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Favorite Middle Earth Race

Right ..

.. movin' on.

What race was Gollum again? He wasn't a Hobbit, I know that. Was he human? I seem to remember something like 'riverpeople', or some such race.

Cheers
 
Taken from Lord of the rings FAQ web site

Was Gollum a hobbit?

From: The Tolkien FAQ by William D.B. Loos

Yes, beyond all doubt. Gandalf's opinion alone: "I guess they were of hobbit-kind; akin to the fathers of the fathers of the Stoors" (The Fellowship of the Ring, 62) should be sufficient to settle this, but it is confirmed in several other places.
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Ahem ...

I don't know - what do Hobbits drink?

(How's that for dragging a lost thread back on topic!?)

Cheers
 
Martin said:
What race was Gollum again? He wasn't a Hobbit, I know that. Was he human? I seem to remember something like 'riverpeople', or some such race.
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He was of the River Folk, or the Stoor strain of Hobbits, so he was hobbit-like rather than pure hobbit. I don't know what race the 'like' part comes from though.
 
Martin said:
Thanks. I was really wondering.
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But what would you have done if someone had posted the question in your Ask Me Anything thread? You don't have the luxury to really wonder about anything. You need to buck up your ideas, sonny jim.
 
If someone asked me, I'd use all my resources (read: Google) to find the answer - seeing as it was only li'l ol' me who was wondering, I didn't want to go through all that hassle. (This is my inferiority-complex speaking.)

Plus, I can wonder, sometimes, can't I? After all the things I looked up for you guys?

Cheers
 
Well, I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to ask you to jump into this really deep and foul smelling pit (no, not that one Beardo). It'll be best if you just cooperate.
 
Litany said:
He was of the River Folk, or the Stoor strain of Hobbits, so he was hobbit-like rather than pure hobbit. I don't know what race the 'like' part comes from though.
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No, iactually he is fully hobbit

Yes, beyond all doubt. Gandalf's opinion alone: "I guess they were of hobbit-kind; akin to the fathers of the fathers of the Stoors" (The Fellowship of the Ring, 62) should be sufficient to settle this, but it is confirmed in several other places.

The Tale of Years (The Return of the King, Appendix B) has the following entry for the year TA 2463: "About this time Deagol the Stoor finds the One Ring, and is murdered by Smeagol." (The Return of the King, p. 368).

Since it was explained in the Prologue that Stoors were one of the three branches of hobbits (The Fellowship of the Ring, 12), it is clear that the compiler of this entry, evidently either Merry and/or Pippin's heirs (The Fellowship of the Ring, 24-25), accepted this conclusion.

In "The Hunt for the Ring" (Unfinished Tales, Three, IV) it is told that Sauron concluded from his interrogation of Gollum that Bilbo must have been the same sort of creature (Unfinished Tales, 342) (indeed, Gandalf concluded the same thing from his talks with Bilbo (The Fellowship of the Ring, 63)). The following passing reference shows that the author of "The Hunt for the Ring" accepts Gollum's hobbit origin: "Ultimately indomitable [Gollum] was, except by death, as Sauron guessed, both from his halfling nature, and from a cause which Sauron did not fully comprehend ..." (Unfinished Tales, 337).

References:

The Fellowship of the Ring, 12, (Prologue), 24-25 (Prologue, "Note on the Shire Records"), 62-63 (I,2)

The Return of the King, Appendix B

Unfinished Tales, 337 (Three, IV, i), 342 (Three, IV, ii)

The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, 289-290 (#214)
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