shia'tan

One thing that does not seem to have been mentioned is that Sam was a ringbearer, if only for a short time. He probably felt some form of loss when the Ring was destroyed, and for his part he was due some reward in the undying lands when the thing that bound him to middle earth most (Rosie) passed away.

Sam was given the opportunity to sail with Legolas and Gimli (I believe it was with them), Rosie was dead, his children were grown up, he was an old Hobbit, nearing the end of his life, had suffered for his part in the fate of middle earth. I don't see any real betrayal or love of Frodo superior to his love to Rosie in Sam's actions.

I am not a scholar of World War I, but from the few books I have read and plays seen, the common theme of love / respect / friendship / duty between an Officer and his men, following him to certain doom blah blah blah fits the Frodo Sam story of the Lord of the Rings, and the final part must be either the death of the both, or reuniting.

I have jsut had an odd thought, prompted by the above; we know that the hobbits and Gimli are mortal, and thier mortality continues even in the Undying lands, and that Frodo was in serious pain when he left Middle Earth, it is possible that Frodo had passed through his dream of music and his life had passed when Sam arrived. Does not really fit with the conceit of the relationship between them, but is still a possibility.