What is love? When examining this simple question further only one thing becomes clear, that there is no true one answer to what love is. In The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion, and The Hobbit, or There and Back Again, Tolkien examines many different love dynamics. In these stories there are representations of love for people, places, creatures, and especially material things (MY PRECIOUSSSS). I recall during my first time reading these stories when I was in the sixth grade that one love stood out to me above the rest, Sam's love for Frodo. At first maybe I was drawn to this relationship as a naive young kid with a brother that I viewed like Sam alongside me in my life, but as time has progressed, and I have had the chance to re-read the books as well as see the film versions of the trilogy, I have only become more transfixed by this dynamic relationship that forms between Sam and Frodo.
The first step in analyzing this dynamic is to understand who Sam is in relation to Frodo. Many casual fans and viewers believe that Sam and Frodo are friends from the start and are equal hobbits who seemingly grew up together in the Shire. However, this is not the case. In reality, Sam is in servitude to Frodo, first starting out as his gardener but soon taking up the mantle as the hobbit tasked with ensuring Frodo’s safe journey to the shire. But what kind of love is this love? It is clearly different from the love that Arwen shares with Aragorn. Their love is a love of passion and a bond that is seemingly bigger than just those two, they are truly representing the unification of elves and man. It is much different than Gollum’s love for the ring, or at times his hatred for it. Gollum’s love for the ring is a love of envy and desire. The ring in this relationship does not gain much from Gollum, in fact it gets hidden away for hundreds of years in a cave because of him! But, Gollum in his own mind gains everything he can ever want from the ring. His precious ring consumes him, controlling every impulse, action, and thought he has. This is a love of addiction, Arwen and Aragorn share in their love and it is passionate, but Sam and Frodo have a unique love story (and yes, it is a love story).
Their love story, which begins in the Fellowship of the Ring and culminates in the Return of the King, is a tumultuous love story, with many twists and turns and some very low points. But one thing is constant, and that is loyalty. Specifically, Sam’s undying loyalty to Frodo. That is something that most of the other love stories in these books do not have. Sam’s loyalty goes as far as risking his own life in order to protect “Master Frodo”. This loyalty is reflective of what it almost means to be a hobbit. Sam represents all that is good in not only hobbits but men. He is loyal, just, kind, and trustworthy. But he is also fearless. He goes after Frodo and saves him after their encounter with Shelob and when Frodo becomes captive to the Orc army. This is a perfect demonstration as to just how loyal Sam is, he truly knew his role to play in this story and played it perfectly. But something that I always struggled with was the feeling that this love was not reciprocated. Though one can use the excuse that Frodo’s mind was beginning to be corrupted by the weight of bearing the ring, I do beg to question whether or not Frodo has that same love for Sam? Would Frodo be willing to lay his life on the line for Sam? I think the answers to these questions change throughout the stories, especially as the initial dynamic of servant and master shifts into a dynamic of close companionship and brotherhood. From a duo that starts out with a power dynamic that puts Frodo on a pedestal high above Sam, this dynamic slowly changes and by the end of these tales these two are seen as not only inseparable, but some would say equally as important to the larger story. I believe Gandalf notices this and that is why he calls Sam “master” when they meet each other again.
I believe that Frodo and Sam’s relationship can be encapsulated by one of my favorite lines in the entire book. Though it is simple, this line almost always makes me emotional: “Sam, still holding his master's hand, caressed it. He sighed. 'What a tale we have been in, Mr. Frodo, haven't we?' he said. 'I wish I could hear it told!’”. Even when they believed that they would perish after the destruction of the ring, Sam still cared for and protected Frodo. The word caress carries such weight, Tolkien did not choose to say that Sam was holding Frodo’s hand, rather he was caressing it. This invokes such emotion in the darkest moments, it is care and compassion that people long for, and that is what Sam was for Frodo throughout the entire story. That is why their love story is the purest of any in these stories, there is no limit, no boundaries, nothing that holds Sam back from loving his “master” unconditionally. So to me, Sam perfectly answers the question of what love is, as he embodies how one should interact and treat those who they love.
4 comments:
The love between Sam and Frodo is very central to story and you bring up a good point on its reciprocation, focusing specifically on the word “caress”. I think it would be interesting to examine it through the lens of historical male friendships. Medieval were often expressed in terms of “love”, with it being customary to seal promises of friendship with a kiss. While the Spartans were encouraged to have a romantic love with their battle partner. Based off your description, I could easily see the relationship between Sam and Frodo fitting into these traditions. While not a romantic relationship, I wonder if parallels could be made between their relationship and the Spartans since both those have been forged through incredibly tough times (i.e. battles and journeys).
I would also be curious to know whether you think the love from Sam is reciprocated by Frodo, since it seems like in your description it might be a one-sided affair on Sam’s part. If it is not then I wonder what new dimensions their relationship would take on. If Frodo did not love Sam in a similar then would you interpret Frodo’s gift of the Bag End estate to Sam as payment for a service or as a reward for helping him complete the mission?
–CG
I really loved this discussion of Sam’s love for Frodo, and I think it’s one of the reasons why so many of us, including myself, keep coming back to the story. That is poetic in a way, as we keep yearning and meditating on the book to figure out what true love is. I agree that we don’t find it so eloquently described in any other relationship outside of Frodo and Sam.
I admire the characterization of loyalty, but I want to expand on this with something I discussed in my wildcard post about dragons and salvation. I think what makes Sam’s love for Frodo, his specific brand of loyalty, so “pure” is the fact that his loyalty is not possessive. Even though Sam does not share the same loyalty for others, it is not because he wants to “possess” Frodo’s affection. One could argue that he coulodn’t because of his social status, but I think we see Sam’s unpossesive love shine when he is torn between living with Frodo and Rosie. The love he has for them both does not drive a wedge or suffocate one, but instead it is a love that is not greedy.
I think non-greedy love is the core of The Lord of the Rings in the Christian sense but also in its mythos. This is why Gollum’s love for the ring is so destructive, and this same destrucitve greed is what nearly kills Frodo on his quest. Still, Frodo is saved multiple times by Sam’s non-greedy love. It finds him with a song (a very interesting parallel to Beren and Luthien!!!!) in the Tower of Cirith Ungol, and it carries him up Mount Doom. I agree that this ungreedy love is the perfect conception of true love in Tolkien’s work. We see it in other characters such as Arwen giving up her immortality, but none described with such great length and suffering as Sam and Frodo. Sam chooses to love despite the weight of the world crashing on them, and his love for Frodo saves the day in the end.
-Gabby Bayness
Beautifully highlighted, Sam's caress. I wanted to hear more about how your reading was affected by your love of your brother—are Sam and Frodo "brothers"? How does brotherhood help us understand "fellowship"? Is it the same as friendship? You touch here on the intimacy of master and servant in Sam's relationship with Frodo, but you open up the possibility of other kinds of love, as well as their transformation from one to the other. Much to think on! RLFB
It is interesting that you describe Sam and Frodo’s relationship as love. I do not think I ever interpreted it that way, especially not when it came to the relationship on Frodo’s end. When I first went through the stories I thought Sam and Frodo were the best of friends, but the more I have read and talked about them, it seems like quite a one sided relationship. It seems like Sam does most of the heavy lifting when it comes to the relationship, and Frodo is mostly on the receiving end. I do not think it would be wrong to say that Sam loves Frodo, but I am not sure if Frodo loves Sam. In Frodo’s head Sam is his servant, and while they grow closer as the journey continues, I do not think that he is ever able to break the thought of him being his servant. It can be hard to see someone in a new light, and I think Frodo does this, and does not completely change his view of Sam from servant to friend.
-RL
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