The Man who Became a Monster(An adaptation of J. R. Tolkien’s Novel The Lord of the Rings)

By P. W. Holcomb

Table of Contents• Meet the Main Characters• Prologue• Chapter 1: The Beginning• Chapter 2: The Birth of a Monster• Chapter 3: The Evolution of a Monster• Chapter 4: The Fate of a Monster• Epilogue• Works Cited

Main Characters

Smeagol Deagol

Prologue

To my readers… The story which you are about to read may seem to be one that you have heard of before, the characters may even look similar to ones you already know, but let me assure you that this is a unique story with a lesson that you will not soon forget…For this is the story of a man and a monster!

Chapter 1 : The Beginning

Chapter 1: The Beginning

Our story begins many years ago in a time when myth and magic were not just words, but were in fact a very real part of the world. In this world there was a small yet peaceful village inhabited by some very peculiar creatures know as hobbits. Now you might be asking yourself what is a hobbit?

The Shire

Chapter 1: The Beginning (Continued)

Hobbits are very much like us, but they do possess a few traits that make them unique. They are shorter than most and possess larger hands and feet than us, but despite these differences hobbits, like us are peaceful creatures… Well for the most part. There was one hobbit that ended up becoming something much darker… a real life monster and his name is Gollum.

A Hobbit

Chapter 1: The Beginning (Continued)

Now Gollum was not always a monster, he used to be known as Smeagol a respectable member of society who was beloved by his brother Deagol, his closest living relative. If you were to ask anyone to describe Smeagol the term monster would be the last thing that came to peoples minds, a little greedy and hot headed maybe but certainly not a monster. Sadly this would not always be true. For Smeagol had a desperate longing for gold. A longing that his humble life could not fulfill. You see Smeagol and his brother Deagol were fishermen and were often barely able to make ends meet. This situation infuriated Smeagol to no end, but his brother was always able to help to keep Smeagol’s temper under control. At least he was able to until that fateful day, the day that Smeagol’s life would forever change.

Chapter 2 : The Birth of a Monster

Chapter 2: The Birth of a Monster

That day started out like any other, Deagol and Smeagol woke up early, had a light breakfast, then went out to catch their dinner for that night. If that is all that happened then this would have been a day like any other, but on this particular day Deagol landed a particularly large fish. In fact this fish was so large that it pulled Deagol in to the river. Once he recovered from the shock of being pulled in to the water Deagol started to swim towards the surface when something caught his eye. It was a golden ring the likes of which he had never seen before.

Deagol and Smeagol

Once Deagol had made it back to shore he showed the ring to his brother Smeagol. This would be the last mistake that Deagol would ever make. Because upon seeing the golden ring Smeagol’s desire for wealth took over and he tried to take the ring from his brother. When Deagol refuse to give it to him something in Smeagol snapped and he attacked his brother. When the fight was over Smeagol carefully held the ring in his hand entranced by its beauty and he did not even seem to realize that he had just murdered his brother.

Deagol and Smeagol 2

Chapter 2: The Birth of a Monster (Continued)

Chapter 3 : The Evolution of a Monster

Chapter 3: The Evolution of a Monster

Now that he possessed the golden ring that had briefly belonged to his brother Deagol, Smeagol though that he would be happy, for he had something that he thought others would value. For a time he was happy, but that time did not last. He felt that he needed more gold, more wealth to be happy and there was no one or nothing was going to stop him from achieving happiness.

Smeagol 2

Chapter 3: The Evolution of a Monster (Continued)

In the years that followed his brothers death, Smeagol committed crime after crime in is pursuit of wealth. It was not long before he possessed more wealth than he ever imagined, yet he was still miserable and he could not understand why. After a while the people found the body of Deagol and banded together to bring Smeagol to justice for this murder that he had committed and the gold that he had taken from the villagers. In an act of what they believed to be mercy the village sentenced him to exile instead of death. Smeagol viewed this punishment as exceptionally cruel because he had to leave behind the only thing that he felt could bring him happiness, his gold.

Smeagol 3

Chapter 3: The Evolution of a Monster (Continued)

During his exile Smeagol had two things to keep him going his anger towards the village that had banished him and the golden ring that he had taken from his murdered brother which the village allowed him to keep as a reminder of his greed. With these and the memories of what he had done and lost, Smeagol began to change in to a creature that looked as monstrous on the outside as he was on the inside.

Smeagol 4

Chapter 4 : The Fate of a Monster

Chapter 4: The Fate of a Monster

It was many years later when Smeagol was able to truly realize what he had done. With this realization came a feeling of guilt and a need for forgiveness and acceptance. So Smeagol traveled back to his former home in search of these. Unfortunately when he arrived he was not greeted with either of these, but he was in fact greeted with fear and hatred, for he no longer looked as he once did. It had been so long that he had forgotten that his appearance was just as monstrous as he once was. With that Smeagol left his village for the last time and headed towards the mountains with no intention of ever returning again.

Smeagol 5

Chapter 4: The Fate of a Monster (Continued)

When he had finally arrived at the base of the mountains north of his village Smeagol found a system of caves that would become his home from now on. For years he regretted what he had done and wished more than anything that he could have changed the past and just be happy for his brother when he found that golden ring instead of killing him for it, but even in a world where magic is real ones past actions can never be changed. You can only live with the consequences of those actions.

Smeagol 6

Epilogue

Hello again my readers. Now that you have heard the story of Smeagol the man who became a monster I hope you can see the point of the story… Your actions and intentions are what can truly make you a monster not how you look. It is true that Once you become a monster on the inside people will likely start to view you as one. Now in our modern world you will not physically change like Smeagol did, but how people perceive you will change. Before I let you go I will leave you with one final thought… In regards to those individuals who you may fear or consider to be monsters. Do you feel that they are this way because of their appearance or their actions and intentions?

The EndWorks Cited to Follow

Works Cited• Pictures in order of appearance:• Smeagol retrieved from: http://www.cinema52.com/2014/03/king-returner/

• Deagol retrieved from: http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/D%C3%A9agol

• The Shire retrieved from: http://movies.film-cine.com/the-hobbit-m898

• A Hobbit retrieved from: http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Hobbit-Blu-ray-Infograph-Reveals-Facts-About-Hobbits-Elves-Dwarves-36340.html

• Deagol and Smeagol retrieved from: https://www.elfenomeno.com/info/ver/9005/titulo/Banda-Sonora-de-El-Retorno-del-Rey

• Deagol and Smeagol 2 retrieved from: http://www.councilofelrond.com/moviebook/4-07-a-prologue/

Works Cited (Continued)

• Smeagol 2 retrieved from: https://www.pinterest.com/annagbocka/hobbit-i-w%C5%82adca-pier%C5%9Bcieni-z%C5%82o/

• Smeagol 3 retrieved from: https://www.pinterest.com/serbanpetrisor3/gollum/

• Smeagol 4 retrieved from: https://www.pinterest.com/annagbocka/hobbit-i-w%C5%82adca-pier%C5%9Bcieni-z%C5%82o/

• Smeagol 5 retrieved from: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/360569513892272301/

• Smeagol 6 retrieved from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gollum

• Basic facts about Smeagol and Deagol retrieved from: The lord of the rings book series by J. R. Tolkien