Abby Epplett, Historian

While gardening is not a skill typically associated with high fantasy literature, it was one of Sam Gamgee’s many talents. At the end of the scene in the Green Dragon in Book I, Chapter 1 “The Shadow of the Past” , the reader glances into Sam’s mind to learn that “there was a lot to do up in the Bag End garden… The grass was growing fast.” This short line references a continental divide in linguistics, European culture from the medieval period to the present, the politics of decolonization lawns, and environmental science, all of which I will unpack in this essay.

I recently read The Birth of the West: Rome, Germany, France, and the Creation of Europe in the Tenth Century by Paul Collins, published in 2013 by PublicAffairs . I read from the eBook version on the Libby app, which allowed me to make 1378 highlights in the book. I will only share a handful with you today. At nearly 500 pages in its print addition, and nearly 1500 in digital, this book is not for the faint of heart but rewarding for those interested in learning more about this century of the European Medieval Period, a time of violence and disorder after the fall of the Roman Empire and before the Roman Catholic Church dominated the government.

Today, I am using my creative liberties to share a scene not appearing in the book that establishes the musical motif representing Frodo and Sam together. In my introduction to this theme, I combine the sound of the serinette with the whistling loved by hobbits along with exploring one interpretation of their relationship: that of a master and his disciple or acolyte.

When Bilbo left Bag End after his Long-Expected Party, he wore a traveling outfit that he had assembled during his adventure with Thorin and company many years earlier. The base of this outfit was heavily worn hobbit-clothes, which I have designed to look similar to a late 18 th century costume previously described in “Characters: Bilbo & Frodo Baggins” . The outer layer was a cloak and hood, common clothing for dwarf-men who liked to travel. The cloak and hood were “rather too large” for Bilbo, presumably because although he was nearly the same height as dwarves, he had less muscle mass and a narrower build.