An undeniable main theme of The Lord of the Rings is love. In Tolkien’s work, we see a multitude of types of love. There is romantic love, best seen between Aragorn and Arwen, but also as Eowyn’s unrequited love of Aragorn transitions into loving Faramir. There is familial love, best depicted by Frodo and Bilbo. But there is also the love of nature, embodied by Yavanna in The Silmarillion as well as Treebeard, and the love of things in addition to the love of the self through Gollum: “[Gollum] hated [The Ring] and loved it, as he hated and loved himself”(Fellowship of the Ring). I think, however, that the primary form of love in The Lord of the Rings is the love that exists between Frodo and Sam, or at the very least the love that Sam has for Frodo. At the simplest level, Tolkien uses Sam to depict a thoughtful and incredibly kind friend as well as an exemplary servant. Sam would do quite literally anything in his power for Frodo because, depending on your reading of Mordor, he actually goes through hell and back for his master. Anyone would incredibly fortunate to be on the receiving end of this type of friendship, but like with everything that Tolkien writes, I believe it is a little more nuanced than just a plain, touching friendship.
When Frodo begins his journey, Sam definitely accompanies him out of love, but also maybe due to some feeling of responsibility. Sam’s entry into the story comes directly from his role as the Baggins’ gardener, but when he hears that Frodo will be leaving, he choked, telling Gandalf “I tried not to sir, but it burst out of me: I was so upset”(FoTR). As the son of the Baggins’s gardener, and then serving in that role himself, Sam undoubtedly was able to grow close to Frodo, and it’s exactly the mixing of his friendship with Frodo and his role as a servant that can be seen in his entry into the quest. I do believe that any sort of responsibility Sam feels is directly related to his love of his master, because there is also a responsibility placed on him as a friend. He is expected to help and love his friend to the best of his ability.
As the quest begins, Sam falls perfectly into his already established roll as Frodo’s servant, which perpetuates the inequality in their statuses. He carries more than his fair share and is quick to try and ease Frodo’s physical burden: “’I could take a lot more yet, sir. My packet is quite light,’ said Sam stoutly and untruthfully”(FoTR). And indeed throughout the entire journey, Sam continues to serve Mr. Frodo. However, the journey that Frodo and Sam take is surely transformative, if only in the relationship that they have between them. The love that they have between them transforms from the conventional servant-master relationship to become a more brotherly love.
I think what makes their relationship so touching is the deep, intimate male bonding that occurs because of the quest. The difficulty of their journey, having to journey through literal hell towards the end, is an intense bonding experience that builds on their already existing close relationship. There is a scene in The Return of the King that exemplifies this really well. After rescuing Frodo from the orc-tower, Sam and Frodo divest themselves of all the items they would not need on the rest of the journey to Mount Doom. Unsurprisingly, Sam has a difficult time parting with everything that he had packed. Even though they were just common items that he had brought from the Shire, “each of them had become dear to him, if only because he had borne them so far with so much toil… Tears welled in his eyes at the thought of casting it away” (RoTK). Throughout the story, Sam has been sentimental and emotional, so forming an attachment to inanimate objects fits right in line with his character. But this is only more telling of how the journey has intensified his feelings for Frodo. And in the end, Sam adopts an almost motherly role towards Frodo. After rescuing Frodo, Sam “half lifted his master and hugged him to his breast”(RoTK), he let Frodo “lay back in [his] gentle arms, closing his eyes, like a child at rest when night-fears are driven away by some loved voice”(RoTK), and he even kisses Frodo’s forehead. When he brings Frodo orc garments, Sam in some sense dresses Frodo, and even has Frodo sleep on his lap.
What I mean to say is that their servant-master relationship develops into something deeply intimate, and could be read in some ways as romantic. However, I do think that Tolkien points to differences between romantic love and the intense brotherly love between Sam and Frodo by including Rosie. While Sam has very deep love for Frodo, it is not a romantic love because Sam eventually marries Rosie. This, however, doesn’t dampen the relationship between Sam and Frodo in anyway whatsoever. In fact, I think that what makes their relationship so notable is that I don’t think it’s very common to see a portrayal of a close male friendship without anything frivolous. There are no obscene jokes to undercut the relationship to make it more palatable for audiences, just two men who really care for each other. What makes it even more powerful is Sam’s apparent lack of expectations from Frodo. It doesn’t seem like there is any expectation on Sam’s part for this tender treatment to be reciprocated. Granted, this might be due to Sam’s status as Frodo’s servant, so Frodo is not expected to care for Sam like Sam cares for him. Nonetheless, Sam is continues to be devoted and loving, even after Frodo’s treatment of him on the Stairs of Cirith Ungol.
Additionally, something that’s interesting about Frodo and Sam is that they really embody a deeply Christian sentiment: “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself”(King James Bible, Matthew 22:39). Sam sacrifices his own safety and is prepared to spend his life to save his master and friend. Indeed, Sam regularly demonstrates that he isn’t concerned with recognition for himself as he repeats how famous Frodo will become after the quest to destroy The Ring. But it’s in his meekness that Sam shines, for “blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the Earth” ”(King James Bible, Matthew 5:5). And Sam does go on to inherit the Earth, in some sense. He inherits what used to be his whole world: he becomes mayor of the Shire. If we were ever to look for an example besides Jesus of how to truly be selfless, I argue we should look to Sam. I’m not trying to argue that Sam is perfect, for he is mortal, but he repeatedly puts others before himself.- NP
3 comments:
You have captured well the nuances of the love between Frodo and Sam—in particular the love of Sam for Frodo. It is interesting that you call this the “primary form of love” in LotR. What makes this love in particular “primary”? Is it the most important, or somehow a foundation for all the other forms?
More than a simple friend, Sam feels a duty to Frodo, and yet it is a duty and (an incredible burden) which is taken up eagerly, and not reluctantly or with expectations of reciprocity. I love the comparison here of Sam to a mother, which might make even more sense to me than “brotherly love” to describe the relationship. The term “brotherly love” often suggests something like compassion for fellow humanity--for strangers. Strictly speaking, this is of course male bonding, but the love between brothers in historical-mythological terms is never as pure as that between a mother and child, especially The Mother and Child of the medieval imagination. A mother goes through physical and emotional pain and sacrifice, including the pain of watching their child suffer, and even often suffers rejection by them. Nevertheless a mother has unconditional love for her child, exactly like Sam does for Frodo. Recall that the Annunciation was also the acceptance of a great burden--as is becoming a parent more generally.
Sam's love is selfless, and he in his own way is the “meek” who “inherits the earth.” Good! -LB
I agree: I think your insight into Sam's maternal caring for Frodo is spot on, more so than the (more expected) idea of brotherly love. There is a strong medieval tradition of Jesus as mother—caring like a hen for her chicks. Sam cradling Frodo in his lap like a child could easily map onto images of Mary holding Jesus in her lap. Yet another of Tolkien's resonances that we need to look carefully to see! RLFB
I think that this analysis is spot-on. Sam and Frodo's friendship is remarkably complex, and I think counts as a very pure form of love. Something that stands out to me is the asymmetry of it: it is certainly not a romantic love between equals, but a master-servant relationship: or perhaps as you point out, like a mother-child relationship. An aspect that interests me is how Gollum seems to pervert this relationship, both trying to sabotage it and create a mockery of it in his own servitude. I have always been unsure about how genuine Gollum was in his servitude: did he actually feel some sort of love for Frodo, was he trying his best to imitate Sam's more genuine love, or was he mostly putting on a show to wait for an opportunity to strike? I have mostly settled on the middle interpretation: Gollum observes the true love that Sam shows, but cannot truly replicate it. He acts subservient, and I think does appreciate Frodo's mercy to an extent, but despises Sam. I think this is out of both self-interest (after all, Sam never truly trusts Gollum) as well as jealousy. He covets that what he cannot have, a friendship based off of love and respect, rather than just pity.
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