Who Is Sam Gamgee's Daughter? Elanor's Lord Of The Rings Backstory Explained

Peter Jackson is officially working with Stephen Colbert to develop a "Lord of the Rings" film sequel. Well, kind of a sequel. The movie, which is titled "The Lord of the Rings: Shadow of the Past," will cover some material from J.R.R. Tolkien's original "Fellowship of the Ring" novel that Jackson cut from his big screen adaptation (including, possibly, Tom Bombadil). However, Colbert has explained that the film will also use a framing device that is set after the events of "The Return of the King." So, it sounds like we're getting an "after the fact with lots of flashbacks" approach. 

The movie's official synopsis adds:

Meanwhile, Sam's daughter, Elanor, has discovered a long-buried secret and is determined to uncover why the War of the Ring was very nearly lost before it even began.

It'll be fun to see the next generation of Hobbits getting up to mischief. And Tolkien even gave us some basic information about Elanor's life in the notes and appendices for his "Lord of the Rings" books. Not a ton, but enough to get an idea of her life.

The most obvious detail is that she's Sam's eldest daughter. There's a very touching scene at the end of the "Return of the King" book where Frodo helps Sam think up the name, in memory of a beautiful flower from Lothlórien. The novel adds:

She became known as "the Fair" because of her beauty; many said that she looked more like an elf-maid than a hobbit. She had golden hair, which had been very rare in the Shire.

The name origin and hair color are fun, but Elanor ends up being a lot more than a pretty face.

Elanor the Fair was born on the first day of the Fourth Age of Middle-earth as the eldest of Sam Gamgee and Rose Cotton's 13 children. In various places, she's referred to as Elanor Gamgee and Elanor Gardner (the family name Sam eventually founded). Later in life, she marries a Hobbit fella by the fantastic name of Fastred of Greenholm, making her a member of the Fairbairn family.

We don't know a ton about Elanor's story, but J.R.R. Tolkien provided us with a few key details that indicate she doesn't just live a quiet, sheltered life in the Shire. Specifically, we know that Elanor goes with her parents to live for a year in Gondor when she's 20 years old. After she gets married, Elanor then establishes a family of her own, starting with her first son: another well-named halfling dude known as Elfstan Fairbairn.

One of Elanor's most important moments comes when she inherits the Red Book from her father. For those not familiar, the Red Book was written by Bilbo and Frodo (with some late additions by Sam, whom Tolkien himself said was the real hero of the story) and serves as the in-story account of the history of "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings." Elanor's family keeps the book and makes copies, indicating that they are at least partly responsible for helping to preserve the memory of the great events throughout the ages. When Elanor gets the Red Book, she also becomes the last person to see her father before he, too, goes to the Grey Havens and follows Frodo and Bilbo into the West.

The main things we know about Elanor are that she visits Gondor, gets married, and helps preserve the heroic history of her father and his friends after the events of the "Lord of the Rings" books. But there's one more chunk of text that J.R.R. Tolkien left us that outlines another part of Elanor's life. Per the "Return of the King" appendices:

King Elessar [Aragorn] rides north [...] He comes to the Brandywine Bridge, and there greets his friends. He gives the Star of the Dúnedain to Master Samwise, and Elanor is made a maid of honour to Queen Arwen.

That entry is for the year 1436 of the Shire Reckoning (i.e. the calendar used by the Hobbits of the Shire). In other words, this happens 14 years after Frodo leaves Middle-earth in the final moments of "The Return of the King." So, when the synopsis for "The Lord of the Rings: Shadow of the Past" says that Elanor discovers secrets and all that jazz, there's a good chance that it's going to overlap with the 14-year-old Hobbit lass's path crossing with Aragorn and Arwen. Who knows: Maybe we'll even see Colbert's take on why she is made one of Arwen's maids of honor.

"The Lord of the Rings: Shadow of the Past" has yet to receive an official release date.