Book readers know that the real hero of the Lord of the Rings saga is the humble and brave Samwise Gamgee, the gardener with a heart of gold and a will of mithril. Tolkien took the name from a pleasant memory about his childhood related to a type of cotton wool, and in The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien describes Sam as "a most heroic character...even though his origins are rustic."
Sam was added to the Fellowship more as a servant and bag carrier than an adventurer, and from his attitude, Sam never expected to be anything more. Perhaps the most common folk are the most heroic, who fight for their families and friends and not land, title, or gold. The movie adaptations didn't have the time or space to tell the stories of Samwise that book readers already know.
6 Got More Than Just A Rope
The magical rope survived the movie adaptation, but Sam received another gift from Galadriel that was just as important and never appears in the film. Galadriel gave him a box of dirt from Lothlorien. It doesn't sound like something that you'd take on an adventure, and that's because it was intended for another purpose entirely.
An event called the Scouring Of The Shire, which is absent from the movie adaptation, was the Fellowship's last adventure together and it took place when they returned home. Sam's horrible vision in Galadriel's pool, in which the Shire had been overrun by the last remaining vestiges of Saruman's forces, is led by the old man himself, now going by the name of Sharkey. The Old Gaffer, Sam's father, was one of the last stubborn holdouts.
After everything they had already been through, even without the rest of the Fellowship, defeating Sharkey and his minions was fairly easy. The real challenge was restoring all of the green spaces and woodland that they had destroyed. The dirt from Lothlorien did the trick, and Sam the Gardener elevated his craft to another level by using it to restore the Shire.
5 Reunited With Bill The Pony
Bill the Pony appears in the movies, but only the book readers know of his ultimate fate. Bill couldn't follow the Fellowship into Moria and was set loose to find his way home, but in the books, Sam always suspected that the Watcher in the Water had caught him. That's why it was such a dramatic reunion when he found him again in Bree.
The remains of the Fellowship were traveling through that same town where they met Aragorn at The Prancing Pony, and of course, they had to stop and visit the place. While they were there, the owner Butterbur mentioned that Bill had managed to find his way back and was waiting in the stable. Samwise was ecstatic and wouldn't go to bed until he had a chance to see him.
4 Elected Mayor Seven Times
When Frodo was leaving for the Grey Havens, he predicted that Sam would be mayor for a long time, and he was right. Samwise Gamgee was appointed Mayor of the Shire no less than seven times, which encompassed the better part of his adult life.
It helped that Samwise was a close, personal friend of King Elessar, and the royal family visited the Shire to pay homage to the Fellowship that remained. He was also close to the ruling Thains of the period, Peregrin Took and Meriadoc Brandybuck, and their families were close.
3 Had Thirteen Children...
In the early years of the Fourth Age, Sam lived a happy and prosperous life, surrounded by family, food, and cheer. Family, in particular, was important to Sam and Rosie, as they filled that cozy hobbit house with no less than 13 children.
The total comes out to seven boys and six girls, and several of them were named after other members of the Fellowship. Elanor, a girl, was the oldest. The second child was a boy named Frodo, because of course he was, and his younger brothers were Pippin, Merry, and Bilbo. Goldilocks, Sam's third daughter, and sixth child overall, married the son of Peregrin Took, Faramir I.
2 ...And Elanor Was The Most Famous
It's tough to distinguish yourself when there are 12 siblings to compete with, but being part of the Queen's official royal retinue is a good start. When King Elessar and Queen Arwen visited the Shire for the first time, they made the young Elanor one of the Queen's ladies in waiting. She was known as Elanor the Fair because of her golden hair, which was more like an elf would have as opposed to a hobbit.
After Elanor married, she moved to a part of Westmarch called Undertowers, which had been a new territory gifted to the hobbits by King Elessar. She was also the inheritor of the Red Book, the tome that Bilbo had started under the title There And Back Again: A Hobbit's Holiday and which Frodo Baggins and her father had continued.
1 Met Cirdan The Shipwright
The oldest being in Middle-earth, even older than the Lady Galadriel, was Cirdan the Shipwright. He had been a leader of the elves in the First Age, and in the Second, Third, and Fourth Ages he was the keeper of the Grey Havens and shepherded those who would sail into the West.
The Return of the King has a touching scene that includes the journey of Gandalf and the other hobbits to the seashore. In the book, Sam and Frodo take the journey alone, and it was here that Sam met Cirdan. Frodo made sure Sam knew that his time would come eventually, and when he was ready, this was the person who would put him on the straight path. After Mistress Rosie died, Sam met Cirdan for the second time and went into the West.