Timeline Event
Déagol finds the One Ring in the Anduin
Event Type: Artifacts
Age: 3rd Age - The Stewards
Year: 2463
Description:
2460
The Watchful Peace ends. Sauron returns with increased strength to Dol Guldur.
2463
The White Council is formed. About this time Déagol the Stoor finds the One Ring....
The Lord of the Rings, Appendix B, The Tale of Years: The Third Age
Then in the midst of gathering fear and the rumour of war the foreboding of Elrond was proved true, and the One Ring was indeed found again, by a chance more strange than even Mithrandir had foreseen; and it was hidden from Curunír and from Sauron. For it had been taken from Anduin long ere they sought for it, being found by one of the small fisher-folk that dwelt by the River, ere the Kings failed in Gondor....
The Silmarillion, Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age
'[Long] ago, there lived by the banks of the Great River on the edge of Wilderland a clever-handed and quiet-footed little people. I guess they were of hobbit-kind; akin to the fathers of the fathers of the Stoors, for they loved the River, and often swam in it, or made little boats of reeds. There was among them a family of high repute, for it was large and wealthier than most.... The most inquisitive and curious-minded of that family was called Sméagol....
'He had a friend called Déagol, of similar sort, sharper-eyed but not so quick and strong. On a time they took a boat and went down to the Gladden Fields, where there were great beds of iris and flowering reeds. There Sméagol got out and went nosing about the banks but Déagol sat in the boat and fished. Suddenly a great fish took his hook, and before he knew where he was, he was dragged out and down into the water, to the bottom. Then he let go of his line, for he thought he saw something shining in the river-bed; and holding his breath he grabbed at it.
'Then up he came spluttering, with weeds in his hair and a handful of mud; and he swam to the bank. And behold! when he washed the mud away, there in his hand lay a beautiful golden ring; and it shone and glittered in the sun, so that his heart was glad. But Sméagol had been watching him from behind a tree, and as Déagol gloated over the ring, Sméagol came softly up behind.'
The Fellowship of the Ring, LoTR Book 1, Ch 2, The Shadow of the Past
Contributors:
Lyllyn 27Jul03
Elena Tiriel 25Jul06