Samwise Gamgee
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| Character from J. R. R. Tolkien's Legendarium | |
| Name | Samwise Gamgee |
|---|---|
| Other names | Sam Samwís Gamwich Samwise Gammidgy Samwise Gardner Samwise the Brave |
| Titles | Ring-bearer |
| Race | Hobbit |
| Culture | Shire-hobbit |
| Date of birth | April 6, T.A. 2980[1] |
| Date of departure to Aman | F.A. 62 |
| Date of death | Fourth Age |
| Book(s) | The Fellowship of the Ring The Two Towers The Return of the King |
Samwise Gamgee, later known as Samwise Gardner[2] or Samwise the Brave and commonly known as Sam, is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium.
Contents |
[edit] Appearances
Sam is first introduced in The Fellowship of the Ring. Sam is Frodo Baggins' gardener, having inherited the position as Bag End's gardener from his father, Hamfast "Gaffer" Gamgee. At the time of the War of the Ring, Sam was living in Number 3, Bagshot Row with his father. Very typically for a Hobbit, Sam had never ventured far from the immediate area where he lived, having never even travelled extensively to other areas of the Shire. Unusually for a hobbit, however, since childhood Sam was always enthralled by stories of fantastical quests in far off places and legends of ancient times. Sam was particularly interested in the Elves, and always hoped to one day see one. Sam was literate (probably in Cirth as he was said to know his "letters"), having been taught by Bilbo and Frodo, which was atypical for most hobbits due to their rustic culture. Sam was in attendance at Bilbo's Farewell Party.
As "punishment" for eavesdropping on Gandalf's conversation with Frodo regarding the dangers of the One Ring, Sam was — at his own request — made Frodo's first companion on his journey to Rivendell. They were joined by Meriadoc Brandybuck and Peregrin Took, Frodo's cousins. Before they left Frodo's home at Crickhollow, it was revealed that Sam, Merry, Pippin, and Fredegar Bolger had formed "the Conspiracy" to find out what the purpose of Frodo's journey was, and that Sam had been assigned to gather information by eavesdropping.
The four hobbits travelled to Bree where they met Strider. Though unsure of Strider's intentions, Sam allowed the Ranger to come once he saw that Frodo felt safe. Many other occasions occurred when Sam would be protective of his master, including when allowing injured Frodo to go ahead to Rivendell.
In the haven of Rivendell, Sam eavesdropped again during the Council of Elrond. When he heard that Frodo was to take the Ring to Mordor, he refused to let his master go without him. The two became members of the Fellowship of the Ring, as did Merry and Pippin.
Sam often showed a skill in poetry, one occasion being when in Lothlórien after Gandalf fell to his apparent death, Sam added an interesting extension to the poem that Frodo had made about their old leader. He, like all the others, was concerned about what might happen now, without Gandalf.
When Frodo decided to leave the rest of the Fellowship at Amon Hen, Sam refused to give up his responsibilities as a companion, protector, and friend. While his general bearing and speech patterns were deceptively simple, Sam frequently displayed great perception and understanding. As Frodo determined to sneak away from everyone else, Sam quickly caught on. Finding Frodo, he insisted on being allowed to accompany him. He carried most of the luggage, cooked, kept watch at night whenever he could, and rationed the food so Frodo had enough for the journey.
In The Two Towers, he and Frodo encountered Gollum, who had once possessed the Ring and would do anything to get it back. Sam took an instant dislike of the creature, and warned Frodo that "Stinker", as he called Gollum, was not to be trusted. Sam's suspicions were proven correct when Gollum led them to the lair of the monstrous spider Shelob. She attacked and seemingly killed Frodo. After wounding and driving off Shelob, Sam mourned for his master. Because he still didn't want the quest to fail, Sam took the Ring, intending to complete it himself. Because he held the Ring during this time (in order to keep the ring out of the hands of the Orcs), he is considered one of the Ring-bearers. It should be noted that among those to bear the One Ring, Sam is the only one to, after a brief temptation of great power, resist the power of it. He soon learned that Frodo was merely incapacitated, and had been taken to the tower of Cirith Ungol.
In The Return of the King, Sam rescued Frodo from the tower, returning the Ring to him, and accompanied him into Mordor. Disguised as Orcs, they were shanghaied and nearly sent to the Battle of the Black Gate. There was little food (except lembas) or water available, and the two hobbits were forced close to starvation while making the journey across Gorgoroth. Safe passage across the plains was partly ensured because the forces of Mordor were lured to the Black Gate by Aragorn and Gandalf the White.
As they moved deeper into Mordor, the temptation of the Ring started becoming too much for Frodo. Against his own will, Frodo felt compelled to put on the Ring, and Sam had to keep him from giving in to temptation. When Frodo had no strength left, Sam struggled to carry Frodo up Mount Doom. At the volcano's rim, Gollum attacked again. Sam had a chance to kill Gollum, but was overcome with pity and let him go. Sam's pity and the role of fate eventually fulfilled the quest moments later, as Gollum seized the Ring and plunged to his doom. Frodo and Sam were nearly overcome when Mount Doom erupted after the destruction of the One Ring, but were rescued at the last minute by the Giant Eagles.
After the hobbits' return home and the Battle of Bywater, Sam travelled the length and breadth of the Shire replanting trees that had been cut down during Saruman's brief reign of terror. He used the gift of earth given to him by the Lady Galadriel, which caused the saplings he planted to grow at an accelerated rate. The small amount remaining 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). The greatest wonder was a young mallorn tree sprouting in the Party Field: "the only mallorn west of the Mountains and east of the Sea" (grown from an acorn included as part of Galadriel's gift).
After the War of the Ring, Sam married Rose "Rosie" Cotton and moved to Bag End with Frodo. Sam and Rosie 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 (Sam's old hero), 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, hinting that Sam, too, might be allowed to travel into the West eventually.
The Appendix of The Return of the King says that in F.A. 7 (S.R. 1427), Sam was elected Mayor of the Shire for the first of seven consecutive seven-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 the Shire. He was not seen again in Middle-earth, but Elanor and her descendants preserved the tradition that he went to the Grey Havens and sailed into the West. As the last of the Ring-bearers, he was entitled to sail across the Sea and be reunited with Frodo in the Undying Lands.
[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 sent 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 Gamgee and eventually 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
Tolkien called Samwise Gamgee the "chief hero" of the saga in one of his letters: he places special emphasis on Sam's "rustic love" for Rosie, [3] a union that serves to establish a family in which allusions to Elvish wonders (embodied in Sam's daughter Elanor) are combined with the best qualities of traditional Shire-life. Sam and his descendants also become the keepers of the Ring-war history and uphold the memory of events that most 'ordinary' hobbits take little interest in.
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 is one of two Ring-bearers strong enough to surrender the Ring voluntarily (the other being Bilbo Baggins), and the only one to resist the temptation of the Ring's power.
The relationship between Frodo and Sam is, in many respects, at the heart of The Lord of the Rings. 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.
One branch of Tolkienologists compares Sam to the British batman of the First World War. 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 occasionally 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 recognised as so far superior to myself" (The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, ed. Humphrey Carpenter).
However, it is equally obvious that Sam's abilities and qualities by far exceed the typical required virtues of a batman, just as his bond with Frodo extends beyond 'military' duties and attachments. The most apparent differences are Frodo's and Sam's shared interest in Elvish traditions (distinguishing them from the majority of hobbits) and their equally shared aesthetic sensibilities for poetry and song, which paves the way for their joint authorship of the Ring-history, the 'source text' for The Lord of the Rings.
[edit] Attire and weapons
At the start of the Trilogy, Sam was dressed as a typical Hobbit: knee-breeches, waistcoat, jacket, cloak. Typical colours were brighter shades of green and yellow, at least among Shire-folk.
After their encounter with Barrow-wights, Sam awoke dressed in a burial shrift. He had to wear heavier winter-weight clothing packed on his pony the rest of the way to Rivendell. From the wight's treasure-hoard, the Hobbits obtained Dúnedain daggers, suitable for use as short swords.
In Lórien, he was given an elven cloak that allowed the wearer to blend into natural surroundings. This proved quite useful, considering the surreptitious nature of his mission.
At Cirith Ungol, Sam used Frodo's sword, Sting to attack Shelob. He placed his own weapon next to Frodo, whom he thought dead. Thus, Sting was never seized by the Orcs of Cirith Ungol and delivered by Shagrat to the Dark Tower. Upon entering the Tower of Cirith Ungol, Sting provoked fear in the few live Orcs Sam encountered.
After the destruction of the Ring, Sam was apparently dressed in non-Shire clothing. His Father, the Gaffer, made a negative comment about Sam's new attire referencing "iron-mongery." This could mean that Sam was wearing mail, though this is never specifically mentioned. The Gaffer wondered aloud, "where's his weskit?" (waistcoat).
[edit] Portrayal in adaptations
 Sam in Ralph Bakshi's 1978 animated version of The Lord of the Rings. |
 Sean Astin as Sam in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy. |
 Blake Bowden as Sam (below) in a 2003 stage production of The Return of the King. in Cincinnati, Ohio |
[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. Many critics have pointed out that this portrayal of the character looks and acts as if he is mentally retarded.
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
(See the stage article: The Lord of the Rings)
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.
- ^ Appendix C to The Lord of the Rings
- ^ 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 Internet Movie Database
- Samwise Gamgee at the Tolkien Gateway
- Samwise Gamgee at The Thain's Book
- Samwise Gamgee at theonering.net
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