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CHAPTER 1
How Gollum met his Precious, and what came of it
There lived in Middle Earth, among the riverfolk, two young hobbit-like folk:
Smeagol and Deagol. Smeagol was of a family of high repute, and was himself
very inquisitive and curious-minded, and interested in roots and beginnings.
He would tunnel and burrow and dive into deep pools, his eyes constantly looking
downward. His friend Deagol had similar interests, and was sharper-eyed but
not so quick and strong.
One day they were out fishing, and Smeagol got out to nose around the banks
while Deagol remained in the boat fishing. Suddenly, a great fish took Deagol’s
hook, and before he knew it, he was pulled out of the boat and dragged deep
into the water, to the bottom. Seeing something shiny, he let go of his line,
grasped at the object, came up sputtering with a handful of mud, and swam for
the bank. When he washed the mud away, he beheld a golden ring.
Smeagol had been watching over his shoulder, and insisted Deagol give him the
ring. He insisted it should be his, as it was his birthday, and he wanted it.
Deagol would not part with it, so Smeagol strangled him and took it from him,
because the gold looked so bright and beautiful. He put the ring on his finger,
called it “my precious,” and wouldn’t let it out of his sight.
Upon returning home, he recognized its powers of invisibility, and used it to
crooked and malicious purposes, all whilst muttering and gurgling to himself.
Over a time, he became hated and shunned by his relations, they called him Gollum
and banished him from his home. For a time he wandered lonely, feeling sorry
for himself, eating raw fish, until eventually he came to hate the sun and took
up shelter in a cave in the Misty Mountains. For awhile, he vanished from all
knowledge.
Until an unlikely soul happened by, and the ring abandoned Gollum, only to be
found by an unsuspecting hobbit. Proving admirably that there cannot possibly
be an effect without a cause – that in this best of all possible worlds, the
precious was the most powerful of all rings, and with a will of its own … it
did not wish to remain with a spent creature deep in a cave, unused. Observe:
fishes are made for eating, fingers are made for rings, pockets are made for
holding things, and rings of power are made to control others. It is clear,
that things cannot be otherwise than they are, or since everything is made to
serve an end, everything necessarily serves the best end.
Thus of this cause and this effect, the ring left Gollum, in this most beautiful
and agreeable of all possible caves.