Samwise Gamgee: literary biography and personal qualities

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

It's hard to find someone who hasn't read, watched or even heard of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. This monumental work of the internationally recognized English writer John Tolkien has been rightfully considered one of the best works of world literature for many years and remains one of the most read to this day. Your attention is one of the key characters in this unusually fabulous story - Samwise Gamgee the Brave.

Character biography

Samwise was born in the Third Age, April 6, 2980, in the Shire. He can safely be called a hereditary gardener, because his father, Hamfast Gamji, was also a gardener. In addition to Sam, Hamfast and Belle Goodchild had five more children. Samwise stayed with Bilbo Baggins for a long time, who taught him to write, read, and talked a lot about his adventures. And despite all the worries of the father, that he is tooalready fascinated by these elves”, dreamed of seeing them live…

The eldest of the brothers, named Hamson, began to work for his uncle. It was from Advis Roper (that was the name of his uncle) that Sam learned how to knit knots so famously. His younger sister became the wife of Tom Cotton, who had a sister, Rosie, who Sam liked very much…But his quiet and calm life suddenly ended on the day of the celebration of Bilbo Baggins' one hundred and eleventh birthday, when he disappeared right during his thanksgiving and, as it turned out, a farewell speech, having previously transferred his property to Frodo. It was then that Samwise Gamgee became his gardener, succeeding his father in this post.

An unexpected journey

And then one evening, cutting the grass by the window, he overheard the story that Gandalf told Frodo - the secret of the Ring of Omnipotence, and that Frodo had to go on a secret campaign. As punishment for eavesdropping, Gandalf "forces" Samwise to keep Baggins Jr. company, and they go on a dangerous journey. However, over time, it turns out that he was eavesdropping on purpose and would have gone anyway.

After some time, two more hobbits - Meriadoc Brandybuck and Peregrine Took, who were Frodo's cousins - joined the company. A small group headed to Rivendell, the haven of the elves, where Sam's dream came true, and he finally met them.

The Fellowship of the Ring

It was decided at the council of Lord Elrond (king of the elves)create a detachment - the Fellowship of the Ring, which will go to Mordor to destroy the Ring once and for all. Samwise Gamgee (a photo of the actor who embodied the image can be seen below), despite the fact that he was not invited, secretly made his way to the council and declared that "Mr. Frodo will not go anywhere without him." Hobbits, humans, an elf, a dwarf and a wizard have also joined their company…

And when the Brotherhood ceased to exist at the waterfall of Rauros, and Frodo decided to go to Mordor himself, Samwise Gamgee persuaded Baggins not to refuse a fellow traveler. He even had to throw himself into the river in order to catch up with the boat, although he did not know how to swim at all.

Personal qualities

Frodo began to weaken because of the power of the Ring, and Sam had to carry most of the luggage, do the cooking, and he also tried to stay as sentry as often as he could. He distributed the products so that Frodo got the most, and in general he tried in every possible way to make his journey easier.

Later, when in the lair of the spider Shelob (where the escort Gollum led them) it seemed that Frodo was dead, Sam carried the Ring further. However, when he overheard the conversation of the orcs and found out that his friend was alive, Samwise Gamgee immediately rushed to his rescue, not being afraid of the guards. Having freed his comrade, Sam returned the Ring to him, and the brave hobbits moved on.

It is worth noting separately that of all the characters, the former owners of the Ring, Samwise Gamgee (the image of this hobbit has its own real basis, but more on thata little later) is the only one who gave it away of his own free will. It is also interesting that while owning the Ring, Sam, like the others, was also tempted to become the Lord of the Ring, but with only one goal - to destroy Mordor, and in its place to build a wonderful garden, which is nowhere else in the world.

The friends have finally completed their journey to Mount Doom. But at the most crucial moment, Gollum attacked Frodo. However, he immediately fell with the Ring into the abyss of boiling lava, thus completing such a dangerous mission entrusted to the hobbits.

End of Journeys

After returning home, friends had to raise hobbits to revolt in order to free their native land from enemies. After the victory, Sam went around the entire Shire, planting new trees to replace those that were destroyed by order of the dark sorcerer Saruman. The saplings of these trees were presented to him by the Lady of the elves Galadriel. These trees grew much faster than usual and were of extraordinary beauty. After sowing, he had some fertile soil left, which he scattered over one of the districts, which caused the most rapid growth in the history of the Shire.

Returning from the War for Middle-earth, Sam decided to get married. His soul mate was Rosie Cotton, whom, as mentioned earlier, he had been in love with for a long time. They had thirteen children. When the firstborn appeared, Sam learned that Frodo was leaving the Shire and Middle-earth forever, and his path now lay in the Undying Lands. As a memento, the hobbit left him his manuscript of their adventures.

In the Shire, Samwise was elected mayor to seven consecutive terms. Surviving his wife, Sam left the Shire at the age of 102 and sailed for the Gray Havens. As the last Ringbearer, he was given the right to live alongside Frodo in the Undying Lands.

Creating a character

Many fans of the writer are sure that it is Sam who is the most important character in this story, not least because of his simple origin. Tolkien himself partly agreed with this, calling him "the most developed character", and also saying that Sam is very similar in character to the English soldier, personal assistant and adjutant, with whom he was familiar during the war of 1914 (it is worth clarifying here, that the author wrote his famous epic after participating in the First World War).

Samwise Gamgee: actor

"The Lord of the Rings" is not the first role in the career of an American actor. But let's not get ahead of ourselves and tell about him and his career in more detail. Sean Astin was born in Santa Monica on February 25, 1971. His mother, Patty Duke, was an actress. Until adulthood, Sean did not know his father. And only after a series of genetic tests it turned out that he has German-Irish genes on the maternal side, and Austrian-Jewish genes on the paternal side.

He studied at a Catholic school, but later became a Protestant and attended a Presbyterian church in the city of Bel Air. He was also a student of the Crossroad School of Art and a student at the University of California (speci alty - Americanliterature and culture).

Career and interesting facts

The first role went to Sean in the 1981 film Please Don`t Hit Me, Mom. Astin played a boy who was beaten by his mother (she was played by Sean's own mother, Patty Duke). Then he played in many films unknown in Russia for twenty years. And now 2000 gave a truly stellar role - Samwise Gamgee. "The Lord of the Rings" is a whole event in the cinema world. He even won a Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor.

Four years later, Sean published the book "There and Back" - his own memories and impressions of the filming process. He also got a tattoo on his wrist (like other members of the Fellowship of the Ring) in the form of the word "nine" embossed in runes. By the way, in the final scene of the film trilogy, where Sam returns home, and his daughter runs out to meet him, it was Sean Astin's real daughter, Alexandra. In addition to her, Sean (he is married to Louis Herrel, "Miss Indiana 1984") has two more daughters: Elizabeth and Isabella.

Despite the fact that the most significant character he has played is Samwise Gamgee, the actor ("Lord of the Rings", unfortunately, the only world blockbuster in Sean's career) continues to actively act in films and on television, and also does voice acting. He is also a producer and director. And his loyal fans are looking forward to meeting him in any form.