Tolkein was a professor of Old English Language and created all of the languages in LOTR and TABA before any of the characters so he had a pretty good ear for language. It might be true that Smeagol's name change to Gollum could be linked to his being a slave to the One Ring, but I always read that it came from the g/hollum g/hollum noise (very hard to write phonetically without the book on me!) he made after his long stay in the Misty Mountains with the goblins. I've never really thought about it, but I wouldn't put it past him, he was very clever with his words. Next time I read it I will definitely see it with that in mind!

Bexter

ps
I know Terry Pratchett uses the word golem in his discworld series for the, well, golems in them. Feet of Clay is all about them and in the more recent Going Postal, Adora Belle Dearheart is part of the Golem Trust... (also Making Money contains a fair few of them (currency base))

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