Comics illustrator brings unpublished Lord of the Rings epilogue to life

Did you know that J.R.R. Tolkien wrote a lovely, unpublished epilogue to The Lord of the Rings all about Sam? Here it is in comic book form!

Frodo’s time in Middle-earth comes to an end at the end of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, when he joins Gandalf and sails into the West, but Samwise Gamgee stays in the Shire. The end of the trilogy sees him getting married with a daughter, seemingly moving past everything that took place during his and Frodo’s journey to destroy the One Ring.

That said, adventure was still on his mind. Tolkien actually wrote an unpublished epilogue that shows what Sam got up to after the end of the story. It sees him finishing the last pages of Frodo’s book about their ordeal and having a heartfelt conversation with his daughter Elanor. They talk about all the “treasures” Sam has had in his life — Elanor and Frodo included — and Elanor wishes she could remember meeting Sam’s closest friend.

It’s a sweet moment. And now comics illustrator Molly Knox Ostertag — known for Strong Female Protagonist and The Witch Boy — has brought it to life in comic form. She shared the illustrations on Twitter, which you can check out below:

And as a bonus, Ostertag was so taken by the idea of Sam eventually making his way into the West that she illustrated that idea, as well.

The comic in its entirety is also available on Archive of Our Own, and it really is worth a read. There’s something special about seeing Tolkien’s epilogue brought to life visually like this. From Sam’s conversation with his daughter to the epilogue’s final moments, which see him speaking with his wife Rose, the whole thing gives fans some closure — at least when it comes to Sam’s character, anyway.

Maybe there’s a way to sneak it into Amazon’s upcoming Lord of the Rings series? Probably not, but you never know.

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