Samwise Gamgee
Encyclopedia
Samwise Gamgee, later known as Samwise Gardner and commonly as Sam, is a fictional character
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...

 in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium
Tolkien's legendarium
The phrase Tolkien's legendarium is used in the literary discipline of Tolkien studiesto refer to the part of J. R. R. Tolkien's high fantasy fiction being concerned with his Elven legends; that is, historic events that have become legendary from the perspective of the characters of The Lord of the...

. Samwise is one of the chief characters in Tolkien's novel The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings is a high fantasy epic written by English philologist and University of Oxford professor J. R. R. Tolkien. The story began as a sequel to Tolkien's earlier, less complex children's fantasy novel The Hobbit , but eventually developed into a much larger work. It was written in...

, in which he fills an archetypical
Archetype
An archetype is a universally understood symbol or term or pattern of behavior, a prototype upon which others are copied, patterned, or emulated...

 role as the sidekick
Sidekick
A sidekick is a close companion who is generally regarded as subordinate to the one he accompanies. Some well-known fictional sidekicks are Don Quixote's Sancho Panza, Sherlock Holmes' Doctor Watson, The Lone Ranger's Tonto, The Green Hornet's Kato and Batman's Robin.-Origins:The origin of the...

 of the protagonist
Protagonist
A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...

, Frodo Baggins
Frodo Baggins
Frodo Baggins is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium.He is the main protagonist of Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. He was a hobbit of the Shire who inherited Sauron's Ring from Bilbo Baggins and undertook the quest to destroy it in the fires of Mount Doom...

.

Literature

Samwise Gamgee is first introduced in The Fellowship of the Ring
The Fellowship of the Ring
The Fellowship of the Ring is the first of three volumes of the epic novel The Lord of the Rings by the English author J. R. R. Tolkien. It takes place in the fictional universe Middle-earth. It was originally published on July 29, 1954 in the United Kingdom...

. Sam is Frodo Baggins
Frodo Baggins
Frodo Baggins is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium.He is the main protagonist of Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. He was a hobbit of the Shire who inherited Sauron's Ring from Bilbo Baggins and undertook the quest to destroy it in the fires of Mount Doom...

' gardener, having inherited the position as Baggins' 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.

As "punishment" for eavesdropping
Eavesdropping
Eavesdropping is the act of secretly listening to the private conversation of others without their consent, as defined by Black's Law Dictionary...

 on Gandalf
Gandalf
Gandalf is a character in J. R. R. Tolkien's novels The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. In these stories, Gandalf appears as a wizard, member and later the head of the order known as the Istari, as well as leader of the Fellowship of the Ring and the army of the West...

's conversation with Frodo regarding the One Ring
One Ring
The One Ring is a fictional artifact that appears as the central plot element in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth fantasy novels. It is described in an earlier story, The Hobbit , as a magic ring of invisibility. The sequel The Lord of the Rings describes its powers as being more encompassing than...

, Sam was made Frodo's first companion on his journey to Rivendell
Rivendell
Rivendell is an Elven outpost in Middle-earth, a fictional realm created by J. R. R. Tolkien. It was established and ruled by Elrond in the Second Age of Middle-earth...

. They were joined by Meriadoc Brandybuck
Meriadoc Brandybuck
Meriadoc Brandybuck, usually referred to as Merry, is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium, featured throughout his most famous work, The Lord of the Rings....

 and Peregrin Took
Peregrin Took
Peregrin Took, more commonly known as Pippin, is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings. Pippin is introduced as a Hobbit who plays a major role as one of the companions of Frodo Baggins, in his quest to destroy the One Ring.Peregrin was the only son of...

, Frodo's cousins, and journeyed together to Rivendell where the Council of Elrond took place.

When the Fellowship was split up at the Falls of Rauros, Sam insisted on accompanying Frodo. As Frodo became progressively weaker under the burden of the Ring, Sam carried most of the luggage, cooked, kept watch at night whenever he could, and rationed the food so Frodo had enough for the journey. He protected and took care of Frodo as they moved through the dangerous lands toward Mordor
Mordor
In J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional universe of Middle-earth, Mordor or Morhdorh was the dwelling place of Sauron, in the southeast of northwestern Middle-earth to the East of Anduin, the great river. Orodruin, a volcano in Mordor, was the destination of the Fellowship of the Ring in the quest to...

. Sam distrusted Gollum
Gollum
Gollum is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium. He was introduced in the author's fantasy novel The Hobbit, and became an important supporting character in its sequel, The Lord of the Rings....

, who became their guide into Mordor.

After the giant spider Shelob
Shelob
Shelob is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium. She appears at the end of the fourth book, second volume , of The Lord of the Rings.-Literature:...

 apparently killed Frodo, Sam drove her off. When a band of orcs
Orc (Middle-earth)
In J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy writings, Orcs or Orks are a race of creatures who are used as soldiers and henchmen by both the greater and lesser villains of The Silmarillion and The Lord of the Rings — Morgoth, Sauron and Saruman...

 approached, Sam was forced to leave the apparently dead Frodo and take the Ring himself, and briefly became a Ring-bearer. He was briefly tempted by its promise of power, but did not succumb to it. Using the Ring's power of invisibility, he rescued Frodo (who had only been paralysed) from the Orcs who held him captive. The two then journeyed alone through Mordor and into the heart of Mount Doom
Mount Doom
Mount Doom is a volcano in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium. It is located in the heart of the black land of Mordor and close to Barad-dûr, it is approximately high. Alternative names, in Tolkien's invented language of Sindarin, include Orodruin and Amon Amarth...

, where Gollum attacked Frodo and reclaimed the Ring, only to inadvertently destroy both it and himself by falling into the mountain's lava.

After the hobbits' return home and the Battle of Bywater, Sam travelled the length and breadth of the Shire
Shire (Middle-earth)
The Shire is a region of J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional Middle-earth, described in The Lord of the Rings and other works. The Shire refers to an area settled exclusively by Hobbits and largely removed from the goings-on in the rest of Middle-earth. It is located in the northwest of the continent, in...

 replanting trees that had been cut down during Saruman
Saruman
Saruman the White is a fictional character and a major antagonist in J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings. He is leader of the Istari, wizards sent to Middle-earth in human form by the godlike Valar to challenge Sauron, the main antagonist of the tale, but later on aims at gaining...

's brief reign. He used the gift of earth given to him by the Lady Galadriel
Galadriel
Galadriel is a character created by J.R.R. Tolkien, appearing in his Middle-earth legendarium. She appears in The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion, and Unfinished Tales....

, 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 a nut 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 (Tom). Sam was elected Mayor of the Shire
Mayor of the Shire
In the literary works of J. R. R. Tolkien, the Mayor of the Shire, is the sole elected office of the Shire at the time of the War of the Ring. The mayor lives in Michel Delving, which is at this time The Shire's largest town and de facto capital....

 for seven consecutive seven-year terms and came to be known as Samwise Gardner.

After Sam and Rose's first child was born it was revealed that Frodo would leave Middle-earth
Middle-earth
Middle-earth is the fictional setting of the majority of author J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy writings. The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings take place entirely in Middle-earth, as does much of The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales....

, along with Bilbo (Sam's old hero), Gandalf and most of the remaining High Elves
Elf (Middle-earth)
In J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, Elves are one of the races that inhabit a fictional Earth, often called Middle-earth, and set in the remote past. They appear in The Hobbit and in The Lord of the Rings, but their complex history is described more fully in The Silmarillion...

 (Wood Elves had no part of this exodus from Middle-Earth), for the Undying Lands. Before Frodo left, he gave the estate of Bag End to Sam, as well as the Red Book of Westmarch
Red Book of Westmarch
The Red Book of Westmarch is a fictional manuscript written by hobbits, a conceit of author J. R. R...

 for Sam to continue, hinting that Sam might also be allowed to travel into the West eventually.

After the death of his wife in the year 62 of the Fourth Age
Fourth Age
In the fictional world of middle earth "'the fourth age'" and the ages that preceded it, are time periods from J. R. R. Tolkien's universe of Middle-earth, described in his fantasy writings...

 (Shire Reckoning 1482), Sam entrusted the Red Book to Elanor and left the Shire at the age of 102. 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.

Characteristics

At the start of The Lord of the Rings Sam, typically for a hobbit, had never before ventured far from the immediate area where he lived. Unusually for a hobbit, however, since childhood Sam was fond of legends and other fantastical stories. Sam was particularly interested in the Elves, and always hoped to one day see one. Sam was literate, having been taught by Bilbo
Bilbo Baggins
Bilbo Baggins is the protagonist and titular character of The Hobbit and a supporting character in The Lord of the Rings, two of the most well-known of J. R. R...

 and Frodo, which was atypical for most hobbits due to their rustic culture. Sam often showed a skill in poetry, one occasion being when in Lothlórien after Gandalf fell to his apparent death, Sam added to the poem that Frodo had made about him.

Tolkien called Sam the "chief hero" of the saga
Saga
Sagas, are stories in Old Norse about ancient Scandinavian and Germanic history, etc.Saga may also refer to:Business*Saga DAB radio, a British radio station*Saga Airlines, a Turkish airline*Saga Falabella, a department store chain in Peru...

 in one of his letters: he places special emphasis on Sam's "rustic love" for Rosie, 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 history of the War of the Ring
War of the Ring
In the fictional high fantasy-world of J. R. R. Tolkien, the War of the Ring was fought between Sauron and the free peoples of Middle-earth for control of the One Ring and dominion over the continent. The War of the Ring took place at the end of the Third Age. Together with the Quest of Mount Doom,...

 (in the form of the Red Book of Westmarch
Red Book of Westmarch
The Red Book of Westmarch is a fictional manuscript written by hobbits, a conceit of author J. R. R...

) and uphold the memory of events that most 'ordinary' hobbits take little interest in.

Most of the hobbits' travels in Mordor are seen through Sam's point of view: including his spying on Gollum when the creature debates with himself; the battle with Shelob; Frodo's rescue from the orcs; and the final confrontation at Mount Doom.

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. Sam is extremely protective of Frodo and does everything he can to keep Frodo sane and moving forward even as the One Ring warps his mind.

Tolkien wrote in a private letter:
"My Sam Gamgee is indeed a reflexion of the English soldier, of the privates and batmen
Batman (army)
A batman is a soldier or airman assigned to a commissioned officer as a personal servant.The term is derived from the obsolete bat, "packsaddle" + man....

 I knew in the 1914 war
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, and recognised as so far superior to myself" (J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography page 89, Chapter VIII. Humphrey Carpenter).

Names and titles

In the appendices of The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien says the "true" or Westron
Westron
Westron, or the Common Speech, is a fictional language in the fantasy works of J. R. R. Tolkien.Westron is the closest thing to a lingua franca in Middle-earth, at least at the time during which The Lord of the Rings is set. "Westron" is an invented English word, derived from West...

 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". In his role as "translator" of the Red Book of Westmarch
Red Book of Westmarch
The Red Book of Westmarch is a fictional manuscript written by hobbits, a conceit of author J. R. R...

, Tolkien devised a strict English translation, Samwís Gamwich, which develops into Samwise Gammidgy and eventually comes to Samwise Gamgee in modern English.

Frodo affectionately dubbed him "Samwise the stouthearted". The Appendix of The Return of the King says that in F.A.
Fourth Age
In the fictional world of middle earth "'the fourth age'" and the ages that preceded it, are time periods from J. R. R. Tolkien's universe of Middle-earth, described in his fantasy writings...

 7 (S.R. 1427), Sam was elected Mayor of the Shire
Mayor of the Shire
In the literary works of J. R. R. Tolkien, the Mayor of the Shire, is the sole elected office of the Shire at the time of the War of the Ring. The mayor lives in Michel Delving, which is at this time The Shire's largest town and de facto capital....

for the first of seven consecutive seven-year terms.

Concept and creation

Tolkien was an admirer of heroism out of obedience and love but despised arrogance, pride and wilfulness. The courage displayed by Samwise Gamgee on his journey with Frodo, his subjection to dangers and the preparedness to die out of loyalty for Frodo is the kind of spirit that was praised by Tolkien in a number of essays on the Old English poem "The Battle of Maldon
The Battle of Maldon
The Battle of Maldon is the name given to an Old English poem of uncertain date celebrating the real Battle of Maldon of 991, at which the Anglo-Saxons failed to prevent a Viking invasion...

". Likewise the rejection of the Ring by Sam and other characters in the novel is a rejection of power but can also be seen as a "desire for renown which the defeat over Sauron
Sauron
Sauron is the primary antagonist and titular character of the epic fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien.In the same work, he is revealed to be the same character as "the Necromancer" from Tolkien's earlier novel The Hobbit...

 will bring".

Tolkien took the name "Gamgee" from a colloquial word in Birmingham for cotton wool. This was in turn derived from Gamgee Tissue
Gamgee Tissue
Gamgee Tissue is a surgical dressing invented by Dr. Joseph Sampson Gamgee in Birmingham, England, in 1880.Gamgee Tissue has a thick layer of absorbent cotton wool between two layers of absorbent gauze. It represents the first use of cotton wool in a medical context, and was a major advancement in...

, a surgical dressing invented by a 19th century Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...

 surgeon named Sampson Gamgee
Sampson Gamgee
Dr Joseph Sampson Gamgee, MRCS, FRSE was a surgeon at the Queen's Hospital in Birmingham, England. He pioneered aseptic surgery , and, in 1880 invented Gamgee Tissue, an absorbent cotton wool and gauze surgical dressing...

. 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."


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."


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."


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'.

Adaptations

In Ralph Bakshi
Ralph Bakshi
Ralph Bakshi is an Israeli-American director of animated and live-action films. In the 1970s, he established an alternative to mainstream animation through independent and adult-oriented productions. Between 1972 and 1992, he directed nine theatrically released feature films, five of which he wrote...

's 1978 animated version
The Lord of the Rings (1978 film)
J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings is a 1978 American fantasy film directed by Ralph Bakshi. It contains both animation and live action footage which is rotoscoped to give it a more consistent look throughout the length of the movie. It is an adaptation of the first half of the high fantasy...

 of The Lord of the Rings, Sam was voiced by Michael Scholes. Billy Barty
Billy Barty
Billy Barty was an American film actor.-Biography:Barty, an Italian American, was born William John Bertanzetti in Millsboro, Pennsylvania...

 was the model for Sam, as well as Frodo and Bilbo, in the live-action recordings Bakshi used for rotoscoping
Rotoscope
Rotoscoping is an animation technique in which animators trace over live-action film movement, frame by frame, for use in animated films. Originally, recorded live-action film images were projected onto a frosted glass panel and re-drawn by an animator...

.

In the 1980 animated version of The Return of the King
The Return of the King (1980 film)
The Return of the King, also known as The Return of the King: A Story of the Hobbits, is a 1980 animated television special created by Rankin/Bass and Topcraft. The film is an adaptation of the third volume in The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R...

, made for television, the character was voiced by Roddy McDowall
Roddy McDowall
Roderick Andrew Anthony Jude "Roddy" McDowall was an English actor and photographer. His film roles included Cornelius and Caesar in the Planet of the Apes film series...

.

In the 1981 BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

 radio serial of The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings (1981 radio series)
In 1981 the UK radio station BBC Radio 4 broadcast a dramatisation of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings in 26 half-hour stereo instalments...

, Sam was played by Bill Nighy
Bill Nighy
William Francis "Bill" Nighy is an English actor and comedian. He worked in theatre and television before his first cinema role in 1981, and made his name in television with The Men's Room in 1991, in which he played the womanizer Prof...

.
In the Peter Jackson
Peter Jackson
Sir Peter Robert Jackson, KNZM is a New Zealand film director, producer, actor, and screenwriter, known for his The Lord of the Rings film trilogy , adapted from the novel by J. R. R...

 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
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is a 2003 epic fantasy-drama film directed by Peter Jackson that is based on the second and third volumes of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings...

(2003), Sam was played by Sean Astin
Sean Astin
Sean Astin is an American film actor, director, voice artist, and producer better known for his film roles as Mikey Walsh in The Goonies, the title character of Rudy, and Samwise Gamgee in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. In television, he appeared as Lynn McGill in the fifth season of 24...

.

On stage, Sam was portrayed by Peter Howe in the 3-hour long Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

, 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
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is a 2003 epic fantasy-drama film directed by Peter Jackson that is based on the second and third volumes of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings...

(2003) for Clear Stage Cincinnati
Clear Stage Cincinnati
Founded in 2003, Clear Stage Cincinnati is a professional theatre company in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States, dedicated to developing and showcasing fresh new theatrical artists by providing them with a "Clear Stage" for the advancement of their craft....

. In Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

, Dale Inghram played Sam in the Lifeline Theatre
Lifeline Theatre
- Mission :Lifeline Theatre specializes in original literary adaptations. Its ensemble of artists uses imaginative, unconventional staging to portray sprawling stories in an intimate space. Lifeline is committed to promoting the arts in its Rogers Park neighborhood and is an anchor of the Glenwood...

 production of "Fellowship of the Ring" in 1997 and The Two Towers
The Two Towers
The Two Towers is the second volume of J. R. R. Tolkien's high fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings. It is preceded by The Fellowship of the Ring and followed by The Return of the King.-Title:...

in 1999.

Reception

Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...

called Sam Gamgee one of the "greatest sidekicks." UGO Networks also named Sam as one of their top heroes in entertainment.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK