Lord of the Rings (musical) the region of Middle-earth known as the Shire, Bilbo Baggins, an eccentric and wealthy Hobbit, celebrates his eleventyhundredth birthday by vanishing from his birthday party, leaving his greatest treasure, a mysterious magic Ring, to his young relative Frodo Baggins ("Springle Ring"). The Ring is greatly desired by the Dark Lord Sauron, who could use it to conquer the world, and must be destroyed in the fires of Mount Doom in Sauron's country of Mordor. Frodo and his friends Samwise Gamgee, Merry Brandybuck and Pippin Took set out along the road that leads out of the Shire ("The Road Goes On").
Samwise Gamgee Sam returned to the Shire, and returned to his role as gardener, helping to replant the trees which had been destroyed during The Scouring of the Shire. He was elected Mayor of the Shire for seven consecutive terms, and in his old age was one of the last denizens of Middle-earth to be permitted to enter The Undying Lands, an honour accorded to him as one of the Ring-bearers. Samwise Gamgee is first introduced in "The Fellowship of the Ring". Sam is Frodo Baggins' gardener, having inherited the position as Baggins' gardener from his father, Hamfast "Gaffer" Gamgee. At the