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COMING OF AGE: CHANGES OF HEART

Growth and enlightenment in "Lord of the Rings"

Sam is probably the character who, of all the fellowship, changes least. Beginning with the sterling values of friendship, work and service, he returns with these unaltered, only deepened, by his journey. Among the hobbits he always appears the most ‘grown up’, always practical and sensible (except for moments like the one where he shies an apple at Bill Ferny).11  This maturity is quite surprising considering he is far closer in age to the young hobbits, Merry and Pippin, than he is to Frodo, and he looks after his master quite paternally from the beginning. This suggests a certain kind of arrested development in Frodo, due perhaps in part to his aristocracy— i.e. he is a hobbit of high status who does not have to work for his living; but also a mark of his early possession of (even by) the Ring, which has held him within the stage of life at which he got it, without the natural progression of a healthy hobbit to marriage and family life. Sam’s brief assumption of the ring does not have these dire effects, in fact it would seem to have had no real effect at all. Perhaps this is because, though he took it and even wore it, he did not do so from any desire but still to serve his beloved master and do what he wished. Sam never has the slightest desire for personal power, except in the cause of others; witness his anger when he looks in the Mirror of Galadriel, and sees the devastation of the Shire. Service is Sam’s temptation, and so he takes the Ring; but fortunately he learns in time that Frodo is not dead, and having rescued him, hands back the burden willingly. One wonders how many hundred years it would take with the Ring, for Sam to learn to enjoy dominion over others. Perhaps the greatest change we see in him, is that he has learned to fight; Farmer Cotton dislikes his ‘ironmongery’, and Sam can certainly give a good account of himself with his sword. But even this is not a substantial change in the old Samwise. Before leaving the Shire he was a normal, down-to-earth, male hobbit, with the characteristics this implies: earthy, strong, given to pleasures such as drinking with his mates and not above getting belligerent with them if he thinks they are trying to push him around.*  Sam is even more capable and mature when he returns, yet not appreciably different.

“You were meant to be solid and whole, Sam,”  Frodo says to him at Bag End,12 realising now that he himself never will be, and hoping the same will not be true for his faithful companion. Sam is indeed whole, and this is quite a feat considering the contradiction that lies at the heart of his nature. For he does love the Shire and the ordinary life with Rose he leads in it, something he put on hold to go with Frodo. And why did he go? To see Elves. Deep within Sam Gamgee is a romantic soul. He did see Elves, and was not disappointed. His deep attachment to Frodo has something of that enchantment in it, for Frodo almost becomes Elvish himself as the Ring works on his nature. For a few years Sam has the best of both worlds, settling down with Rose at Bag End, and still looking after the master he loves. But Frodo leaves, and so Sam is indeed ‘torn in two’.13  Yet it is told, that when his other loves and responsibilities are dead, or can do without him, he too crosses the Sea. For Frodo, and Bilbo, are over there, still alive; and it is his last chance to see Elves. Sam Gamgee has scarcely changed at all.

* e.g. FotR 378: “I wish I could get at Ted, and I’d fell him!”

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First published in Mallorn [journal of the Tolkien Society] #39