Déagol
| House / Order | |
|---|---|
| Race / Culture | Hobbit (Stoor-kind) |
| Status | Slain |
| Origin | Gladden Fields, near the Anduin |
| Born | |
| Died | Third Age, by the Gladden Fields |
| Weapon | |
| Fate | Murdered by his kinsman Sméagol for the One Ring |
| Portrayed by |
Déagol was a hobbit of the Stoor-kind who found the One Ring in the Anduin near the Gladden Fields, and was at once murdered for it by his kinsman and friend Sméagol, who became Gollum. His death was the first deed worked by the recovered Ring, and the beginning of the long tale that led to the War of the Ring.
The finding of the Ring
Déagol lived among a family of Stoors, a riverside branch of the early Hobbits, who dwelt by the banks of the Great River near the Gladden Fields. One day he went fishing with his friend and kinsman Sméagol. A great fish dragged Déagol into the water, and as he groped along the river-bottom he found a ring of gold. It was the One Ring, lost there long before when Isildur was slain in the Gladden Fields.
His murder
When Déagol came ashore with his prize, Sméagol was at once seized by desire for the beautiful golden ring and demanded it as a birthday-present. When Déagol refused, Sméagol throttled him and took the Ring, hiding the body. This first murder, worked by the Ring's malice within moments of its recovery, set Sméagol on the road to becoming the wretched creature Gollum, who bore the Ring in the dark beneath the Misty Mountains for nearly five hundred years.