Recently there has been a flurry of activity in the media and online, concerning Dobby (from Harry Potter) and Gollum (from Lord of the Rings).
Word had got around suggesting that the two were one and the same character.
It was suggested that Dobby and Gollum were the same people.
You can imagine the effect that this had on fans of the two literary works.
There was so much tearing of the hair that the fans themselves began to look like Gollum.
Because of the seriousness of this claim, we decided we had better investigate and find out the truth.
Believe it or not, there are still people who have no idea who Dobby is. I know that is unbelievable but there are still people who have not yet read the books.
For their sakes, I will quickly run through who Dobby and Gollum are.
Is Dobby In Lord Of The Rings? Dobby does not appear in Lord Of The Rings, despite the news that Dobby and Gollum are the same people. In reality, Dobby and Gollum are not the same characters.
Dobby
Dobby, born 28th June (year not known) and died March 1998, was a character in the Harry Potter Universe.
He was a House Elf, which is a creature with large eyes and ears.
Most House Elfs are poorly dressed and are typically found in large houses.
A House Elf is normally very loyal to their master and their families.
The House Elfs believe that they were created to be nothing more than slaves who will obey all orders given by their owners.
They are not bound to obey orders given by anyone else.
Hogwarts, the school of wizardry, has hundreds of House Elfs toiling away in the background, although only a small number play any part in the Harry Potter stories.
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An important thing to remember about House Elfs in Harry Potter is that an owner can free the House Elf by giving him an item of clothing.
The relationship between Dobby and Harry Potter was forged when Harry Potter engineered the gift of clothing from Dobby’s owner (the evil Lucious Malfoy) and thereby freed Dobby.
Dobby was an exception to the rule that House Elfs were happy serving their masters, a bit of a rebel.
House Elves have a peculiar way of speaking and refer to themselves in the third person and are far less sophisticated in their thinking than humans (muggles) or wizards.
Dobby died in the book Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 when a knife is thrown at Harry Potter by Bellatrix Lestrange ended up killing Dobby.
Gollum
Gollum is a character in J.R.R Tolkien’s stories of Middle Earth.
He first appeared in the 1937 novel, The Hobbit.
He then gathered importance in the sequel Lord of the Rings.
Gollum was a “Stoor Hobbit.”
Stoor Hobbits were heavier build than other races of Hobbits.
They were attracted to water and were the only Hobbits that would routinely swim and use boats.
They were also less shy of men than other Hobbits.
Gollum was originally known as Sméagol but after he was corrupted by the One Ring became known as Gollum (connected with the awful noise he made from his throat when swallowing).
When Gollum was first encountered in the Hobbit, he was described as small and slimy.
He lived in an underground lake at the root of the Misty Mountains. He lived off cavefish which he caught from a boat.
Because of the dark, his eyes adapted and were described as “Lamplike” and they glowed with a sickly pale light.
His body became corrupted, as did his mind, due to the influence of the One Ring.
Why did the Media decide these two characters were the same?
In June 2018 the news “broke” that Dobby and Gollum were the same characters.
This was made public on British Chat Show “The Graham Norton Show” where supposedly Gollum and Dobby were both due to appear, with other guests Kylie Minogue and David Walliams.
Neither Gollum nor Dobby appeared at the beginning of the show but after 15 minutes Gollum slithered onto the stage.
When asked whether Dobby was on the way, Gollum replied
“No he isn’t! Hsssss! For he issss here already. He is me and I am him! We are the same person. Aiiieeee!!”
He went on to say that after Lord of the Rings he had no job and he asked J.K.Rowlings if he could do a guest spot in Harry Potter.
So that is where the controversy started and since then there have been numerous online discussions about this.
This is why we called in our special investigator to look into the matter.
Comparison Between Dobby And Gollum
The situation that Dobby and Gollum found themselves in was they were both bound to incredible evil.
Gollum was bound and corrupted by the One Ring, and Dobby was enslaved to Lucious Malfoy.
Both of them acted in ways that were outside of their control.
Dobby was bound by the belief that House Elfs were just there to serve, and Gollum was bound by the influence of the Ring.
Neither was fully free to act in independent ways.
Obviously, there was a physical similarity between them, they were both creatures that were small and had large ears.
Come to think of it that could also apply to Yoda from Star Wars.
They both spoke oddly.
Actually, that applies to Yoda too. (Maybe we are onto something here).
Both died for people/objects they loved.
Gollum died for “his precious”, and Dobby died for Harry Potter.
Ah, here we lose Yoda who died of old age.
Why They Cannot be the Same Character
When Gollum appeared on the Graham Norton Show he was already dead, thus proving he was an imposter.
It is clear from the description above that Gollum is a Stoor Hobbit, whilst Dobby is a House Elf.
In Lord of the Rings Elves are placed above Humans and Hobbits in the order of things.
In Harry Potter, the Eves (House Elfs) are placed lower than Muggles and Wizards.
So not only do we find they are different types of creatures, but they are vastly different in the order of living creatures.
It’s a bit like saying a human and a Brown Bear are the same.
Of course, we have evidence that Dobby and Gollum cannot be the same character because J.K. Rowlings has told us that it was just a cheap publicity shot by the media.
Just the same as when they said Gandalf and Dumbledore were the same characters.