The Lord of the Rings Nazgûl, to seize it. The story begins in the Shire, where the hobbit Frodo Baggins inherits the Ring from Bilbo Baggins, his cousin and guardian. Neither hobbit is aware of the Ring's nature, but Gandalf the Grey, a wizard and an old friend of Bilbo, suspects it to be Sauron's Ring. Seventeen years later, after Gandalf confirms his guess, he tells Frodo the history of the Ring and counsels him to take it away from the Shire. Frodo sets out, accompanied by his gardener, servant and friend, Samwise "Sam" Gamgee, and two cousins, Meriadoc "Merry" Brandybuck and Peregrin "Pippin" Took.
Samwise Gamgee centuries ago being the same as yours." He sent Gamgee a signed copy of all three volumes of the book. However, the incident sparked a nagging worry in Tolkien's mind, as he recorded in his journal: "For some time I lived in fear of receiving a letter signed 'S. Gollum'. That would have been more difficult to deal with." After publication of "The Lord of the Rings", Tolkien traced the origin of the name back to Gamgee and, eventually, the earlier English surname 'de Gamaches'. In Ralph Bakshi's 1978 animated version of "The Lord of the Rings", Sam was voiced