The equivalent of this date in Shire reckoning is said to be the birthday of the character Samwise Gamgee in Lord of the Rings. 10 facts about Sam:
Tolkien got his name from a brand of surgical dressing: Gamgee Tissue, which was invented by one Dr. Joseph Gamgee, and gamgee was a colloquial word for cotton wool in Birmingham when Tolkien was growing up. It’s no coincidence, either, that Sam’s wife Rosie’s maiden name was Cotton.
Tolkien considered Sam to be the real hero of Lord of the Rings.
Sam was Frodo’s employee rather than his friend. At the beginning of the story, Sam is Frodo’s gardener and is only included in the quest because he was working near a window and overheard a private conversation. The relationship between the two is based on that of a "batman" - a soldier who acted as a personal servant to an officer. Sam does most of the cooking and carrying during the quest, and always calls Frodo “Mr Frodo”. For his part, Frodo never suggests to Sam that he drops the “Mr”. In his letters, Tolkien says that he considers many of the “batmen” he met during his military service to be much better men than he was himself.
Sam is one of only three characters who is able to give up the ring by choice, the others being Bilbo, who gives it to Frodo when he leaves for Rivendell, and Tom Bombadil, the only character in the books who knows of the Ring's existence but isn't affected by it. It has been suggested that these were more “simple” characters and this was the reason the ring didn’t have such a hold over them.
Sam’s father is Hamfast Gamgee, who is mentioned rather more in the books than in the films. In the films, he only briefly appears as a cameo in the Green Dragon scene, played by Norman Forsey.
After Sam returns to the Shire, changes his name to Gardener and marries Rosie, he has 13 children (only two of which are shown in the film). They were: Elanor, Frodo, Rose, Merry, Pippin, Goldilocks, Hamfast, Daisy, Primrose, Bilbo, Ruby, Robin, and Tolman.
He also served as mayor of the Shire for seven consecutive terms, living in Bag End, which Frodo gave to him on his departure. Sam also completed the narrative about the journey after Frodo left.
The Jungian analyst Pia Skogemann views Sam as standing for feeling, one of the four cognitive functions, with the other Hobbits in the Fellowship embodying the other three: Frodo thinking, Pippin intuition, and Merry sensation.
It has also been suggested that there’s some Christian symbolism here, too. Sam, who carries Frodo up to Mount Doom, parallels Simon of Cyrene, who helps Jesus by carrying his cross to Golgotha.
Tolkien once received a letter from a real life Sam Gamgee, who had heard that there was a character with the same name in his book, although he’d not actually read it. Tolkien sent the real Sam signed copies of all three volumes. He would later write: "For some time I lived in fear of receiving a letter signed 'S. Gollum'. That would have been more difficult to deal with."
Beta
(Combat Team Series #2)
Steff was abducted by an evil alien race, the Orbs, at fourteen. Used as a weapon for years, he eventually escapes, but his problems are just beginning. How does a man support himself when his only work experience is a paper round and using an Orb bio-integrated gun?
Warlord is an alien soldier who knows little but war. When the centuries-old conflict which ravaged his planet ends, he seeks out another world where his skills are still relevant. There are always wars on Earth, it seems. However, none of Earth's powerful armies want him.
Natalie has always wanted to visit England and sees a chance to do so while using her martial arts skills, but there are sacrifices she must make in order to fulfil her dream.
Maggie resorted to crime to fund her sister's medical care. She uses her genetic variant abilities to gain access to the rooms of wealthy hotel guests. The Ballards look like rich pickings, but they are not what they seem. When Maggie targets them, little does she know that she is walking into a trap.
Hotel owner Hamilton Lonsdale puts together a combat team to pit against those of other multi-millionaires. He recruits Warlord, Natalie, Maggie and Steff along with a trained gorilla, a probability-altering alien, a stockbroker whose work of art proved to be much more than he'd bargained for, a marketing officer who can create psionic forcefields, a teleporting member of the landed gentry, and a socially awkward fixer. This is Combat Team Beta.
Steff never talks about his time with the Orbs, until he finds a woman who lived through it, too. Steff believes he has finally found happiness, but it is destined to be short-lived. He is left with an unusual legacy which he and Team Beta struggle to comprehend; including why something out there seems determined to destroy it.
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