This is a short thing a wrote in the summer. I thought that it was sort of interesting...enjoy.

THE REAL SAM GAMGEE

BY KOLBE FLOOD

One day it happened that Tolkien received a letter from a certain person. In it, this person said that he was listening to a serial on a radio and it just happened that he heard one of the main characters name, Same Gamgee. “I was rather interested,” Quoth him, “at how you arrived at the name of the characters named Sam Gamgee because that happens to be my name.” Mr. Gamgee then stated how he had never heard or read the story but it was surprising when he heard his name. He knew the story was fictional, but wondered how the master of Middle-earth came up with such a name. 

Tolkien wrote back, saying that he was much astonished to read the signature at the bottom of the page. He then explained that as a child, he would use the word ‘Gamgee’ for ‘Cotton-wool’. As for myself, it is quite an interesting thought to ponder when reading Lord of the Rings, knowing that: ‘Gamgee’ and ‘Cotton’ are closely related to Tolkien’s Standards. It was later that Tolkien found out that: ’Gamgee; was the named for the ‘Gamgee-tissue’, well known in the medical profession. 

Tolkien sent Mr. Sam Gamgee his Lord of the Rings, signed. He wrote to his son Christopher later saying, “I have had a letter from the real Sam Gamgee, from Tooting! He could not have chosen a more Hobbit-sounding place, could he?”