Thursday, March 11, 2010

Samwise Gamgee

"Don't you leave him Samwise Gamgee" (Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring) Sam is one of the hobbits that accompanies Frodo in the Fellowship. Yet, unlike Merry and Pippin, he goes all the way to Mount Doom with Frodo. Frodo is Sam's master, and Sam has a great love for him. He wouldn't let Frodo go tramping off to Mordor by himself. He almost drowned in order to go with Frodo. 


Sam tries to make the trip to Mount Doom as comfortable as a trip through a barren wasteland can be for Frodo. He takes all the heavy loads, sometimes skips meals, and makes sure Frodo gets his sleep. Sam always serves his master, and since his master has a very heavy burden as it is (the Ring), Sam tries to alleviate some of the pressure.

Indeed, without Sam the quest to destroy the Ring would have been a failure. For Sam saved his master from the greatest danger in the crossing into Mordor: Shelob, the evil HUGE spider that lives in a tunnel in the mountains surrounding Mordor. She lived alone, and ate any orc, man, or elf that comes into her web. To get into Mordor, Frodo and Sam had to pass through her tunnels. Uh-oh. 
This ended up to be a trap set by Gollum, who was guiding them. He had alerted Shelob that two tasty little treats would be coming to her soon. He had hoped that after Shelob was done with them, that he would once again have his precious back. If it weren't for Sam, the Ring would have been discovered, and Frodo would have died.

Shelob was able to get Frodo. She got him with her stinger, which made him temporarily paralyzed. She did this so she could enjoy fresh blood. She was just winding him into a web when Sam appears holding the phial of Earendil's star (a gift for Frodo from Galadriel) and Sting (the elven sword that Bilbo found in the troll cave).  With these treasures Sam fought Shelob and stabbed her where she is most tender, her stomach. After that, she creeped back into her tunnels and nursed her wounds. After this Sam went to Frodo, and took the Ring from him, because he believed that Frodo was dead, and that he would have to fill out the task for him. 

Just as he did this, orcs came and took his master away to the tower of Cirith Ungol. After they do this they kill each other over Frodo's mithril shirt. So Sam only had to kill a few orcs to come to his master. After this Frodo and Sam make their way to Mount Doom disguised as orcs. They made it all the way to the Mountain, where Frodo collapsed. Here Sam carried his master all the way to the Fiery Door. Here Frodo (with Gollum's help) destroyed the Ring. After this Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin returned to the Shire. At this time Sam married Rose Cotton. Yet, soon after this, Frodo leaves these shores forever, and went away to the land of the Valar. This was a tender parting between Frodo and Sam. After this Sam returned to the Shire and had 13 children named Elanor, Frodo, Rose, Merry, Pippin, Goldilocks (who married Faramir, Pippin's son), Hamfast, Daisy, Primrose, Bilbo, Ruby, Robin, and Tolman (Tom). 

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