Happy Hobbit Day: A Read-Aloud From The Fellowship of the Ring

To mark Hobbit Day, I read aloud one of the early scenes from The Fellowship of the Ring: the moment Gandalf discovers Sam Gamgee eavesdropping outside the window at Bag End while Frodo and Gandalf are talking about the ring, the enemy, and the road ahead.

The scene opens with Sam caught listening under the window, shears in hand, claiming he was only trimming the grass border. Gandalf is not convinced, pressing him on how long he had been listening. Sam protests that there are no eaves at Bag End for him to have been eavesdropping from at all, insisting, "There ain't no eaves in Bag End, and that's a fact."

Gandalf presses Sam Gamgee on what he overheard outside Bag End

Gandalf's eyes flash and his brows stick out "like bristles" as he demands to know what Sam heard and why he was listening. Sam, quaking, appeals directly to Frodo for protection, begging, "Don't let him hurt me, sir. Don't let him turn me into anything unnatural." He pleads that he means no harm and swears it on his honor.

Frodo, though startled and puzzled himself, can hardly keep from laughing at Sam's panic, and reassures him that Gandalf knows he means no harm, but tells him to answer the question straight away. Sam then admits, haltingly, what he overheard: something about an enemy, rings, Bilbo, dragons, a fiery mountain, and elves. He explains he listened because he could not help himself, adding that he loves tales of that sort and believes them, too, whatever Ted may say. He then asks outright whether Gandalf might take him to see the elves.

Frodo swears Sam to secrecy after learning he heard about the journey

Gandalf's response is to laugh suddenly, reach through the window, and lift the astonished Sam, shears, grass clippings and all, straight into the room. He asks Sam whether he had heard that Frodo was going away, and Sam confirms it, explaining that the news upset him so much that a sound burst out of him despite his efforts to stay quiet.

Frodo tells Sam sadly that it cannot be helped and that he will have to leave the Shire, realizing in that moment that going away will mean more painful partings than simply leaving behind the comforts of Bag End. He warns Sam that if he truly cares about him, he must keep what he heard a dead secret, adding that if Sam breathes a word of it, he hopes Gandalf will turn him into a spotted toad and fill the garden with grass snakes. Sam falls to his knees, trembling at the threat.

Gandalf decides Sam's punishment for listening is to join the journey

Gandalf tells Sam to get up, saying he has thought of something better than turning him into a toad, something that will both shut his mouth and punish him properly for listening: Sam will go away with Frodo. Sam springs up "like a dog invited for a walk," crying out that he gets to go and see elves after all, shouting "Hooray!" in delight at the news.