When he is tortured in Mordor, Gollum famously screams 'Shire! Baggins!' to divulge the location of the Ring. However, I've recently been rereading The Hobbit, and at no point does Bilbo say the word 'Shire', or even insinuates it. I've heard some claim he remembers it from his youth, but that seems highly unlikely due to his lack of the memory of the word 'Baggins'. So, how did Gollum know?
-
4Bilbo tells him– EdlothiadJul 14, 2017 at 22:46
-
@Edlothiad When? Not in the pool scene.– ImperatorJul 14, 2017 at 22:47
-
Ye I swear he does– EdlothiadJul 14, 2017 at 22:48
-
6Gandalf says in "The Shadow of the Past," "Well, as for the name, Bilbo very foolishly told Gollum himself; and after that it would not be difficult to discover his country, once Gollum came out."– EdlothiadJul 14, 2017 at 22:49
-
1@Edlothiad was quite right. "What iss he, my preciouss?" whispered Gollum (who always spoke to himself through never having anyone else to speak to). This is what he had come to find out, for he was not really very hungry at the moment, only curious; otherwise he would have grabbed first and whispered afterwards. "I am Mr. Bilbo Baggins. I have lost the dwarves and I have lost the wizard, and I don't know where I am; and I don't want to know, if only I can get away." "What's he got in his handses?" said Gollum, looking at the sword, which he did not quite like.– A. B.Jun 27, 2020 at 22:42
|
Show 2 more comments
1 Answer
Bilbo was apparently quite famous in certain parts of the world, in connection with the murder of Smaug. Merely listening for the name of a famous hobbit adventurer named Bilbo Baggins (in Dale) was enough to point Gollum in the right direction, and presumably to remind him of Bilbo's name.
'That is a sample of his talk. I don't suppose you want any more. I had weary days of it. But from hints dropped among the snarls I even gathered that his padding feet had taken him at last to Esgaroth, and even to the streets of Dale, listening secretly and peering. Well, the news of the great events went far and wide in Wilderland, and many had heard Bilbo's name and knew where he came from. We had made no secret of our return journey to his home in the West. Gollum's sharp ears would soon learn what he wanted.'
Fellowship of the Ring: The Shadow of the Past
answered Jul 14, 2017 at 23:15
