Gollum is the character who says “My precious” in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings.
Gollum, originally named Sméagol, uses the phrase “my precious” for the One Ring. The wording expresses his possessive obsession with the Ring, which he finds while fishing with his relative Déagol. Sméagol murders Déagol to keep it and eventually becomes the isolated creature known as Gollum.
The Ring’s influence extends Gollum’s life for centuries, but it also deforms his body, mind, and relationships. He loses the Ring to Bilbo Baggins beneath the Misty Mountains, then spends much of the story trying to recover it.
Readers sometimes attribute the phrase to Bilbo or Frodo because both characters possess the Ring. However, Gollum’s repeated use of “my precious” is his distinctive verbal expression. Tolkien’s text also shows that Gollum can refer to himself in the third person, reinforcing his divided identity.