Gollum's Grammar

[ElanorGamgee]

I have often pondered the unusual use of grammar in Gollum’s speech, namely the verb conjugation and pronouns, and I wonder why Tolkien chose this particular way for the creature to speak, so I analyzed several of the his statements, both concerning himself (in both Slinker and Stinker mentalities) and others. I have posted an argument similar to this on another Tolkien-related message board, but it wasn’t much discussed there, and I think that a discussion like this would last longer and be more interesting on this message board.

Concerning “Stinker,” or Gollum: Gollum always uses the first person plural pronoun, “we,” and conjugates his verbs in the third person singular (him, her, it) when speaking of himself. For example: “We hates it,” “And we’re so lonely, gollum,” and “But we won’t go back, no, no!” It is as if he is first talking of himself and another, represented as “we,” and then referring to only one person, but not necessarily himself, represented by the verb in the third person singular. But who are the “we” and the “he” of whom he speaks?

Concerning “Slinker,” or Sméagol: Very rarely Sméagol speaks, but mixes his use of the first person singular through the pronoun “I” with correct verb conjugation and the use of the third person singular pronouns with correct verb conjugation when referring to himself. For example: “I don’t know. I can’t help it. Master’s got it. Sméagol promised to help the master.” When Sméagol makes this statement (The Two Towers, “The Passage of the Marshes”), he is arguing with the other side of his personality, Gollum or Stinker, who uses the mixed persons in his pronouns and verb conjugations, as shown in the above paragraph. Accompanying the change in personality is the light in the creature’s eyes; Stinker’s have a green glow to them while Slinker’s have a pale glow. So, Sméagol speaks of himself both from the first person and from the third person, “he” and “I.”


Concerning “Slinker” and “Stinker’s” speech of others: While Gollum butchers his grammar while referring to himself, oddly enough, no matter which side of himself is speaking, he always refers to others using the correct pronouns and verb conjugations. For example: “Yes, yes, and Sam [he] stinks!” “Or hobbits [they] go down to join the Dead ones and light little candles,” and “He sees. He knows. He heard us make silly promises―against His orders, yes…The Wraiths [they] are searching.”


Other irregularities in speech: The only other really noticeable irregularities in the grammar of either Slinker or Stinker is the adding on of an extra “es” to many plural nouns and the frequent interjection of “Precious” and “gollum.”

So, he does not distort the verbs when referring to others, but as Stinker he refers to a “we” and a “he” and as Slinker he refers to an “I” and a “he,” both of which refer to himself. So, who is included in Stinker’s “we” and to whom does he refer in his “he?” Perhaps the “we” includes both the Stinker and the Slinker side of himself, the Stinker side being dominated by the power of the Ring. In all his arguments with himself, Stinker wishes to steal the Ring for himself while Slinker, tired and frightened, wishes to help “kind Master” and do no harm. But to whom does the “he” refer in Gollum’s speech? Is it the same “he” as used by Slinker/Sméagol to refer to himself, or does Stinker’s “he” refer to the Ring? Does his use of grammar portray the conflict within himself between the original Sméagol/Slinker and the Ring, represented by Gollum/Stinker?

[ July 10, 2002: Message edited by: ElanorGamgee ]

[Kuruharan]

Spoken like a true aspiring English major! [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

I always thought that "we" referred to Gollum and the Ring. That he had become to attached to the Ring and his will so chained to it that he associated his own person with it.

I'm not quite sure which "him's" you are referring to, but if you are referring to the "Him" with the capital "H" that is Sauron. (You'll recall that the two were personally acquainted.)

Gollum also refers to Frodo as he.

[ July 10, 2002: Message edited by: Kuruharan ]

[ElanorGamgee]

Spoken like a true aspiring English major!

Thank you [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

I always thought that "we" referred to Gollum and the Ring. That he had become to attached to the Ring and his will so chained to it that he associated his own person with it.

I agree; that is how I have always understood it.

I'm not quite sure which "him's" you are referring to, but if you are referring to the "Him" with the capital "H" that is Sauron. (You'll recall that the two were personally acquainted.)

I’m sorry if the “he” part was a bit confusing. I was referring both to the “he” implied by Slinker/Sméagol when he refers to himself in the third person and the “he” implied by Stinker/Gollum when he conjugates his verbs in the third person singular. The first “he” is obviously referring to Sméagol himself, but it is not clear to whom Stinker’s “he” is referring, whether to the side controlled by the Ring (Gollum) or the side controlled by the ancient hobbit (Sméagol). I hope that clears it up [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

[Arwen Imladris]

Hmmm, I never noticed that! I thought that when he refured to "We" he ment him and the ring, but I never noticed that he didn't do that when he was Smeagol. Very Interesting!

[Maédhros]

So, who is included in Stinker’s “we” and to whom does he refer in his “he?”

I too thought that when he spoke of we he was referring to the ring also.

[Kuruharan]

Uhhh, I'm still confused apparently. Let me quote the specific section that I was referring about because we may not be talking about the same passages.

"Suddenly Sam woke up thinking that he heard his master calling. It was evening. Frodo could not have called, for he had fallen asleep, and had slid down almost to the bottom of the pit. Gollum was by him. For a moment Sam thought that Gollum was trying to rouse Frodo; then he saw that it was not so. Gollum was talking to himself. Smeagol was holding a debate with some other thought that used the same voice but made it squeak and hiss. A pale light and a green light alternated in his eyes as he spoke.
'Smeagol promised,' said the first thought.
'Yes, yes, my precious,' came the answer, we promised: to save our Precious, not to let Him have it-never. But it's going to Him, yes, nearer every step. What's the hobbit going to do with it, we wonders, yes we wonders.'
'I don't know. I can't help it. Master's got it. Smeagol promised to help the master.'
'Yes, yes, to help the master: the master of the Precious. But if we was master then we could help ourselfs, yes, and still keep promises.'
'But Smeagol said that he would be very very good. Nice hobbit! He took cruel rope off Smeagol's leg. He speaks nicely to me.'
'Very very good, eh, my precious? Let's be good, good as fish, sweet one, but to ourselfs. Not hurt nice hobbit, of course, no, no.'
'But the Precious holds the promise,' the voice of Smeagol objected.
'Then take it,' said the other, 'and let's hold it ourselfs! Then we shall be master gollum! Make the other hobbit, the nasty suspicious hobbit, make him crawl, yes, gollum!'
'But not the nice hobbit?'
'Oh no, not if it doesn't please us. Still he's a Baggins, my precious, yes, a Baggins. A Baggins stole it. He found it and he said nothing, nothing. We hates Bagginses.'
'Not this Baggins.'
'Yes, every Baggins. All peoples that keep the Precious. We must have it!'
'But He'll see, He'll know. He'll take it from us!'
'He sees. He knows. He heard us make silly promises-against His orders, yes. Must take it. The Wraiths are searching. Must take it.'
'Not for Him!'
'No, sweet one. See, my precious: if we has it, then we can escape, even from Him, eh? Perhaps we grow very strong, stronger than Wraiths. Lord Smeagol? 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!'"

Is it that particular dialogue you are thinking about?

One time Gollum uses "he" in reference to Frodo where he says, "He took cruel rope off Smeagol's leg. He speaks nicely to me."

That is also a time where Gollum refers to himself in the third person saying, "But Smeagol said he would be very very good."

Gollum makes reference to Frodo and Bilbo (something I did not notice at first) in this sentence. "Still he's a Baggins, my precious, yes, a Baggins. A Baggins stole it. He found it and he said nothing, nothing. We hates Bagginses."

As far as I can tell (which I did miss that reference to Bilbo before) when Gollum uses "He" it refers to Sauron.

Is that the passage you were asking about, or are we talking about two different things? [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]

And I apologize for the length of this post, but I wanted to make sure that we were talking about the same thing.

[ElanorGamgee]

I think we're talking about two different things. I wasn't talking about when Gollum literally uses the pronoun "he" in his speech, as in your examples, but the implied "he/her/it" in his verb conjugation when referring to himself (or selves), since the verb is in the third person singular. I was considering whom the verb was representing, Gollum or Sméagol. For example, when he says, "We hates it," who exactly is "hates" representing? "We," it is widely agreed, represents both Slinker and Stinker. In the passages you listed, I agree that when he literally uses the word "he" in a sentence, Gollum is using it correctly to refer to whomever he is talking about, whether it be Sauron, Frodo, or otherwise.

[ July 10, 2002: Message edited by: ElanorGamgee ]

[Kuruharan]

Ahh, okay! I see now. Light finally dawns over Marblehead!

I think that, to use your example, "hates" is being used in place of the word "hate."

I was considering whom the verb was representing, Gollum or Sméagol.

I guess that the short answer to your question is, yes. [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img] Since they are the same person (sort of) it is just an incorrect use of the verb.

It is perhaps a way that Tolkien used to show how Gollum had degenerated through the use of such debased grammer. It is similar to his treatment of orcs.

[ July 10, 2002: Message edited by: Kuruharan ]

[ElanorGamgee]

It is perhaps a way that Tolkien used to show how Gollum had degenerated through the use of such debased grammer. It is similar to his treatment of orcs.

Yes, this makes sense. I probably was over-analyzing it. If it did refer specifically to one of the personalities, though, I'd think that it would have to be Stinker, since he only speaks like this when he's under the Ring's control.

[The Silver-shod Muse]

Not that this matters, but I noticed that Gollum uses "es" the incorrect way inconsistently. For example: hobbits and hobbitses.

This is a very interesting thread, Elanor. I have often wondered about it myself, but I'm afraid that I've been rather too lazy to do an in-depth study on it.

[Aragost]

We is Gollum and the ring
Him is Sauron [img]smilies/rolleyes.gif[/img]

[ElanorGamgee]

We is Gollum and the ring
Him is Sauron

I (and everyone else I've heard from on the topic) agree with you on your first statement, Aragost. How do you support your second statement?

[Gorothlammothiel]

I agree that Gollum refers to himself and the ring when he says "we" but he could also be refreing to his life before the ring "corrupted" him.

"We" could be Gollum and Smeagol?

I say this because Gollum is talking to the ring at times [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img] and he is talking to another persona, one which has different opinions to Gollum.

Just another thought provoking comment (or at least I hope it's thought provoking).

[ElanorGamgee]

That is a very good point, Gorothlammothiel. "We" could mean Gollum and the Ring, Gollum and Sméagol, Gollum, Sméagol, and the Ring, or even the Ring and Sméagol, although I don’t think that the last combination is very likely. Now we have four different possibilities for what could constitute "we." Very interesting!

[ July 12, 2002: Message edited by: ElanorGamgee ]

[Nar]

ElanorGamgee, very interesting question! I'll have to quote this again to keep myself from getting confused.

It is as if he is first talking of himself and another, represented as “we,” and then referring to only one person, but not necessarily himself, represented by the verb in the third person singular. But who are the “we” and the “he” of whom he speaks?

I agree that 'we' refers to slinker/Smeagol and stinker/Gollum-- which would mean that all 'we' statements hold for both of them. For statements that only hold for Smeagol's better self, he uses I.

As you say, regardless of whether the sentence leads off with 'we' or 'I' or 'Smeagol' the verb always assumes 'he'. Whether slinker, stinker or both, Smeagol and Gollum always share only one dried-up body.

Smeagol seems to be conjugating the verb by his one and only body, but delivering the subject as 'we' or 'I' depending on how many of his personalities are involved. It makes sense: his sense of selves rules his pronouns; his one body rules his action/verbs.


[ July 14, 2002: Message edited by: Nar ]

[ July 14, 2002: Message edited by: Nar ]

[ July 14, 2002: Message edited by: Nar ]

[ July 14, 2002: Message edited by: Nar ]

[ElanorGamgee]

Your interpretation makes a lot of sense, Nar. I had never thought of Gollum's "he" referring to the shared body with the "we" referring to the involved personalities. Thank you for sharing!

[ July 15, 2002: Message edited by: ElanorGamgee ]