Show Notes
In this episode of Peaceable and Kind, Derek Vreeland returns to Middle Earth to reflect on one of the most overlooked characters in The Lord of the Rings: Samwise Gamgee. While the story is filled with kings, warriors, and wizards, Derek makes the case that the true hero of Tolkien’s epic is not Gandalf, Aragorn, or even Frodo, but a humble gardener from the Shire.
Sam is not a typical powerful or ambitious hero. He never seeks greatness. Yet through his steadfast loyalty, courage, and humility, he emerges as the one who quietly carries the story forward. In moments of fear, darkness, and overwhelming evil, especially in Shelob’s lair and in the Land of Mordor, Sam chooses love over fear, service over status, and faithfulness over power.
This episode explores how Sam’s courage is not the absence of fear, but the willingness to do what is right in spite of it. His humility keeps him grounded, even when he briefly feels the seductive pull of the Ring. He resists the Ring’s temptation and chooses to remain who he is: a gardener, a servant, and a faithful friend.
In the end, Sam’s story reflects something deeply Christian. True heroism is not found in domination or self-exaltation, but in sacrificial love, humility, and the quiet strength to remain faithful. Sam shows us that the most unlikely people often become the most important because they refuse to abandon love.
Themes Explored in This Episode
The contrast between cinematic heroism and quiet faithfulness
Courage as action rooted in love
Humility as resistance to the temptation of power
The corrupting nature of power (the Ring)
Mercy, loyalty, and friendship as transformative forces
Sam as a Christlike figure in posture and character
The importance of knowing who you are and remaining grounded
Books Mentioned
The Fellowship of the Ring – J.R. Tolkien
The Two Towers – J.R. Tolkien
The Return of the King – J.R. Tolkien
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Transcript
Narrator: Welcome back to another episode of Peaceable and Kind. I am your host, Derek Vreeland, and I hope that you are having a good day today. We are going to take another look at At JRR Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings on this episode, and I am looking forward to it. So today This episode will be a lot of storytelling. As you know, I read through the Lord of the Rings trilogy and finished that up a few months ago, and I am still thinking about it. And so I want to tell you some of the stories. And in particular on this episode, I want to tell you the story of a very unlikely hero. But before we begin, make sure you subscribe wherever you are listening to this podcast and leave a rating and review. That helps a whole lot. And if you are a fellow Lord of the Rings nerd, reach out to me on social media. And let me know what you think of these episodes. And if I get something wrong, I admit I am still a novice in the whole world of the Lord of the Rings. So if I get something wrong or you want a dialogue with me about Lord of the Rings, Reach out to me on social media. All of the links to my social media accounts are in the show notes. I’d love to have a conversation with more Lord of the Rings nerds. For years, I have been uh a huge nerd in the Star Wars universe. I think in the previous episode I talked a little bit about that not only my love for the universe created by George Lucas and the mythology and archetypes. that Lucas uses throughout the uh Star Wars films, but I also see the value In storytelling. And so I’ve loved Star Wars, and I have said previously that there is a lot of overlap, for me at least. in terms of archetypes and structure and story between Star Wars and the Lord of the Rings. And so I’m happy to discuss some Lord of the Rings and to tell you Some of the story. And so maybe you are not familiar with the story. My discussion today will be based on the books. So there are three books. Lord of the Rings is a trilogy. Technically, these three books are three volumes because each volume has a book. All that gets confusing. So if you haven’t seen the films or read the books, I’m gonna do my best to Help introduce you uh to the world of Middle-earth. So before listening to this episode, if you want to take a deeper dive into Tolkien’s world, Go back and listen to the previous episode where I take you on this trip to Middle-earth. But I want to hone in on one character. And again, my reflections are on the books and not the films. I watched all of the movies when they came out, and I re-watched The Fellowship of the Ring before I started reading. The Lord of the Rings trilogy. I and honestly, I haven’t re-watched the second two movies, uh The Two Towers or Return of the King. I have watched a few clips on YouTube, in particular after I’d finish a chapter and I had in my imagination what things would look like, I would search YouTube and watch a couple of of of clips, but my reflections are really based on the books. And as everyone says all the time, the books are better than the movies. And there are a number of differences in terms of plot. Some characters are left out. One of the big differences for me. is that it felt like when I watched the movies when they came out that there was just a lot of energy and screen time around the battles. And there are some big battles that take place in Lord of the Rings. You have the battle at Helm’s Deep, and of course the epic battle at the Pelinor Fields. But these battles, they seem bigger to me in the movies than in the books. Now, this is just my opinion, so feel free to disagree. But in reading the books, It felt like even though the battles were important, they seemed like they were on the periphery It felt like to me that Tolkien was telling the stories of Rohan and Gondor and these huge battles. As simply the backdrop to the main storyline, which is Frodo’s journey with the ring to Mount Doom to destroy it. It just felt like to me that all these big battles were simply in the background, and it was a contrast. To the very simple actions of Frodo and Sam. Because here are these two hobbits and they’re traveling through Moat Mordor While this epic battle happens in the background. So I’m not totally opposed to the battles, they’re just not that important to me. Now certainly there are heroes that rise to the surface in these battles. I’m thinking of Errowin, the Lady of Rohan, and Mary the Hobbit. and how heroic they are in the Battle of Pelinor Fields. I mean, they s they shine forth in their courage and and nobility. And so they are heroic, but I want to talk about Who I think is the real hero of the Lord of the Rings. And it’s not Gandalf the Wizard Of course I love Gandalf. You know, he defeats the Balrog and the Fellowship of the Ring and and apparently it seems like Gandalf dies, but he actually doesn’t. He comes Back into the stories, Gandalf the White. Love Gandalf and Shadow Facts’ horse. I mean, there’s so much to love about Gandalf. But I don’t think he is the true hero. And it’s not Aragorn, who’s the heir of Isildur, who’s the the king of Gondor. You know, by the way, this episode is just filled with spoilers. And I think most people are aware of of at least some of these characters. But the return of the king, which is the title of the third book and the third movie. And so while Aragorn is important, he’s not the true hero of the Lord of the Rings. And it’s not even Frodo the Hobbit from the Shire, who is the principal main character in all three books. None of these are who I believe is the true hero. Because the the true hero of the Lord of the Rings is a very unlikely hero. He’s not the strongest, he’s not the smartest, he’s not the most gifted, but rather the true hero is the simple gardener from the Shire. I’m talking about Frodo’s companion, his friend, his servant, Sam Wise Gamgee Now, what to say about Samwise Gamge? He is truly, in my mind, the hero of Lord of the Rings. And I think Tolkien makes this subtle, unassuming character, the hero, because I think Tolkien wants us to see That heroes are not just those who are great in battle, but true heroes are those who are great in character So, Sam is a hobbit from the Shire. He is very ordinary. He wouldn’t stand out necessarily in the Shire. Uh he was far more comfortable with soil and seeds than swords and shields in battle. When we first meet Sam, he’s simply Frodo’s gardener. He was listening through the window. Uh when Gandalf and Frodo are talking in Frodo’s Hobbit Hole, uh he’s just eavesdropping. He is a gardener. He works for Frodo. but he loves Frodo. And he was eavesdropping because he just wanted to know what’s going on with his bud, with his pal, with his master, who he always would call Mr. Frodo. And so Sam seems to be in the background, at least in the beginning, just sort of tagging along on a journey. he’s going on a journey that he never would have chosen for himself. In fact, it was rare for Hobbits to have a sort of call it Wonderlust. Hobbits loved the Shire. They were a simple folk. They liked working the fields. They liked Eating meals together, drinking, festivals. They love the simple life. They didn’t dream of adventures. And so, of course, Bilbo is the first hobbit. at least that we read about that is off on an adventure. And now Frodo is on this epic adventure. And I think Sam simply goes along. But as the story of the Lord of the Rings unfolds, something remarkable happens. In the shadows of danger and fear, Sam emerges Um, not as a hero who is seeking greatness, but one who quietly embodies courage and humility And so, through his loyalty and love for Frodo and his willingness to press forward when every instinct tells him to turn back. Sam shows us that true heroism is not built upon strength or status, but it’s found in enduring love. And so I think because of this, Sam is the true hero of the entire story. He doesn’t seek greatness for himself. But he throughout the story exhibits both courage and humility. And I think that those work together Um often when we think of courage, we think of a mighty warrior who is afraid of nothing. Right? Think of like the stoic warrior who feels nothing but charges into battle considering none of the risks. I don’t think that that is true courage. Real courage is not the absence of fear. Real courage is doing what is right in the face of fear. And Sam is afraid a lot of the times. Sam has lots of emotions, and one is fear. He was not a fearless person. I mean, he was afraid of the dark shadow that’s fallen over Middle Earth. He’s afraid of the unknown. He feels fear in all of the enemies that they face. He was often not fearful for himself, but he was afraid that they would harm or kill Frodo, but he keeps going on not because of some kind of self confidence, but because he was devoted to Frodo. And again he calls him mister Frodo And this was a term of respect, but it wasn’t respect that came from a beaten-down servant, but it was respect given to Frodo because of loyal friendship So Sam’s courage is not rooted in dreams or aspirations of becoming some great warrior. His courage is rooted in love. And so I want to take you to one of the more intense moments in the story. And this occurs in the two towers. This would be actually book four in the two towers, chapter nine, she lobs Lair. And this is where the journey of Frodo and Sam, both literally and spiritually, descends into darkness. So Frodo and Sam are led into this tunnel by Gollum. Gollum had been following them. And at one point he attacks Frodo, trying to steal the ring from him. And Frodo has pity on Gollum. and instead of killing him, insists that Gollum leads them uh through Mordor to Mount Doom. Now, Sam is skeptical. In the previous episode, uh, A Trip to Middle-earth, I talk a little bit about Sam and Frodo and their reactions to Gollum. But Frodo, in his compassion for Gollum, put some trust in him. Sam is skeptical Uh Sam does not trust Gollum. Sam would prefer just to execute Gollum. And Sam’s instincts are true. Because Gollum, who was overcome with an evil desire, a lust for the ring, actually intends to double cross them. He leads them into this dark, vile smelling tunnel. It’s a it’s really a cave system. And it is dark, it is stinky, it is scary, it’s uh oppressive and terrifying, and in the darkness is She Lob. Shelob is a monstrous spider-like creature, a giant spider-like monster. uh who is ancient and evil. Here’s how Tolkien describes She Lob in The Two Towers. Tolkien writes There age long she had dwelt, an evil thing in spider form, if such as once of old had lived in the land of the elves in the west. that is now under the sea. How Shelop came there, flying from ruin, no tale tells for out of the dark years few tales have come, but still she was there, who was there before Sauron, and before the first stone of Baradur. and she served none but herself, drinking the blood of elves and men, bloated and grown fat with endless brooding on her feasts Weaving webs of shadow, for all living things were her food, and her vomit darkness Far and wide, her lesser broods, bastards of miserable mates, her own offspring. that she slew spread from glen to glen, From the Ethele Duan to the eastern hills, to Dal Guldor, and to the fastness of Merkwood. But none could rival her, She Lob the Great, the last child of Ungoliant, to trouble the unhappy world I haven’t read a lot of Tolkien at all, but there’s a little picture of not only Tolkien’s masterful writing, but you get a picture of how awful the She Lob was. This ancient evil figure who drinks the blood of elves and men, and her vomit is darkness So suffice it to say, Sheelob hiding in this dark cave is an Ominous figure. And Sam does not want to go into the tunnel. He does not trust Gollum And his intuition turns out to be right, but he goes anyway because Rhodo follows Gollum into the tunnel. And then comes a terrifying moment While they are in the darkness, they have seen Shelob’s eyes, which are terrifying enough, and they were trying to r run away. Uh but Gollum attacks Sam, hoping to kill Sam and leave Sheelob to take care of Frodo. And Sam fights him off, but then Gollum flees into the darkness. And then Sam all of a sudden remembers Frodo, and he goes running in the opposite direction from where Gollum has run away. And he’s crying out for his master, Mr. Frodo, Mr. Frodo. And finally, when he comes upon Frodo, there is the monstrous spider-like shelob standing over Frodo and Frodo’s sword is is lying on the ground out of reach from Frodo By the way, in The Lord of the Rings, the swords all have a name, and Frodo’s sword is is called Sting, by the way. And in that moment, when Sam sees his master underneath the giant spider-like shelob, He moves to action. And here’s what Tolkien writes in the Two Towers. Tolkien says, Sam did not wait to wonder what was to be done. and whether he was brave or loyal or filled with rage, he sprang forward with a yell, and seized his master’s sword in his left hand, then he charged. This is a picture of Sam’s courage. He doesn’t have to think through what decision he’s going to make. He doesn’t even think through his feelings. He simply acts out of the integrity and character of his heart. Because in his heart of hearts, Sam really is courageous Hey friends, I want to pause this episode for just a moment to let you know that Resurrection, eight lessons on how God restores us, the third and final book in the God in the Neighborhood Bible study. series is out now. Go to the show notes for ordering information He attacks and he ends up under Sheila who lowers herself down and actually impales herself on Sam’s blade. He pushes his pushes it up with all of his might. And so here is Sam The humble gardener from the Shire facing this monster in the dark Uh, not because he believes he can actually beat Sheila, but because he refuses to abandon his friend. And and that is courage. And so it appears that Sheila is fatally wounded And it’s not clear to me, because I think we see Shilob uh groping around in the dark. We can assume that the wound eventually brings an end to Shila, but there is Frodo. Laying there apparently lifeless, unconscious. Sam believes Frodo is dead, and so now he faces a decision. What does he do now He agreed to be Frodo’s companion to take the ring to Mount Doom, and now it looks like Frodo is dead. Spoiler, Frodo is not dead, we find that later. But where we are in this story in She Love’s lair Um Sam thinks his master, his friend, is dead. And he has to make a decision. Will Sam take the ring to Mount Doom? Or is he just. Cut bait and head back to the Shire. Sam doesn’t want the ring. He doesn’t want the responsibility. He doesn’t want to be the hero. But he goes on He takes the ring from Frodo, not as a as a as a prize, but as a burden. And so in that moment, Sam becomes a ring bearer. He resolves to finish the task given to Frodo to carry the ring all the way to Mount Doom. And this is an act of humility. He he steps into a position of responsibility, not because he wanted to be great. but because someone has to carry the weight of the rain and it is a burdensome weight So Sam not only exemplifies courage but also humility Sam is consistently placing other people before himself. Mr. Frodo in particular And even when Sam carries the ring, he just sees himself as a servant And this is where Sam begins to reflect something that’s deeply Christ-like, not necessarily in direct allegory, but in posture. Sam, much like Jesus, has a willingness to serve and to sacrifice and to give himself for another All right, now let’s move into the last book in the trilogy, The Return of the King. And I want to go to the chapter, The Tower of Sirith Ungle. And what we see here, this is before Sam discovers that Frodo is still alive. Sam has possession of the ring. He will soon see that Frodo is still alive. Orcs have him Sam doesn’t know that yet. He still assumes that Frodo is dead. And there he has the the burden of carrying the one ring of power. the ring that deformed Gollum. Uh the ring has seductive power A power that got hold of Bilbo in the very beginning of the Fellowship of the Ring. Gandalf is encouraging Bilbo to leave the ring behind. I mean, Gandalf doesn’t want to touch the ring. He knows. Like he doesn’t even want to come near it. But he wants Bilbo to leave it behind for Frodo and Bilbo struggles to give up the ring. Because the ring has this power Later on in the Fellowship of the Ring, Boromir, uh one of the original fellowship members, he tries to take the ring from Frodo Boromir wants to use the ring to save Gondor. He wants to use the one ring of power to do good. Um, he doesn’t actually take it from Frodo. He repents uh of even trying to take it. But we see throughout the story that the ring has tempting power. And for a brief moment, before Sam and Frodo are reunited, Sam begins to feel a bit of that seductive pull. Mount Doom was in sight, but the ring was calling to Sam. And let me again just read uh just two paragraphs from The Return of the King Because I think it’s important to capture not just Tolkien’s words, but the spirit of this temptation that Sam was feeling. So here’s what Tolkien writes. 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 enemies flocking to his call as he marched to the overthrow of Barad Dur. 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 rein and claim it for his own, and all this could be In that hour of trial, it was his love of his master that helped 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 to 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 do. Not a garden swollen to a realm, his own hands to use, not the hands of others to command. Here, Sam is being tempted by the ring to be a great hero in battle, yes. But the ring also tempted Sam with what Sam loved the most, and that was gardening. That Vale of Gorgoroth is the the the the plains of Mordor, which is the home of Sauron the Dark Lord. It is a smoke-filled, hazy, dark, evil place. And so the ring tempts Sam to turn that into a garden But two things keeps Sam faithful. One, his love for his master Frodo Love for Sam wins the day, and also, Tolkien says, his plain hobbit sense. And I think that plain hobbit sense is humility Because hobbits were humble creatures. They were happy with their little gardens. They were happy. with tables full of friends and food and drink, they did not have aspirations of greatness through power and dominance. And this temptation of Sam by the ring is very similar to the temptations Jesus faced by the devil in the wilderness. In the Gospels, the devil tempts Jesus with something good. Now, often we miss this because we think that the temptations of Jesus were very personal for Jesus. But think about the three temptations, turning stones to bread, leaping from the temple and letting angels catch you, and then receiving from the devil all the kingdoms of the world Each one of these is a temptation to do something good. I mean, if Jesus could turn stones to bread, he could feed the hungry. That’s a good thing If he took a leap from the pinnacle of the temple, he could astound the crowds with miracles. If he was given authority, for all the kingdoms of the world. Think about what good Jesus could do. All he had to do was bow down and worship Sauron. I mean the devil And Jesus resisted. Jesus responded to the devil three times. The scripture says, as it is written in the scriptures. Jesus resisted the devil. Sam resisted the ring. Sam rejects all of the visions That the ring paints in his imagination. He sees that it’s all an illusion He understands that to use the ring is to ultimately use the power to dominate. Remember the inscription on the ring. One ring to rule them all, one ring to find them, one ring to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them. And that’s simply not who Sam is. He’s not Sam Wise the Strong, the hero of the age. He is Sam Wise the brave the humble gardener of the Shire. And so Sam resists the ring by choosing something better. He refuses to claim the ring of power and simply chooses to remain himself SAN the Hobbit, skilful gardener, loyal servant, faithful friend And so for me, this is one of the clearest pictures in the story of how to resist temptation. Not through willpower alone, but we resist temptation by humility, not thinking too highly of ourselves Thomas Merton, in speaking about humility from a Christian perspective, says Christian humility is first of all a matter of supernatural common sense. Humility teaches us to take ourselves as we are, instead of pretending, as pride would have us imagine, that we are something better than we are Sam wise the Hobbit was a person of humility. That was his plain Hobbit sense. It was humility. And humility is about rejecting pride. And humility is about rejecting the false self. It’s about seeing ourselves and accepting ourselves for who we are. In The Lord of the Rings, Sam becomes the unlikely hero because he knows who he is and he refuses to be anyone else. So let Sam Wise Gamgee, our beloved Sam, be for you an example of the virtues of courage and humility Courage was or fortitude was one of the cardinal virtues, one of the classic virtues Humility is a distinctive of the Christian faith. It is distinctly a Christian virtue So let this story of a unlikely hero encourage you to grow in the virtue of courage and humility. And how do you grow in these virtues? You grow in them by practicing them. You become a courageous person by doing courageous things. You become a humble person, not by bragging about your humility, but by doing humble things. And as we do so, I think we’ll become more like Jesus. Isn’t that interesting? That Sam, this fictitious hobbit,
Derek Vreeland: From a story written 70 years ago can become for us inspiration in becoming more like Jesus Well, that’s all that I have for you on this episode. Thank you for joining me. Go in peace and be kind.
This transcript was generated with AI and may contain errors.