Provide an exact number for how many years Gollum had the ring
Executive summary
The best-supported, source-cited answer is that Gollum possessed the One Ring for 478 years, measured from the recorded year Déagol found the Ring (TA 2463) to the year Bilbo found it (TA 2941) [1]. Popular summaries round that figure to "about 500 years" or "nearly 500 years," which are shorthand versions of the same timeline but not the exact count [2] [3].
1. The precise timeline in Tolkien's chronology
Tolkien's internal chronology—specifically Appendix B, "The Tale of Years,"—places Déagol's finding of the Ring and Sméagol's murder of Déagol in Third Age 2463 and Bilbo's finding in Third Age 2941, yielding an interval of 478 years during which Sméagol/Gollum was the Ring-bearer [1]. The 478-year figure is explicitly calculated by readers using those canonical dates and is the most exact number grounded in Tolkien's own dating of events [1].
2. Why many sources say "about 500 years"
Several widely read summaries and encyclopedic entries describe Gollum's tenure with the Ring as "500 years," "nearly 500 years," or "over 500 years," reflecting a tendency to round for dramatic emphasis and reader convenience; Wikipedia and One Ring articles use the 500-year phrasing as a concise descriptor [2] [4]. Media explainers and fan sites also favor rounded numbers—phrases like "over 500 years" or "nearly 500 years" appear in outlets such as CBR and other popular articles, which prioritize narrative clarity over chronological precision [5] [3].
3. What "had the Ring" actually means in debate
Discrepancies in phrasing arise from different readings of "having" the Ring: some commentators mean continuous physical possession, others include the Ring's lingering effects after loss, and still others emphasize the Ring's influence rather than literal wearing [6] [7]. Tolkien scholars and fans note that Gollum "possessed" the Ring from Déagol's finding until Bilbo's discovery—hence the 478-year span—while discussions about whether Gollum "wore" the Ring often point out that he seldom used it in his cave and that the Ring's corrupting, life-extending influence could outlast active use [6] [2].
4. Sources and their implicit agendas or strengths
Canonical dating comes from Tolkien's appendices and is the strongest primary evidence; fan calculations that cite Appendix B yield the 478 figure and are thus grounded in primary texts [1]. Encyclopedic and journalistic sources like Wikipedia or CBR aim for accessibility and therefore adopt rounded figures—these are not incorrect as approximations but are less precise than the appendix-derived count [2] [5]. Q&A forums and speculative essays introduce theories about lingering life-force, addiction, or continuity gaps, which are interpretive and should be treated as commentary rather than documentary fact [8] [7].
5. How the Ring's effects complicate "years had" as a meaningful measure
Even with an exact 478‑year possession, scholars emphasize that the Ring's metaphysical effects—prolonging life, altering mind and body—complicate causal narratives about aging and death: Tolkien and commentators argue the Ring prolonged Gollum's life unnaturally, so "years possessed" is a useful metric for influence but not a straightforward biological explanation [2] [3]. Interpretive pieces propose that the Ring's influence can linger or have cumulative effects, which helps explain why Gollum did not simply age to natural death immediately after losing the Ring, but those explanations are interpretive extrapolations rather than direct statements of chronology [7].
6. Bottom line and how to state it with precision
State the exact figure as 478 years when precision is required and attribute that number to Tolkien's dated timeline (Appendix B) as collated by Tolkien scholars and fan chronologies [1]. When a summary is acceptable, "about 500 years" or "nearly 500 years" is the common, widely circulated shorthand used in encyclopedias and popular media [2] [5].