A Tribute to Samwise Gamgee

Samwise Gamgee is the friend we all need.

Sam was a homebody. To leave the Shire at all was out of his comfort zone. He was homesick after just a few days of being in Rivendell, the only place outside the Shire he had ever wanted to go. Sam was not an adventurer. Sam was not a traveller even. But when Frodo volunteered to take the Ring to Mordor, Sam had no second thoughts about sticking with him.

I made a promise Mr. Frodo. "Don't you
leave him, Samwise Gamgee."
And I don't mean to. I don't mean to.

When Frodo decided his very presence would be harmful to his friends, he sought to isolate himself. And they all allowed him to; it wouldn't have been their first decision, and it was a hard decision to make, but they all allowed him to. Except Sam.

And when Frodo loses hope and purpose, who is it but Sam to get him back on track.

When Frodo is so bogged down by the Ring he can barely move, Sam offers to take on this burden, even though he has seen the horrible things it can do to a person. Frodo, consumed by the Ring, misinterprets Sam's offer. Not long after Gollum convinces him to leave Sam. But even though Sam has been scorned and abandoned by the very friend he has sacrificed so much for, as soon as Frodo is in need Sam is right back risking his life for him without a thought of a grudge.




Sam does begrudgingly take the Ring  to complete the mission when he thinks Frodo is dead, but as soon as he discovers Frodo is still alive, he risks his life and the mission for the sake of his friend.




After all of this, even though Sam is exhausted and has had hardly any water for days and has been receiving little to no support from Frodo, he knows that Frodo is bearing the greater burden. And as much as he wants to help, he realizes at this point even taking the Ring away from Frodo wouldn't help anything. It has wormed its way into Frodo's mind and degenerated his character, and the only way Frodo can be free is for the Ring to be destroyed. I believe the almost super-human strength Sam shows taking those last few steps are not for the fate of Middle Earth, but for Frodo.



Even after seeing Frodo give in to the power of the Ring completely, Sam still seeks to keep him safe even though they are inside an exploding volcano. Only once the Ring is destroyed, only once Sam has done everything he he possibly could to save Frodo does he break down.

"If ever I was to marry someone, it would be her. It would be her."

It is here that we are reminded again of who Sam is. A homebody. Someone who just wants to garden and get married. We see Sam as so much of a hero we forget how heroic he really is. He's not a hero because he helps get the Ring to Mordor, he's a hero because he gave up any chance for his dream of a simple life. He was missing his home, was missing the girl he loved, all while starving and dying of thirst and fighting off orcs, and he never once complained. Just because Frodo carried the greatest burden, did not mean Sam had none of his own.

Sam wasn't concerned if the relationship was equal, or if Frodo was treating him right. He knew Frodo was broken, and he sought to protect and heal him. Note that Frodo was not in any way manipulating Sam. I do not think Tolkien would  have in any way advocated an unequal and abusive relationship. The relationship was unequal because Frodo was broken; the issue was not that he would not, he could not give Sam more than he did. Frodo loved Sam as much as he could. And Sam responded with unconditional love without a thought to his own self-interest.

There are times we all abandon hope, we all make bad decisions, and we push people away from us because we have given up on ourselves. It's in those times we need a Sam, someone who will stick with us even when we don't want them to, even when we don't want to be with ourselves. But I don't think the point of Frodo's and Sam's relationship is to inspire us to find a friend like Sam, but rather to be a friend like Sam, to love unconditionally, regardless of what we are getting in return.