Samwise Gamgee

Biography

“What a tale we have been in, Mr. Frodo, haven’t we? I wish I could hear it told! Do you think they’ll say: Now comes the story of Nine-fingered Frodo and the Ring of Doom? And then everyone will hush, like we did, when in Rivendell they told us the tale of Beren One-hand and the Great Jewel. I wish I could hear it! And I wonder how it will go on after our part.”

– The Return of the King, “The Field of Cormallen”

Samwise Gamgee was a hobbit better known as Sam, who became the best friend and closest ally of Frodo Baggins. He was one of the three “conspirators” that accompanied Frodo on his journey to Rivendell and became one of the most important supporting characters that had a key role in helping Frodo complete his quest to destroy the One Ring.

Early Years

Sam lived and grew up in the Shire on Bagshot Row. His father, Hamfast “The Gaffer” Gamgee, married his mother Bell Goodchild [1], and they had six children: Hamson, Halfred, Daisy, May, Sam, and Marigold. Like any typical hobbit, he loved simple rustic things and would rather lead a quiet life unmindful of what’s happening outside the Shire. The only thing his fellow hobbits might have considered odd about him was his insatiable curiosity about Elves.

It all began when he thought he had seen one in the woods. As a tiny lad, this fascination was further nurtured within him by Bilbo Baggins, who had told him many tales about Elves and his encounters with them. Since then, he had never given up hope of meeting one up close one day. Sam grew up being extremely fond of Bilbo, and his nephew Frodo and his devotion to them became unquestionable. They were very kind to him and had also taught him how to read, which is uncommon for hobbits. In time, he even showed a knack for poetry. When his father got too old, Sam carried on his job as a gardener. He also tended the garden of Bag End, where Bilbo and Frodo lived.

The Quest of the One Ring

Sam’s involvement in the quest started in Bag End while Gandalf and Frodo were discussing the magical ring that Frodo inherited from Bilbo. Gandalf had learned that what Bilbo had in his possession all along was the One Ring of Sauron. It was decided that the best course of action was for Frodo to take it to the elves in Rivendell and let them take care of it. Sam had been trimming a grass border under a nearby window until Gandalf caught him eavesdropping on them. As “punishment,” the old wizard thought it wise for Sam to accompany Frodo on this dangerous journey to keep him from revealing to others what he had heard. He was only too happy to oblige because he wanted to protect his master. Sam also saw it as an opportunity to meet elves finally.

When Frodo set out on the road to Rivendell, he and Sam were joined by Pippin, and later by Merry. These were two of Frodo’s closest friends in the Shire that he grew up with. Along the roads and pathways, they were constantly hounded by Black Riders. The hobbits eventually arrived in Rivendell with the help of a ranger named Strider they met in Bree and an elf-lord named Glorfindel. Elrond, the Lord of Rivendell, healed Frodo, who was wounded by a Black Rider’s blade. He awoke to be reunited with Gandalf again. During the Council of Elrond, it was revealed that Strider was Aragorn, the rightful heir of Isildur to the thrones of Gondor and Arnor. They reached a consensus that the only way to destroy the Ring was to cast it into the fires of Mount Doom where it was forged.

A heated argument followed between representatives from the race of Elves, Men, and Dwarves, on who should take charge of the Ring. Realizing what he must do, Frodo volunteered to be the ring bearer. Sam, along with his hobbit companions, were appointed as members of a fellowship of nine individuals tasked with helping Frodo in this quest. Included in the Company were Aragorn and Boromir from the race of Men, the woodland elf Legolas, Gimli the dwarf, and the wizard Gandalf. They lost Gandalf in a disastrous detour through the dwarven Mines of Moria. After escaping Moria, they ended up in Lothlórien, where they met Lord Celeborn and Galadriel, the lady of Lórien. After a while, it was time for them to leave. Galadriel gave each of the Company a parting gift. For Frodo, she gave a phial containing the light of Eärendil’s star that she said would shine a light in his darkest hour.

The remainder of the fellowship departed Lothlórien on boats provided by Celeborn. With Gandalf’s demise, both Aragorn and Boromir were wavering in their obligation to accompany Frodo into the Land of Shadow. In a moment of weakness, Boromir was seduced by the Ring and tried to take it from Frodo when they were alone together. Frodo managed to get away from him by using the Ring to turn invisible. Realizing what he had done filled Boromir with remorse. When he told the rest of the Company what had happened, they all started looking for Frodo. Sam realized that Frodo was determined to continue the quest alone and ran back in time to see what looked like an empty boat departing the riverbank. Frodo tried to dissuade Sam from following him but soon understood he had no choice but to let him tag along. They stocked up on supplies before heading back to the river to seek a path that would bring them into Mordor.

During this time, the rest of the fellowship came under heavy attack from Orcs. They found Boromir pierced with many arrows and sitting with his back to a tree surrounded by several slain enemies. Before he died, he confessed about his attempt to take the Ring. He also told them that the orcs had kidnapped Merry & Pippin. With the fellowship broken and scattered, it was only Sam who remained with Frodo and proved critical in helping him see his mission through to the end. After going around in circles while climbing the craggy slopes of Emyn Muil, they managed to climb down. They spied Gollum climbing down the cliff and were able to subdue him. Frodo persuaded him to be their guide and take them to Mordor. Sam was right not to trust the creature, although he managed to guide them safely through the Dead Marshes and reach the Black Gate of Udûn. However, they found it too heavily fortified and impassable. Gollum convinced them to take an alternative passage further south, but they were captured by Boromir’s younger brother Faramir in Ithilien.

Sam carelessly spoke about how Boromir tried to take the One Ring, thus revealing to Faramir what Frodo had in his possession and what happened to his brother. Faramir tried to reassure Frodo that unlike Boromir, he had no desire for the Ring. Later, he released them after giving Frodo and Sam some provisions. He warned them not to trust Gollum, and that unnamed horrors were lying in wait for them in Cirith Ungol. At the steep Stairs of Cirith Ungol, Gollum lured the two hobbits into Shelob’s Lair to feed them to the giant spider. He was planning to retrieve the Ring from Frodo’s bones afterward. In the darkness of the tunnel, Sam reminded Frodo of Lady Galadriel’s gift to him. As Frodo held the phial aloft, it emitted a dazzling light revealing the monster Shelob and drove her away. Frodo began hacking away at the webbing with his sword Sting after handing Sam the phial.

Thinking that they were free, Frodo ran ahead and didn’t notice that the monster was rushing towards him from behind. Before Sam could warn his master, Gollum attacked him but was able to fend him off. He then rushed to Frodo and found him bound by cords and the monster bending over him. Sam was able to grab Sting from the ground, surprising Shelob, and seriously wounding her. With the phial’s light, he sent her fleeing back into her lair in fear. Thinking his master dead, he struggled on what to do before deciding to take the Ring and continue the quest alone. A short time later, orcs took Frodo’s body to the Tower of Cirith Ungol, with Sam overhearing one saying that he was alive and just stunned.

A battle ensued among the orcs over Frodo’s mithril vest, allowing Sam to rescue him and escape from the tower. Thus, Sam became a ring-bearer for a short while. Along with Bilbo, they were the only two who gave back the Ring willingly after being tempted by its visions. Disguised in orc gear, they made the long and arduous trek over a bleak volcanic wasteland before finally reaching the summit of Mount Doom. Weariness was overcoming Frodo until he collapsed. Sam picked him up and carried him on his back up the rough slopes until Gollum unexpectedly attacked them. While Sam kept Gollum at bay, Frodo trudged on and reached the edge of the Cracks of Doom. After struggling with Gollum, Sam rushed to Frodo but heard him abandoning his quest. Frodo declared that the Ring was his and slipped it on his finger before vanishing. Out of nowhere, Gollum struck Sam and knocked him out.

He charged at Frodo and bit off his finger with the Ring still on it. Gollum rejoiced at being reunited with his long lost precious. But in his excitement, he fell, taking the Ring with him into the fiery pit below. And so, at last, the One Ring was destroyed along with the Dark Lord Sauron in Barad-dûr. The Ring’s destruction caused Mount Doom to erupt violently. Sam and Frodo managed to make their way outside and were spotted by Gwiahir, the Windlord, who Gandalf sent to find them. Together with his fellow Eagles Meneldor and Landroval, they flew both hobbits to safety in Ithilien. Sam woke up to the sight of Gandalf the White, who took Frodo and him to a crowd waiting on the Field of Cormallen. There, the hobbits were honored as heroes of the War of the Ring. They were also greeted by Aragorn, who was now the rightful king of Arnor and Gondor.

Events Following the War of the Ring

Days after Aragorn’s Coronation in Minas Tirith, the hobbits set out for the long trek back home. Upon returning, they discovered the Shire now overrun by ruffians headed by Lotho Sackville-Baggins. After winning the Battle of Bywater, they returned to Hobbiton only to find Lotho dead. A greatly diminished Saruman was controlling him all along. Saruman said it was Grima Wormtongue who killed Lotho. It prompted Grima to slit the wizard’s throat, after which hobbit archers quickly dispatched him. What followed was the Scouring of the Shire to restore the land to how it was before. Sam married Rosie Cotton, who later bore him thirteen children. They lived in Bag End with Frodo, who served as deputy mayor for a while but then retired. Later on, Frodo joined the elves to sail across the sea, along with Bilbo and Gandalf. It was his wish to live the rest of his days in the Undying Lands. Before he left, he entrusted Sam with The Red Book of Westmarch containing his and Bilbo’s accounts of their adventures.

Later Life

Sam became the Shire’s Mayor and was reelected in seven consecutive terms, each lasting seven years. After the death of his wife Rosie, he handed the book down to his firstborn Elanor the Fair before finally leaving the Shire. And since he was briefly a ring-bearer, they allowed him to cross the sea towards the Undying Lands to reunite with Frodo.

Readers’ Take

A lot of readers regard Sam as the “real hero” of The Lord of the Rings saga rather than Frodo. Sam indeed played an instrumental role in the destruction of the Ring. He saved Frodo from Shelob and rescued him from the orcs in the Tower of Cirith Ungol [2]. He also carried Frodo up the slopes of Mount Doom, and without him, Frodo wouldn’t have reached Cracks of Doom. Throughout their journey, he served his master diligently and protected him, and tried to cheer him up when things turned bleak. He even dared to finish the quest by himself after he thought Shelob killed Frodo. Some would argue that it was Frodo with the willpower, intelligence, and disposition to bear the One-Ring even if he succumbed to its seduction at the very end. The Ring was a powerful entity that had been his burden for several months throughout the quest.

Tolkien’s Take

Gamgee was a name that Tolkien came up with from a type of “cotton-wool” he recalled hearing when he was a little child growing up in Birmingham. The Gamgee cotton-wool was a colloquial term for a surgical dressing called Gamgee Tissue, which was invented by Dr. Sampson Gamgee. In response to a letter from a Mr. Sam Gamgee in March 1956, he wrote that “the ‘Sam Gamgee’ of my story is a most heroic character, now widely beloved by many readers.” He makes a similar opinion in another letter calling Sam the “chief hero” of the trilogy.

Portrayals

In Ralph Bashki’s 1978 animated short The Lord of the Rings, Michael Scholes voiced Sam. Billy Barty did the live-action portrayal used for rotoscoping. In 1980, Rankin/Bass Productions did The Return of the King animation for TV, and Roddy McDowall lent his voice for Sam. Sean Astin portrayed Sam in a live-action movie adaptation of the Lord of the Rings trilogy directed and produced by Peter Jackson from 2001-2003.​