In J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy novel The Hobbit, the creature Bilbo meets beneath the Misty Mountains is Gollum.
Bilbo encounters Gollum after becoming separated from Thorin’s company in the goblin tunnels. Gollum lives on a small island in an underground lake and challenges Bilbo to a riddle contest. The exchange gives Bilbo time to discover a way out while revealing Gollum’s lonely, secretive nature.
During the episode, Bilbo finds a mysterious golden ring. He does not yet understand its full significance, but the ring makes its wearer invisible. Gollum had possessed it for a long time and calls it his “birthday present,” although he has lost it in the tunnels.
Readers sometimes confuse Gollum with Smaug because both are major non-human figures in The Hobbit. Smaug is the dragon guarding the treasure beneath the Lonely Mountain, while Gollum is a cave-dweller encountered much earlier. Gollum’s role connects The Hobbit to Tolkien’s later mythology of the One Ring.