Samwise Gamgee
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In J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, Samwise Gamgee, commonly known as Sam, is a fictional character who was Frodo Baggins's servant, and proves, by virtue of his accompanying his master to the Crack of Doom, to be the most loyal of the Fellowship of the Ring.
A gardener by trade, Sam first appears to be an ordinary, working-class Hobbit of plain speech and habits. In light of this apparent normality, Sam's fascination with Elves and his gift for poetry are unusual. His interest in the wondrous world beyond The Shire (nurtured by his tutor Bilbo Baggins) sets Sam apart from the other, more prosaic and homebound Hobbits.
As the epic opens, Sam lives with his father, Hamfast Gamgee, known as "The Gaffer", on Bagshot Row in the Shire, close to Bag End. Sam's mother was Bell Goodchild, and he has five siblings: Hamson, Halfred, Daisy, May, and Marigold.
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[edit] Appearances
As "punishment" for eavesdropping on Gandalf's conversation with Frodo regarding the dangers of the One Ring, Sam is made Frodo's first companion on his journey to Rivendell at the beginning of The Lord of the Rings. They are joined by Meriadoc Brandybuck (Merry) and Peregrin Took (Pippin).
In Rivendell, Sam eavesdrops again during the Council of Elrond. When he hears that Frodo is to take the Ring to Mordor, Sam refuses to let his master go without him. Along with seven other characters, the two become members of the Fellowship of the Ring.
At first, Sam serves merely as a good companion and a carrier of luggage. However, as the books progress, this loyal companion and carrier of burdens is often more valuable to Frodo than experienced warriors. When Frodo decides to leave the rest of the Fellowship, Sam refuses to give up his responsibilities as a Companion, protector, and friend. Although mostly portrayed as having an outwardly simple character, Sam at times displays great perception and understanding. As Frodo determines to sneak away from everyone else, Sam quickly catches on. Finding Frodo, he insists on being allowed to accompany him. He carries most of the luggage, cooks, keeps watch at night whenever he can, and rations the food so Frodo has enough for the journey.
After Gollum leads them to Shelob's lair, she attacks and seemingly kills Frodo. Sam takes the Ring, intending to complete the quest himself. Because he holds the Ring for a time, he is considered one of the Ring-bearers. When he hears from Shagrat that Frodo is merely temporarily paralysed, he decides to rescue Frodo from the top of the Tower of Cirith Ungol, where the orcs took him. Sam also returns the Ring back to Frodo, becoming only the second Ring-bearer able to give up the Ring willingly (the other being Bilbo Baggins).
Sam then accompanies Frodo into Mordor. There is little food or water in Mordor, and the two hobbits are forced close to starvation while making the journey across Gorgoroth. Safe passage across the plains is partly ensured because the forces of Mordor are lured to the Black Gate by Aragorn and Gandalf.
As they move deeper into Mordor, the temptation of the Ring starts becoming too much for Frodo. Against his own will, Frodo feels compelled to put on the Ring, and Sam has to prevent this. When Frodo has no will left to go any further, it is his loyal companion Sam, aroused by memories of home, who struggles to carry Frodo up Mount Doom. At the volcano's rim Gollum attacks. At this moment Sam has a chance to kill Gollum; but as a former Ring-bearer, he understands the pity that Frodo has demonstrated for Gollum, and does not kill him. This proves to be an ill move (more accurately a blessing in disguise when analyzing pity and fate in the story) since Gollum hits Sam over the head with a rock. Then Gollum steals the Ring (by biting the finger of Frodo that has the ring on it,) and slips into the lava of Mount Doom. The mountain starts to erupt, and once again it is due to Sam's steadfast character that he and Frodo are able to climb far enough away for Gandalf and the Eagles of Manwë to rescue the hobbits.
However the War of the Ring wasn't over for the Shire. As an attempted final act of revenge, Saruman takes over the Shire and claims it for himself. When the hobbits come home and discover Saruman, they are the catalyst for the final battle of the War of the Ring, known as the Battle of Bywater. Other than making sure his father (the Gaffer) and Rosie (his fiancee) are safe, Sam's individual exploits are not described in detail. However, after the battle Sam travelled the length and breadth of the Shire replanting trees that had been cut down during the devastation of Saruman. In this labour he used the gift of magic earth given to him by the Lady Galadriel, which caused the saplings he planted to grow at an accelerated rate. The magic earth remaining after he had completed his plantings he took to the Three-Farthing Stone (roughly the centre of the Shire) and cast into the air, prompting the bountiful period of growth starting in the spring of the year 1420 (Shire Reckoning).
After the War of the Ring, Sam married Rose "Rosie" Cotton and moved to Bag End with Frodo. They had thirteen children: Elanor the Fair, Frodo, Rose, Merry, Pippin, Goldilocks, Hamfast, Daisy, Primrose, Bilbo, Ruby, Robin, and Tolman.
After Sam and Rose's first child was born it was revealed that Frodo would leave Middle-earth; along with Bilbo, Gandalf and most of the remaining Elves, for the Undying Lands. Before Frodo left, he gave the estate of Bag End to Sam, as well as the Red Book of Westmarch for Sam to continue.
After Will Whitfoot resigned his post as Mayor of Michel Delving (the largest town in the Shire and the "unofficial capital"), in F.A. 7 or S.R. 1427, Sam was elected Mayor of the Shire for the first of seven consecutive 7-year terms.
After the death of his wife in the year 62 of the Fourth Age (Shire Reckoning 1482), Sam entrusted the Red Book to Elanor and left Middle-earth. As a Ring-bearer, he was entitled to sail across the Sea and be reunited with Frodo in the Undying Lands, which is where the known history of Sam Gamgee ends.
[edit] Concept and creation
[edit] Name
Tolkien took the name from a colloquial word in Birmingham for cotton wool. This was in turn derived from Gamgee Tissue, a surgical dressing invented by a 19th century Birmingham surgeon named Joseph Sampson Gamgee. Tolkien originally used it as a nickname for a man living in Lamorna Cove, England before adapting it into his stories:
"There was a curious local character, an old man who used to go about swapping gossip and weather-wisdom and such like. To amuse my children I named him Gaffer Gamgee... The choice of Gamgee was primarily directed by alliteration; but I did not invent it. It was caught out of childhood memory, as a comic word or name. It was in fact the name when I was small (in Birmingham) for 'cotton-wool'. (Hence the association of the Gamgees with the Cottons.) I knew nothing of its origin." (The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien #257, ed. Humphrey Carpenter)
Tolkien claimed to be genuinely surprised when, in March 1956, he received a letter from one Sam Gamgee, who had heard that his name was in The Lord of the Rings but had not read the book. Tolkien replied on March 18:
"Dear Mr. Gamgee,
It was very kind of you to write. You can imagine my astonishment when I saw your signature! I can only say, for your comfort, I hope, that the 'Sam Gamgee' of my story is a most heroic character, now widely beloved by many readers, even though his origins are rustic. So that perhaps you will not be displeased at the coincidence of the name of this imaginary character of supposedly many centuries ago being the same as yours." (The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, ed. Humphrey Carpenter)
He proceeded to send Mr. Gamgee a signed copy of all three volumes of the book. However, the incident sparked a nagging worry in Tolkien's mind, as he recorded in his journal:
"For some time I lived in fear of receiving a letter signed 'S. Gollum'. That would have been more difficult to deal with." (Tolkien: A Biography, Humphrey Carpenter)
After publication of The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien traced the origin of the name back to Dr. Gamgee and eventually to the earlier English surname 'de Gamaches'.
In the appendices of The Lord of the Rings, it is mentioned that the Westron form of Sam's name is Banazîr Galbasi (also spelled Galpsi). Banazîr comes from elements meaning "halfwise" or "simple". Galbasi comes from the name of the village Galabas. The name Galabas uses the elements galab-, meaning "game", and bas-, corresponding somewhat to "-wich" or "-wick". Tolkien's English translation, Samwís Gamwich, could have been corrupted as Samwise Gammidgy and eventually come to Samwise Gamgee in modern English.
[edit] Commentary
Sam Gamgee is often regarded as the "true hero" of Tolkien's story. Tolkien himself expressed this view in one of his letters: Sam is referred to as the "chief hero", and special emphasis is placed on Sam's "rustic love" for Rosie.[2] The quest to destroy the Ring only succeeds because of Sam, who repeatedly saves Frodo from disaster (such as rescuing him at Cirith Ungol and carrying him up Mount Doom). He was one of two Ringbearers strong enough to surrender the Ring voluntarily.
The relationship between Frodo and Sam is, in many respects, at the centre of The Lord of the Rings. To the modern reader, it seems archaic — it is clearly extremely class-oriented. Sam's humbleness and "plain speaking" is frequently emphasized in contrast to Frodo's "gentility", and he often shows deference to Frodo, calling him "Mister Frodo". At the same time, a strong bond of love and trust grows between them, portrayed most poignantly during the events of Cirith Ungol, where Sam vows to return to his (apparently) dead master, to be reunited with Frodo in death.
Tolkienologists regard Sam as Frodo's batman. In the British Army, a batman was an orderly who acted as the personal servant of an officer. It was a role with which Tolkien (who served as an Army officer in the First World War) would have been familiar. Sam undertakes the typical roles of a batman — he runs errands, he cooks, he transports Frodo (or at least carries him) and he carries his luggage. Tolkien confirmed this interpretation when he wrote in a private letter that:
"My Sam Gamgee is indeed a reflexion of the English soldier, of the privates and batmen I knew in the 1914 war, and recognized as so far superior to myself" (The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, ed. Humphrey Carpenter).
Compare to the relation between Don Quixote and his squire Sancho Panza, and the gradual "Quixotization" of Sancho.
[edit] Portrayal in adaptations
 Sam in Ralph Bakshi's 1978 animated version of The Lord of the Rings. |
 Sam (Blake Bowden, below) in the 2003 Clear Stage Cincinnati production of The Return of the King. |
[edit] Film
In Ralph Bakshi's 1978 animated version of The Lord of the Rings, Sam was voiced by Michael Scholes. Billy Barty was the model for Sam, as well as Frodo and Bilbo, in the live-action recordings Bakshi used for rotoscoping.
In the 1980 animated version of The Return of the King, made for television, the character was voiced by Roddy McDowall.
In the Peter Jackson movies The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003), Sam was played by Sean Astin.
[edit] Stage
On stage, Sam was portrayed by Peter Howe in the 3-hour long Toronto, Canada stage production of The Lord of the Rings, which opened in 2006. In the United States, Sam was portrayed by Blake Bowden in the Cincinnati productions of The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Two Towers (2002), and The Return of the King (2003) for Clear Stage Cincinnati. In Chicago, Dale Inghram played Sam in the Lifeline Theatre production of The Two Towers in 1999.
[edit] Radio
In the 1981 BBC radio serial of The Lord of the Rings, Sam was played by Bill Nighy. It is not clear whether Sean Astin, who played Sam in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, had heard Nighy's radio performance, but both actors bring very similar characterizations and accents to the role. It is a possibility that both may come from Tolkien's own version from his audio readings.
[edit] References
- ^ The date of Sam's birth in "The Longfather-Tree of Master Samwise" (Appendix C) is S.R. 1380 (equivalent to T.A. 2980), however, "The Tale of Years" (Appendix B) gives it as T.A. 2983, which is incorrect. In S.R. 1476, Sam is said to have been ninety-six years old, so 2980 is more correct than 2983. Also, the birth year of his sister, Marigold, is given S.R. 1383 (T.A. 2893), and it is most unlikely that they were born in the same year. In the Fellowship of the Ring, Merry and Pippin is said to be younger than both Sam and Frodo, so Sam's birth year must be in T.A. 2980, since Merry was born in T.A. 2982.
- ^ In the long summary-letter sent to Milton Waldman, an extract of which was published in the Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien as #131 and was reproduced in its entirety in The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion. It read "I think the simple 'rustic' love of Sam and his Rosie (nowhere elaborated) is absolutely essential to the study of his (the chief hero's) character, and to the theme of the relation of ordinary life (breathing, eating, working, begetting) and quests, sacrifice, causes, and the 'longing for Elves', and sheer beauty." - J.R.R Tolkien letter dated 1951
[edit] External links
- Samwise Gamgee at The Thain's Book
- Samwise Gamgee at theonering.net
| Preceded by: Will Whitfoot |
Mayor of Michel Delving 1427 SR - 1476 SR |
Succeeded by: Unknown |
| Preceded by: Frodo Baggins |
Bearer of the Great Ring 3019 Third Age - 3019 Third Age |
Succeeded by: Frodo Baggins |
| The Fellowship of the Ring |
| Frodo · Sam · Merry · Pippin · Gandalf · Aragorn · Legolas · Gimli · Boromir |
