Into the Wardrobe

I decided to write a paper on the relationship between Sam and Frodo in LOTR and the way it changesas the story goes on. Does anybody know if there are books on that subject?

I've never heard of any book specifically on that subject, but I would be very interested to read your paper when you're finished.

I have read about Tolkien's focus shifting from Frodo to Sam as the hero and main character of the book. The more that Frodo loses himself to the ring, the more Sam must assume responsibility.

And of course, after all their adventures together, their relationship changes from master and servant to friends.

I hope you're not going to follow Hollywood's rumor about their being a homosexual undercurrent in their friendship. That's so disgusting and not what Tolkien intended at all.

I was kind of wieing them as the platonic imagery of husband and wife's lifelong adventure where, with different roles, they both are equaly meritorious for common success (or failure?). Although I admit that Tolkien himsef had more of a friendship in mind.

NO do't think there are any but i may be worg, but if you wich the FOTR dvd were the acters talk about threre parts there maybe something there hope this helps.........

I wouldn't recommend listening to the commentary for deep insights about how the actors saw their roles. I have listened to the actor commentaries for all three Lord of the Rings films and the emphasise is on casual conversation (the blather as Magpie puts it) rather than intellectual. This is not to denegrate the actors, on the whole, I found it good fun to listen to them chat away. The 'intellectual' conversation comes from the Director's commentary and that is more in terms of the making of the picture rather than insights about the characters.

This is just my typical "thought experiment" meanderings but...

Couldn't the relationship be considered akin to Officer and batman during the 1st World War?

Often the Batman would be someone who the officer knew from civilian life.. i,e, like the young officer having the similiarly aged son of the family retainer, type of thing.

Then during the course of the war adversity causes the breakdown in the "normal" social views, and the "class boundaries" becomne more fuzzy?

Just a thought

Athas,

Two titles to check would be:

Master of Middle-Earth: The Fiction of J.R.R. Tolkien, Paul Kocher

The Gospel according to Tolkien: Visions of the Kingdom in Middle-Earth, Ralph Wood

I'll try to think of some more for you.

Regards.

Adam L.

Erekose,

Didn't Tolkien himself say that their relationship was something like a World War One officer's and his batman? One good book to read in that respect would be John Garth's Tolkien and the Great War.

MJM

The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, H. Carpenter, ed.

The Lord of the Rings: The Mythology of Power, Jane Chance

Defending Middle-earth: Tolkien, Myth, and Modernity, Patrick Curry

Tolkien in the Land of Heroes, Anne C. Petty

All of these have material on Sam that may be helpful.