Rose Cotton, nicknamed Rosie, was a hobbit of the Shire. She wedded Samwise Gamgee, renowned companion of Frodo Baggins in the quest of the One Ring. She became the mother of Frodo Gardner, Elanor, Rose, Merry, Pippin, Goldilocks, Hamfast, Daisy, Primrose, Bilbo, Ruby, Robin, and Tolman (Tom).
Rosie was a Cotton; the daughter of Tolman Cotton and Lily Brown, and the sister of Tolman (Tom), Wilcome Cotton (Jolly), Bowman (Nick), and Carl Cotton (Nibs), and wife of Samwise Gamgee. She lived with her family on South Lane, in a farm near Bywater. Her early life is not well recorded but it is known that she and her family were always close to the Gamgees, and her brothers frequently swam in the Bywater Pool as youths with the Gamgees including Sam.[3] Being very close friends with Sam, she expected that she and him would eventually marry, and expecting a marriage proposal soon she didn't like it when she heard Sam had left the Shire, apparently for Crickhollow. Though not pleased that he was away for a year, she waited for him patiently.[4]
War of the Ring[]
Rosie and her family were just as angry as most everyone else but remained docile due to having a family to look after. Rosie remained protected. When Sam came back on November 2, 3019, she told him that she had expected him by the spring and thought him dead. She eventually helped him and the other returning hobbits fight and defeat the Ruffians and Sharkey. During this time, Sam got the chance to tell her where he had really been and what he had really been doing for over a year. After the war, Sam and Frodo lived with Rosie and the Cottons for a time until Bag End was restored to livable conditions.
"I think the simple ‘rustic’ love of Sam and his Rosie (nowhere elaborated) is absolutely essential to the study of his (the chief hero's) character, and to the theme of the relation of ordinary life (breathing, eating, working, begetting) and quests, sacrifice, causes, and the 'longing for Elves', and sheer beauty." - J.R.R. Tolkienletter dated 1951.
Possible Rosie Cotton from Rankin-Bass Return of the King (1980)
In adaptations[]
In the Rankin/Bass film[]
In The Return of the King (1980 film), Rosie was not voiced by anyone, but was seen as a blonde woman in a dream that Sam had when he is in Cirith Ungol.
In The Lord of the Rings Online, Rosie can be found at her family farmstead, but currently plays no role in the storyline. During the Farmers Faire festival she can be seen dancing at the nearby Methel-stage.
In Tales of the Shire (2025), Rosie appears as a young girl and is one of the townsfolk with friendship to level. She lives on the outskirts of town with her father, mother and older brother Tom Cotton Jr.
"A smart little girl with a brightness in her eyes, like nothing could stop her. Full of good Hobbit-sense, she's has all the cleverness of her Pa with gardening, with the confidence of her Mam to boot"- Character Description (In game)[8]
↑The Lord of the Rings, Appendix B: The Tale of Years (Chronology of the Westlands), "Later Events concerning the Members of the Fellowship of the Ring"
