Tolkien: Sam as the Ring-bearer

Note: I haven't put a bunch of links in this review.  I suggest searching the Tolkien Gateway for anything you want more info on.  There several other good Tolkien sites.  Wikipedia is actually pretty good too.

 

For a short while during the trilogy, Sam becomes the bearer of the One Ring.  Through this character, Tolkien gives the reader some remarkable insights into the powers of the Ring and how it subtly works its evil on whoever carries it.  In truth, the says a lot more about Sam than it does about the Ring.
 

The Two Towers concludes with “The Choices of Master Samwise” wherein, apparently, Frodo has been killed by the giant spider Shelob.  As the chapter begins, Sam, shouting ”A Elbereth Gilthoniel!”, bravely attacks the beast, wounding it grievously and forcing it to run away, his “master,” as he refers to Frodo, lies cold and lifeless, wrapped in the spider's web.  

It is a complex moment for Sam.  He his deeply heartbroken that his master is dead.  He has just lost his best friend in the world.  I read this passage this time and reflected upon Tolkien as I was reading.  He must have experienced this with the loss of his own friends in the Battle of the Somme.     

“Then anger surged over him, and he ran about this master's body in a rage, stabbing the air, and smiting the stones, and shouting challenges.  Presently he came back, and bending looked at Frodo's face, pale beneath him in the dusk...'He's dead!” he said.  'Not asleep, dead!'  And as he said it.  As if the words had set the venom to its work again, it seemed to him that the hue of his face grew livid green.

“And then black despair came down on him, and Sam bowed to the ground, and drew his grey hood over hi head, and night came to his heart, and he knew no more.” (pp. 431 – 432)

When he regains consciousness, Sam is horribly conflicted.  He reflects upon his own words at the very beginning of the journey, “I must see it through...Then at last he began to weep.”  Sam carefully positions Frodo's body with a bit of ceremony, folding his crossed arms over his chest.  The staff Faramir had given Frodo on one side, Sting on the other.  

Being practical, Sam begs Frodo's permission to take Sting, placing his own lesser blade in its stead.  Then he takes the phial that Lady Galadriel gave to Frodo, because Sam knows he will need to use it.  Now Sam wrestles with himself over “seeing it through” all alone, the last of the Rivendell-picked Fellowship. He doubts he can do it.  He has doubted it all along.  

Finally, he considers the Ring.  Interestingly, when his mind fixes upon the Ring his logic becomes very clear.  There is no uncertainty at all.  Sauron has already started the war.  He can't go back that way.  He must take the Ring forward into Mordor, which, of course, is what the Ring wants but Tolkien does not belabor that point in his fine text.  This is the initial effect of the Ring upon Sam.  It seems perfectly logical to take it to Mordor.  And besides he promised to “see it through.”    

“He stooped.  Very gently he undid the clasp at his neck and slipped his hand inside Frodo's tunic;  then with his other hand raising the head, he kissed the cold forehead, and softly drew the chain over it.  And then the head lay quietly back again in rest.  No change came over the still face, and by that more than all other tokens Sam was convinced as last that Frodo had died and laid aside the Quest.” (page 434)

Sam's internal conflict is over leaving Frodo's body, something Tolkien personally experienced in 1916.  Sam would rather stay with the body and await his own death defending it against whatever comes next.  But he knows the Ring must go on to “see it through.”  He begs Frodo's forgiveness and is tormented by the moment.  It is excruciating.  Then he puts on the chain.

“...at once his head was bowed to the ground with the weight of the Ring, as if a great stone had been strung on him.  But slowly, as if the weight became less, or new strength grew in him, he raised his head, and then with great effort got to his feet and found that he could walk and bear his burden.” (page 434)

Then something returns to this treacherous spot.  Orcs descend upon the scene, having earlier heard the shouts and pounding of Sam fighting Shelob.  “How could he escape, or save himself, or save the Ring?  The Ring.  He was not aware of any thought or decision.  He simply found himself drawing out the chain and taking the Ring to his hand.  The head of the orc-company appeared in the Cleft right before him.  Then he put it on.

“The world changed, and a single moment of time was filled with an hour of thought.  At once he was aware that hearing was sharpened while sight was dimmed, but otherwise than in Shelob's lair.  All things about him now were not dark but vague; while he himself was there in the grey hazy world, alone, like a small black solid rock, and the Ring, weighing down his left hand, was like an orb of hot gold.  He did not feel invisible at all, but horribly and uniquely visible; and he knew that somewhere an Eye was searching for him.” (page 436)

None of this is terribly new information to the reader, but it is all completely new to Sam.  In this way, the reader can more intimately connect with Sam's experience than in the previous uses of the Ring by Frodo.  Time slows compared with the mind's contemplation of it.  The weight of it, how its invisibility comes with diminished sight but enhanced hearing, gives a shockingly personal quality to the evil power.  

Then there is the awareness of the Eye of Sauron without actually seeing the Eye.  Perhaps the Ring's most powerful effect upon the wearer is that it heightens the awareness of Sauron himself even though Sam has no contact with the Dark Lord at all.  Though Sam is experiencing all sorts of conflicting emotions, his interaction with the Ring and understanding what the Ring bestows upon him is all completely logical, reasonable, even insightful in its way.  Sam is never conflicted about the Ring.  He understands the Ring very well and the Ring bestows a power upon Sam that is startling.

Suddenly, Sam can understand what the Orcs are saying, a power he correctly attributes to the Ring.  Perhaps the power is becoming greater the closer the Ring comes to its true master.  Tolkien then treats us to a fascinating section where several Orc characters interact as invisible Sam eavesdrops.  It becomes almost comical until Sam and the reader are shocked.

An Orc pronounces Frodo alive, because Shelob doesn't eat “dead meat.”  “Sam reeled, clutching at the stone.  He felt as if the whole dark world was turning upside down.  So great was the shock that he almost swooned, but even as he fought to keep a hold on his senses, deep inside him he was aware of a comment: 'You fool, he isn't dead, and your heart knew it.'” (page 444)

Sam proceeds to emotionally beat himself up over his mistake.  But now the Orcs carry Frodo away to their tower at Cirith Ungol.  Sam hastens after them but the gate is shut in his face.  So ends The Two Towers.  Which is quite effective for the first-time reader.  You immediately want to move right on in to The Return of the King.  Imagine those first readers in the 1950's having to wait a year or so to continue reading.  But Tolkien does not return to Sam until after more than 200 pages and after an epic battle is fought for Minas Tirith.

Sam awakens at the foot of the gate, without an idea how long he has laid there.  “Without any clear purpose he drew out the Ring and put it on again.  Immediately he felt the great burden of its weight, and felt afresh, but now more strong and urgent than ever, the malice of the Eye of Mordor, searching, trying to pierce the shadows that it had made for its own defense, but which now hindered it in its unquiet and doubt.” (page 213) 

Frequently enough, whoever puts on the Ring does it thoughtlessly or accidentally.  This goes back to The Hobbit, when the full power of the Ring was yet to be realized in Tolkien's mind.  For Tolkien, evil works best when no one is especially aware of it.  Once more Sam's hearing is “sharpened” while his sight becomes “thin and vague.”  

Sauron cannot find the Ring, though he knows it is somewhere near, due to the evil devices of the Ring itself which, though it wants to be found, is nevertheless cloaked by its nature, which was originally intended for only Sauron to possess.  But what is extraordinary in this passage is it actually reveals Sauron's state of mind to the reader.  He clearly writes that Sauron is experiencing “unquiet and doubt.”  This is the first time anything like a weakness has been hinted at about the Dark Lord.  Which is fitting, because we are nearing the end of that character.

The Ring's power of hearing draws Sam toward an all-out Orc-on-Orc brawl in the tower.  In approaching, for the first time, Sam steps into Mordor.  Whether it is wisdom or by accident, Sam's first action is fortuitous though of simple earthy intent.  “He took off the Ring, moved it may be by some deep premonition of danger, though to himself he thought only that he wished to see more clearly.” (page 214)

Soon thereafter, the Ring begins to work its power over Sam the Ring-bearer.  In truth, the Ring has manipulated Sam out of necessity.  It wanted Sam to take it so that it would not be found by the Orcs, who are so unpredictable.  Now it wants the worthy Sam to take it to Sauron himself.  Tolkien does not spell all this out.  But that is what happening.  The way the Ring gets what it wants is always through the temptation of true power.  In doing so Sam experiences the Ring in a new way, as Gollum, Bilbo, and Frodo each already knows.

“Already the Ring tempted him, gnawing at his will and reason.  Wild fantasies arose in his mind; and he saw Samwise the Strong, Hero of the Age, striding with a flaming sword across the darkened land, and armies flocking to his call as he marched to overthrown Barad-dûr.  And then, all the clouds rolled away, and the white sun shone, and at his command the vale of Gorgoroth became a garden of flowers and trees and brought forth fruit.  He had only to put on the Ring and claim it for his own, and all this could be.

“In that hour of trial it was the love of his master that helped him most to hold him firm; but also deep down in him lived still unconquered his plain hobbit-sense: he knew in the core of his heart that he was not large enough of bear such a burden, even if such visions were not a mere cheat to betray him.  The one small garden of a free gardener was all his need and due, not a garden swollen to a realm; his own hands to use, not the hands of others to command.” (page 216)

It is a bit of an oversimplification to say that Sam's hobbit-like essence overcame the power of the Ring.  After all, the Ring had, to some degree, worked its way into all the other Bearers – Isildur, Gollum, Bilbo, and Frodo.  But, it had many months and years (centuries in Gollum's case) to have the effect it had over those Bearers.  Sam only possessed it for a day or so, using it seldom.  Most significantly, Sam took off the Ring the moment he entered Mordor.  Tolkien suggests Sam, at least unconsciously, knew the danger.  That is a clear example of hobbit-sense.

When Sam enters the tower to search for Frodo, the Ring once again tries to influence him.  “His will was too weak and slow to restrain his hand.  It dragged at the chain and clutched at the Ring.  But Sam did not put it on.” (page 220)  Instead, Sam proves his bravery again by shouting into the tower, flailing Sting about.  The Orcs are disorganized or dead from their fight and the few survivors mistake Sam for a Elf warrior.  It is peculiar that Sam is now at his most menacing and none of it has anything to do with the Ring.  Not only does he resist the Ring, he becomes an object of fear (briefly) in spite of this due simply to his sudden, fearsome appearance within the tower.

He finds Frodo, who is terrified because he (Frodo) thinks the Orcs have taken the Ring from him.  When Sam tells Frodo about the Ring he once again comes under its spell.  “Sam felt reluctant to give up the Ring and burden his master with it again.”  But a surprised Frodo almost instantly becomes lustful.  “Give it to me at once!  You can't have it!”

Sam's reply seems perfectly reasonable.  “But you're in the land of Mordor now, sir; and when you get out, you'll see the Firey Mountain and all.  You'll find the Ring very dangerous now, and very hard to bear.  If it's too hard a job, I could share it with you, maybe.” (page 230)  This enrages Frodo who promptly calls Sam a “thief” - precisely what Gollum called Bilbo long ago, thereby showing the effects of the Ring to a Bearer over time.  Frodo snatches the Ring and chain from Sam.

“Then, suddenly, clasping the Ring in one clinched fist, he stood aghast.  A mist seemed to clear from his eyes, and he passed a hand over his aching brow...Sam had changed before his very eyes into an orc again, leering and pawing at his treasure, a foul little creature  with greedy eyes and slobbering mouth.  But now the vision passed.  There was Sam kneeling before him, his face wrung in pain, as if he had been stabbed in the heart; tears welled up from his eyes.” (page 230)

Frodo comes to his senses and apologizes.  When Sam tells him that he understands, the reader knows that he really does understand Frodo's reaction.  For Sam has bore the burden of the Ring and felt its subtle manipulative ways.  Most interesting, for me, is the definite chronology of first putting on the chain and feeling the weight, followed by a sort of euphoria of strength and determination.

The Ring is heavy with power but it is a rush of power as well and it uses that rush to leverage its way into situations that the Ring deems more favorable for it.  It is trying to get back to its true master.  It wants to be found.  But Sauron never counted on the Ring being borne by hobbits.  Sam shows us why that spells doom for the Dark Lord.  Because most hobbits, at least Bilbo, Frodo, and Sam (omitting Smeagol, of course), are true to the good earth and ultimately don't seek more than they can safely manage.

Sam has deep love and devotion for Frodo but this is tempered by Sam's “hobbit-sense.”  That combination is what ultimately defeats the Ring.  Hobbits are not as drawn to power as are the other races of Middle-earth. But they are tough and resilient and resourceful in a pinch.  And they have honest hearts and good instincts that power does not tempt so much as it irritates.  Power is too much trouble for Samwise the Gardener.  Hobbits are not about trouble, unlike most of the other peoples of Middle-earth.

At the Grey Havens, Frodo tells Sam that he can not come with him as he leaves with the Elves.  "Your time may come," Frodo tells Sam.  For Sam was a Ring-bearer, "if only for a little while," and that places him in an elite group, those that have physically worn Sauron's mighty Ring, dating back to Isildur himself.  

If he later gets the chance, will he take it, leaving Middle-earth forever like Bilbo and Frodo?  It is doubtful.  His love, devotion and hobbit-sense is now directed towards a wife and a family and a home.  And that is a different sort of adventure than his former master would ever possibly know.