

Smeagol hated the Ring with all his heart and regretted everything he had done. But Smeagol was oppressed by another personality – Gollum, cunning and wicked. He hated everything except the Ring.

At the same time, they knew of each other's existence and sometimes even talked. Because of Gollum's personality, he was driven only by hunger and an unstoppable lust for the Ring.

But even through the centuries of isolation and torture, Gollum never completely lost his social skills.

He joined the company of Sam and Frodo in the hope of eventually taking "his precious" away from them, for which he tried to play on their feelings.

However, it was only Gollum who manipulated the Hobbits, while Frodo's support helped Smeagol win the internal battle more and more often.

While Frodo tried to bring out the best in Gollum, Sam was not so understanding.

Sam constantly cursed Gollum and blamed him for all the failures, which, according to the Professor himself, prevented Smeagol from finally getting rid of Gollum.

Tolkien even revealed an alternate ending to The Lord of the Rings in which Smeagol overpowered Gollum and took the Ring from Frodo in order to willingly sacrifice himself by destroying the artefact and saving his master.

So yes, no matter how honest and selfless Sam may be, it is his fault that Smeagol did not atone for his sins, which would have allowed him to survive.

Source: Tolkien Estate