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50 free Gollum trivia questions with answers — entertainment quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
Gollum is the creature everyone remembers from The Hobbit, and the one Tolkien rewrote. In the first edition he offered Bilbo the Ring as a prize and showed him the way out; once The Lord of the Rings turned the trinket into the ruling Ring, that version became the lie Bilbo told the dwarves. By the time he dies at the Crack of Doom he is nearly 600 years old, split between Slinker and Stinker, and, as Tolkien insisted, not altogether wicked. These 50 questions cover the whole of him: the Stoor hobbit of the Gladden Fields, the birthday murder of Deagol, the grandmother who disowned him, the lamp-like eyes and paddle feet, his hatred of lembas and Elven rope, the oath sworn on the Ring, the near-repentance on the stairs that Sam ruined, and the fall that finished the quest. Then the scholarship and the screen: the Old Norse word behind his name, the Gagool and Morlock comparisons, the British Medical Journal diagnosis, the Russian Gollum with cabbage leaves on his head, the cat that gave Andy Serkis the throat noise, and the Two Towers argument scene shot as a dialogue with himself. Every answer is cited to a page we checked, with a short explanation.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Which Tolkien scholar calls Gollum Tolkien's 'central monster-figure'?
Verlyn Flieger
She sees him as Grendel and the Beowulf dragon combined in one figure.
Q 02To which branch of hobbits did Gollum originally belong?
Stoors
His River-folk lived near the Gladden Fields on the Anduin.
Q 03Tolkien presents Smeagol as a 'translation' of which Middle-earth name, meaning 'burrowing'?
Trahald
It is rendered with a name based on the Old English verb smeagan, 'to scrutinize'; Deagol translates Nahald.
Q 04How did the name Gollum arise?
From a swallowing noise in his throat
His relatives coined it before his grandmother disowned him.
Q 05Whom did Smeagol murder to get the Ring?
His cousin Deagol
The victim had been pulled into the Anduin by a fish and found the Ring in the riverbed.
Q 06On what occasion did Smeagol demand the Ring as a 'present'?
His birthday
He strangled his companion when the gift was refused.
Q 07Which relative disowned Smeagol after his thieving and spying with the Ring?
His grandmother
She was the matriarch of the extended family he grew up in.
Q 08Where does Gollum live when Bilbo meets him?
An island in an underground lake
It lies at the roots of the Misty Mountains, below the Great Goblin's stronghold.
Q 09What does Gollum eat in his cave?
Cavefish and stray goblins
He fishes from a small boat; his eyes have become lamp-like in the dark.
Q 10What contest do Bilbo and Gollum play in the dark?
A riddle game
The prize is to be shown the way out of the mountains.
Q 11What was Bilbo's final, unanswerable 'riddle'?
What have I got in my pocket?
Gollum realises the answer only when he finds the Ring missing.
Q 12In the first edition of The Hobbit, what did Gollum offer Bilbo as a prize for winning?
The Ring itself
Tolkien rewrote the chapter once the Ring became the ruling Ring, and the old story became Bilbo's lie.
Q 13Why does Bilbo not kill Gollum as he escapes the cave?
He is overcome with pity
He leaps over him instead; Frodo and Sam later make the same choice.
Q 21On what does Gollum swear his oath to help Frodo?
The Ring itself
Frodo warns him the Precious will hold him to it.
Q 22Which two nicknames does Sam give Gollum's two personalities?
Stinker and Slinker
A green glint in the eyes signals the switch between them.
Q 23Who ruins Gollum's moment of near-repentance on the stairs up to the pass?
Sam, with harsh words
Tolkien called it the story's most tragic moment.
Which pass does Gollum lead the hobbits to as his 'other way' into Mordor?
Q 14Which monstrous spider did Gollum serve as a spy, bringing her food?
Shelob
He later tries to feed Frodo and Sam to her.
Q 15Which two words did Gollum reveal to Sauron under torture?
Baggins and Shire
That is how the Nazgul knew where to ride.
Q 16Who captured Gollum and handed him to the Wood Elves of Mirkwood?
Aragorn
Gandalf interrogated him there before he escaped with help from Sauron's orcs.
Q 17Where does Gollum begin trailing the Fellowship?
Moria
Frodo, Gandalf and Aragorn all notice him.
Q 18How does Gollum follow the Fellowship's boats down the Anduin?
Paddling a log
Sam notices his paddle-feet, 'like a swan's almost'.
Q 19In which hills do Frodo and Sam finally confront Gollum?
Emyn Muil
He nearly strangles Sam before Frodo subdues him with Sting.
Q 20What does Sam tie around Gollum's ankle as a leash?
Elvish rope
The mere touch of the Elven-made rope causes him pain.
Cirith Ungol
Faramir warns Frodo of the evil of the place and of Gollum's treachery.
Q 25What is Gollum's final word as he falls into the Crack of Doom?
Precious!
Frodo later urges Sam to forgive him, since the quest would have failed without him.
Q 26What does Gollum bite off Frodo at Mount Doom?
A finger
Frodo had just claimed the Ring and put it on.
Q 27Roughly how old was Gollum when the Ring was destroyed?
Almost 600
556 years separated his finding of the Ring from its destruction.
Q 28Which Old Norse word, meaning 'gold' or 'treasure', may be the source of the name Gollum?
Gull
Its dative form is gollum; another theory points to the golem of Jewish folklore.
Q 29Which illustrator drew Gollum as very large because the first edition never gave his size?
Tove Jansson
Tolkien later added that he was 'a small slimy creature'.
Q 30What do the rangers of Ithilien wonder Gollum might be?
A tailless black squirrel
An orc later compares him to a spider or a starved frog.