In the original version, there is minimal physical description of Gollum (it was dark after all) and the ring was simply a magic ring that granted invisibility. Gollum lost it and IIRC he just let Bilbo go. They whole idea of him being some hobbit-like creature corrupted by the One Ring was not present at all. It was one of a series of fairy-tale adventures no more important than the trolls turning to stone. Bilbo needed a way to sneak around Smaug, so he found a magic ring.
It's doubtless still possible to find that version, I read it in an old country library that had it on the shelf since the 1950s.
It's doubtless still possible to find that version, I read it in an old country library that had it on the shelf since the 1950s.