Samwise Sam Gamgee (6 April T.A. 2980- Fo.A. 61; Shire Reckoning: 1380 - 1482; 102 years old when he sailed into the West) was Frodo Baggins servant and the only original member of the Fellowship of the Ring to remain with him till the very end of the journey to Mount Doom.






Samwise lived with his father, Hamfast Gamgee, better known as The Gaffer, on Bagshot Row in the Shire, close to Bag End. Sams mother was Bell Goodchild; he had five siblings: Hamson, Halfred, Daisy, May, and Marigold.

A gardener by trade, Sam seemed to be a simple Hobbit of plain speech. He helped his Gaffer tending the garden of Bag End and was taught the art of rope making by his grandfather and his uncle Andy. In his work at Bag-End, he was acquainted with Bilbo Baggins. Bilbo taught him letters, and nurtured love for Elves, poetry, and his belief that the world contains greater wonders than most hobbits are aware of. This set him apart from the beginning, to the Gaffers dismay. Sam often wandered outside Hobbiton and knew well the area twenty miles around.




On 12 April Sam was in The Green Dragon and discussed with Ted Sandyman the strange rumours he heard around the Shire, including his cousin Hal seeing a Tree-man, and the Elves who leave Middle-earth. Ted called his cousin crazy and dismissed all rumors. At the evening he returned to the Hill thinking about the hard work he has to do, when he saw Gandalf arriving to visit Frodo, after many years.

Eavesdropping on Frodo and Gandalf

Sam was one of the Conspirators who were summoned by Merry Brandybuck in order to watch over Frodo Baggins and the Ring inherited by Frodo from Bilbo. Being the closest to Frodo, Sam was their chief investigator who was to eavesdrop on his talks with Gandalf the Wizard.





He eavesdropped at the discussion discussion between Frodo and Gandalf while working at the garden of Bag End. It was when Gandalf revealed to Frodo that Bilbos ring is Saurons One Ring, and on the mention that Frodo must leave the Shire, Sam choked. Initially suspected as a spy, Sam feigned innocent curiosity. Sam begged Gandalf not to turn him into anything unnatural. Sam then immediately asked to be taken to see Elves when they went away. Gandalf decided to make Sam Frodos first companionSam joined Frodo on his journey to Bree and Rivendell, as to outside appearances as Frodos gardener. Also Merry and Pippin joined the travelers on their way.The Fellowship of the RingWhen they reached Rivendell, Sam was beside Frodos bed while he was recovering from the Morgul-wound he was inflicted on Weathertop. Sam eavesdropped on the Council of Elrond and revealing himself insisted that he accompany Frodo on his quest to destroy the Ring.Sam insisted on bringing Bill along on the journey, saying he would pine, if he did not come. He was dismayed that they had to send him away when they entered Moria. Sam saved Frodos life as the Watcher in the Water tried to seize him by one of its tentacles. Sam received a scratch along his scalp for his first orc-kill in the mines.In Lothlórien, Sam made a verse in honor of Gandalfs fireworks. He, along with Frodo, looked into the Mirror of Galadriel where he saw trees being felled and that the Old Mill had been replaced by a large red-brick building. Sam considered going back to help those at home, but, being warned by Galadriel not to let the mirror decide his choices, Sam decided to finish his task with Frodo. At their parting from Lórien, Galadriel gave Sam a box containing earth from her orchard.Journey to MordorAt the Falls of Rauros Frodo tried to leave the Fellowship secretly by boat, but Sam pursued him and leaped into the water although he could not swim. Thus after the Breaking of the Fellowship, Sam was the only member of the Fellowship to remain with Frodo. When Gollum joined up with them, Sam remained distrustful of his loyalty to Frodo, and treated him with disdain, and partially (though unintentionally) pushed Gollum to betray Frodo in Shelobs Lair.As Sam, Frodo, and Gollum travelled, Sam began to worry about their food supplies running short and he, unlike Frodo, still thought of the return journey. In Ithilien, he decided to risk a fire and stew rabbit, but he accidentally let it smoke which attracted the attention of Faramir and his rangers who were also in that region. There, to Sams delight, he got the chance to see an oliphaunt. Faramir took the hobbits to Henneth Annûn where Sam accidentally revealed the purpose of their quest, but Faramir did not hinder it and Sam judged his quality to be the very highest., saying he reminded him of Gandalf.



Gollum led the hobbits to the Stairs of Cirith Ungol, where Sam, in a conversation with Frodo, reflected on whether their adventure would be put in tales and songs to be told by a fireside and noted that they were part of a greater tale than themselves. Gollum betrayed the hobbits in Shelobs lair, hoping to find the Ring among Frodos bones once Shelob had eaten him. However, Sam pierced Shelobs flesh, being the first person ever to have done so, but not before Shelob seemingly killed Frodo.




Grieving for Frodo, Sam took the Ring. At first he was tempted to go on a quest for revenge on Gollum but instead chose to complete the quest. However, upon learning that Frodo still lived, he rescued him from the Tower of Cirith Ungol and returned the Ring to him. Because he held the Ring for a time, he is considered one of the Ring-bearers.

Together, Sam and Frodo crossed Mordor to Mount Doom. Sam himself carrying Frodo up the slope for part of the way. There Gollum tried to attack the hobbits and Sam spared his life now he had an idea of what it had been like for Gollum to be Ring-bearer—a choice which soon led to success their quest. After the destruction of the Ring, both Sam and Frodo were honored by King Elessar for their deeds.


Later life

After the War of the Ring, and the Scouring of the Shire, Sam planted saplings in all the places where specially beautiful and beloved trees had been destroyed, and he put a grain of Galadriels soil at the root of each. He was especially dismayed that the Party Tree was cut down and planted a silver nut in the Party Field where it had once been, and the nut grew into a Mallorn tree.

He married Rose Rosie Cotton on 1 May S.R. 1420. In honor for restoring the Shire his family was given the name Gardner.

They had thirteen children: Elanor the Fair, Frodo, Rose, Merry, Pippin, Goldilocks, Hamfast, Daisy, Primrose, Bilbo, Ruby, Robin, and Tolman. When Frodo sailed on the White Ship, at the end of the Third Age, Sam inherited Bag End and was entrusted the Red Book of Westmarch.



After Will Whitfoot resigned his post as Mayor of Michel Delving (the largest town in the Shire and the unofficial capital), in Fo.A. 6, Sam was elected Mayor of the Shire for seven consecutive 7-year terms, during which time King Elessar appointed the Mayor as a Counsellor of the North-kingdom. In S.R. 1436 he met King Elessar on the Brandywine Bridge and was awarded the Star of the Dúnedain. In S.R. 1442 he left Tolman Cotton Junior as deputy Mayor so that he rode to Gondor with his wife and his daughter Elanor, maid of honour to Queen Arwen, to spend a year there. When Elanor married Fastred of Greenholm, he requested from Thain Peregrin to make him Warden of Westmarch in S.R. 1462.

After his wife died in Fo.A. 61, on 22 September Sam left Bag End, and went to the Tower Hills where he was last seen by Elanor, entrusting to her the Red Book; according to her, he went to the Grey Havens to sail across the Sea and be reunited with Frodo in the Undying Lands.







Sam Gamgee is by many regarded as the true hero of Tolkiens 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 Sams rustic love for Rosie. 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 only two Ring-bearers strong enough to surrender the Ring voluntarily.

The relationship between Frodo and Sam is, in many respects, at the center of The Lord of the Rings. Sams humbleness and plain speaking is frequently emphasised in contrast to Frodos gentility, and he often shows deference to Frodo, calling him Mister Frodo or Master. 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.

Tolkienists regard Sam as Frodos 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 extremely familiar. Sam undertakes all of the typical roles of a batman — he runs errands for Frodo, he cooks, he transports him (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