Samwise Gamgee
Samwise Gamgee was Frodo Baggins's gardener, having inherited the position from his father, Hamfast "Gaffer" Gamgee, who was Bilbo Baggins's gardener. As "punishment" for eavesdropping on Gandalf's conversation with Frodo regarding the One Ring, Sam was made Frodo's first companion on his journey to Rivendell. They were joined by Meriadoc Brandybuck and Peregrin Took, Frodo's cousins, traveling together to Rivendell. At the Council of Elrond there, Sam joined the Fellowship of the Ring. In the elvish land of Lothlórien, Galadriel gives Sam a small box of earth from her garden.