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From other answers on this site, it is clear that within the general story arc, the name Gollum derived from a sound Sméagol was often inadvertently making within his throat, described as a sort of "gurgling" that others heard and so named him by that sound. But it was a distinct and consistent gurgling sound, for often in Sméagol's speech he interjects the "gollum" sound.

The first link above specifically references from The Hobbit that Sméagol himself never referred to himself as Gollum, which would seem to show that the interjections of that sound in his speech are in fact not self-references and thus adding some weight to having no in-world meaning, even though they occur at times when one might think he is referring to himself (but see the * below).

My question is, given J. R. R. Tolkien's love for languages, does he ever make reference to any real meaning to the word/name gollum, either in-world or out-of-world meaning? That is, did he choose that word/name to reflect a further intention of meaning from ancient languages on Earth (one comment below had a link [now broken] that referred to what I believe is a copy of this speculative study on a connection to Old Norse; I tracked down a working link based off my quotation from the link that I put in my reply comment below) or on Arda (in which case perhaps the Ring intentionally caused that particular sound to emit from him as a hidden side meaning)? Or is the name purely Tolkien's utilization of onomatopoeia within the world of Middle-Earth history?

* Tolkien actually "contradicts" himself between The Hobbit and The Two Towers, for in the former Tolkien stated of Gollum (bold added):

And when he said gollum he made a horrible swallowing noise in his throat. That is how he got his name, though he always called himself 'my precious.' ("Riddles in the Dark")

In the later work, during his self-reflection on regaining the ring from Frodo, he states (Gollum persona speaking; bolding added):

'No, sweet one. See, my precious: if we has it, then we can escape, even from Him, eh? Perhaps we grows very strong, stronger than Wraiths. Lord Sméagol? Gollum the Great? The Gollum! Eat fish every day, three times a day, fresh from the Sea. Most Precious Gollum! Must have it. We wants it, we wants it, we wants it!' ("The Passage of the Marshes")

It may not be a true contradiction, for in the fictional history, what is stated in the earlier story may have been true at that time, and then the reference in The Two Towers the first time Gollum did refer to himself using that name.

ScottS
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    I wish I could come up with a good answer longer than "No, it doesn't." – Matt Gutting Oct 10 '16 at 18:42
  • Does "Hack!" mean anything when you're coughing something up? –  Oct 10 '16 at 18:54
  • @Axelrod: No, which is why my reference to purely onomatopoeia as a possibility. As I note, I realize that may be all Tolkien intended, but also knowing his knowledge of Earth languages and love for language, wanted to find out if that was all he intended. – ScottS Oct 10 '16 at 19:04
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    Oddly enough, given that everything we see is translated for us, "Gollum" could mean something in their languages, in the same way "hack" does in ours. But I just can't see where onomatopoeia and meaning intersect, for this question. –  Oct 10 '16 at 19:12
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    Tangentially related, at least one of Russian translations of Hobbit and LOTR creatively reinterprets Gollum as Горлум (Gorlum), which is derived from горло (gorlo - throat). – void_ptr Oct 10 '16 at 20:15
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    Remember that the name "Gollum" was created in the Hobbit, where Tolkien wasn't focused on languages at all—he was just making a children's book. – Neithan Oct 10 '16 at 22:01
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    @AllanBurleson That sounds like the kernel of a potential answer, for if you can establish (1) that languages were not his focus in his fictional world at the time of the writing of The Hobbit, (2) that in the real world, his study of languages did not (so far as we know) influence his choice of the word gollum for his story, and (3) that he did not, later while developing his world, decide to invest that word with any further meaning once he started focusing on languages, then you would have a fairly sound argument that it was purely an intended onomatopoeia only within the story. – ScottS Oct 10 '16 at 22:32
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    I don't how accurate this really is but it's interesting none the less: Gollum derived from Hebrew – Ocean Knight Oct 11 '16 at 04:24
  • This reminds me I've been meaning to ask whether the name Bilbo is a reference to the Mississippi politician. – user14111 Oct 11 '16 at 12:10
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    @AllanBurleson He wasn't focused on the language, but his pre-existing languages were used (cf. Glamdring and Orcrist), so it's not unreasonable to think that Gollum might have some actual meaning (but it doesn't). – chepner Oct 11 '16 at 16:32
  • @OceanKnight: Finding out if there is clear documentation that Tolkien himself actually derived Gollum from the Hebrew golem would be the key answering this question, but thanks for the possible connection. – ScottS Oct 11 '16 at 16:41
  • @ScottS I'm sure I read someone that Tolkien explicitly denied the connection to Gollems –  Oct 13 '16 at 14:53
  • @Po-ta-toe: That would be a good reference to find also, though not necessarily to answer this question, but simply to certainly reject that linguistic connection that is rumored. – ScottS Oct 13 '16 at 15:07
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    Worth reading https://library.taylor.edu/dotAsset/62ebac33-e9d1-4788-8a6d-08f27aef48cd.pdf –  Oct 13 '16 at 15:16
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    @Po-ta-toe: Nice link. Too bad nothing more concrete from Tolkien can be found, as everything there is still speculation. I particularly liked the Norse gold connection, as that fits Tolkien's love of language, his story arc, and his wordplay so well (bold added): "The Old Norse word gull means 'gold.' In the oldest manuscripts it is spelled goll. One inflected form would be *gollum, 'gold, treasure, something precious.' It can also mean 'ring,' as is found in the compound word fingr-gull, 'finger-ring.'" But proving* that connection is another thing... – ScottS Oct 13 '16 at 15:29
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    You guys are missing that Smeagol came up with the name and so whatever other origin it may have you have to consider that and realize people make up words to describe things that might not otherwise exist in a larger context. My first instinct is to go to Golem, because we've been trained to do that, but once we get past that nonsense I notice the "Smeagol" and "Gollum" both have Gol in them & the "Smea" and "lum" parts could be parts modifying that root such as "Bright one" and "one of Darkness" the "Gol" in this case would be "One", "Smea" = "Bright", & "Lum" = "of Darkness". Just a thought – Durakken Oct 17 '16 at 21:01
  • @Durakken The root "lum" means light, not darkness. And where are you getting the meanings for the other roots? – Misha R Oct 18 '16 at 02:46
  • @MishaRosnach I'm just throwing the concept out there. I neither know nor care about Tolkien's conlangs, but that's the path I'd go down with constructing a language and with in particular Gollom. – Durakken Oct 18 '16 at 02:56
  • If i had to guess based on Sindarin which would be influential to Smeagol the name means something like "Sharp/Sudden Weariness/Shade" or if you look at it all together it formulates something akin to "Dangerous Darkness/Burden"... Smeagol on the other hand could translate to "Dangerous big hole used for a home" which could more accurately be translated to "Mansion" or something like that. But that's just my guess based on a little research and probably isn't accurate. – Durakken Oct 18 '16 at 14:21

5 Answers5

14

Maybe

I have heard three hypotheses about the name of Gollum:

It is from Old Norse

In The Annotated Hobbit with annotations by Douglas Anderson, Anderson claims that Gollum is from the Old Norse gull meaning Gold, and an inflected form of this is gollum meaning; gold, treasure or something precious.

The compound word fingr-gull means finger ring, so gull in this usage means ring.

Inspired by the Jewish Golem

The Jewish Golem is mentioned in Psalm 139 (King James Translation)

Specifically verse 16, which is translated from the original Hebrew as:

Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.

Substance being translated from the Hebrew consonants GLM

Other than the names sounding very similar, Psalm 139 verse 15 also has the following similarity:

My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.

When Smeagol became Gollum he descended into the lowest parts of the earth within the mountains.

Some legends of the Jewish Golem, namely the one written by Rabbi Judah Loew ben Bezalel about the Golem that protected the Jewish Quarter of Prague, also have the creature being able to turn invisible with the aid of a necklace.

This obviously has direct parallels with Tolkien's Gollum who turns invisible with the aid of the One Ring.

It is the sound Gollum makes in his throat

Again from The Annotated Hobbit Douglas Anderson states:

In the first edition of The Hobbit Tolkien wrote that he got the name "Gollum" (1937) from this "gurgling sound." In Tolkien's words, "Gollum" describes "the horrible swallowing noise in his throat", that Gollum makes when he speaks.

Indeed, "That is how he [Gollum] got his name, though he always called himself 'my precious'."

Though I have had no luck, yet, finding this in anything from Tolkien himself.

All three are plausible, and without anything from Tolkien himself I guess it is down to us to choose which one we like the most.

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Cearon O'Flynn
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  • Thanks for summarizing some of the main theories that were mentioned in the comment string under the question. That at least puts out there some of the possibilities, even if we do not have a clear answer. – ScottS Feb 07 '17 at 17:25
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    He got the name Gollum before going under the mountain. –  Feb 07 '17 at 19:29
  • @Po-ta-toe thanks fixed – Cearon O'Flynn Feb 07 '17 at 19:32
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    Are there any translations of Gollum in-universe? Such as in Sindarin, Quenya, etc? Thanks – Integration Feb 07 '17 at 19:40
  • @Withywindle not that I am aware of, hence the various theories regarding the name that are around. I've never seen mention in the letters, appendixes or HoME that I have read – Cearon O'Flynn Feb 07 '17 at 19:42
  • Regarding old norse, the word "gull" does mean gold in Norwegian. Note however that Tolkien was quite active personally in the translation of the book to other languages, and Gollum is called Gollum in the Norwegian, Danish and Swedish translations of the books. Whereas other things that originate from Nordic mythology are translated. For example Middle-Earth becoming translated back to what originally inspired Tolkien: Midgaard, which is the old Nordic name for the world where mankind lived, part of Yggdrasil, the world tree. – Amarth Feb 22 '19 at 17:07
  • I believe there are several places in the books themselves that establish that gollum was the sound from his throat, and that's how he got the name. And he does bark "gollum! gollum!" quite frequently in the books, no capital G. – Amarth Feb 22 '19 at 17:15
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In Old Norse, the word "köllum" is the first person plural for "call".

So it might be a word-play between "gold" and "we call".

Valorum
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Julia
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To be honest I don't have a very in depth answer but I hope this helps somewhat. When Gollum was first mentioned in The Hobbit, he wasn't really focused on creating languages for the Arda universe, he was just penning a children's book. He doesn't delve into it that much until he starts The Lord of The Rings trilogy, which he does a beautiful job with creating Elvish language and writing system.

So for Gollum, no I do not believe there was a hidden meaning in his name, just the noise he makes in his throat. He starts calling himself that after he hears others call him that, so he adopts the name which is why you don't hear him call himself that until later on in the book series.

Also, side note: he splits into two personalities that they make quite apparent in the movies, especially the two towers. Gollum is the dark deceiving part of him and smeagol is the remnants of who he was before the ring corrupted him, fighting to resurface and take back control of his life (At least that is my opinion).

Politank-Z
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Justin Shelly
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I don't know if this is applicable, but considering Tolkien's love of languages it seems plausible. The West Germanic word Ga-Laubon translates to "to hold dear". It seems possible that Ga-laubon could have been easily changed to Gollum (they're pronounced similiarly) in order to show gollum's attachment to the ring.

Hiccup Jones
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I was searching the WWW for theories to this question, becasue I recently learned that there is a turkish word "Iki Gönlüm" which means "two souls" so I was wondering if that where Gollum Comes from, since he does seen to have two souls.. So here is to add another theory :)

Tatjana
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    Do we have any kind of evidence Tolkien might have based the name on that, though? Admittedly Tolkien knew his way around languages, but what about Turkish especially? If you have anything to back that up, [edit]ing it in would make for a better answer. – Jenayah Feb 22 '19 at 15:52
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    I agree with @Jenayah that, while the possible connection is intriguing, some documented proof (1) that such is what the term means in Turkish and (2) that Tolkien specifically had familiarity with Turkish would at least make this answer plausible and worth an up vote. – ScottS Feb 22 '19 at 16:37
  • @Amarth I disagree. In the chapter "Riddles in the Dark," Gollum refers constantly to himself in the first person plural (we, us, our), and after realizing Bilbo likely has the ring and has escaped him, it notes "After a while Gollum stopped weeping and began to talk. He seemed to be having an argument with himself." And goes on to give a back and forth dialog related to that argument. So the schizophrenia is there in The Hobbit. Here's a copy of the chapter online: https://genius.com/J-r-r-tolkien-the-hobbit-chapter-5-riddles-in-the-dark-annotated – ScottS Feb 22 '19 at 17:57
  • @ScottS Ah fair enough. I didn't remember those details. – Amarth Feb 22 '19 at 20:55