Rose Cotton, called Rosie, was the daughter of Tolman Cotton, a farmer of Bywater, and the sister of Young Tom, Jolly, Nick and Nibs. Sam had cared for her before he left the Shire but had never spoken; she did not like his going abroad at all, but as he had not spoken, she could not say so.1,2,3
When the travellers came home at the end of October 1419 and found the Shire under the ruffians, Rosie stood at the round door of her father's house with her mother and Nibs. They had said Sam was dead, she told him, but she had been expecting him since the spring, and he had not hurried; and she scolded him for leaving Frodo as soon as things looked dangerous.1
Sam and Rose were married in the spring of 1420, and at Frodo's wish they came to live at Bag End. Their first child, Elanor, was born on 25 March 1421, the anniversary of the fall of Sauron, and twelve more children followed.2,4,3
When Sam came back from the Grey Havens, having seen Frodo off over the Sea, it was Rose who drew him in, set him in his chair and put little Elanor upon his lap.2
Well, I'm back,
Rose died on Mid-year's Day of 1482. After her death Sam rode away from Bag End for the last time, and he is said to have passed over the Sea as the last of the Ring-bearers.5
Sources
Citations name the chapter rather than the page, so they work in any edition. The colour of each note shows what kind of source it is.
- Published story The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings as Tolkien published them.
- Appendices Tolkien's own appendices to The Lord of the Rings.
- Published story The Return of the King, Book VI, ch. 8, “The Scouring of the Shire”
- Published story The Return of the King, Book VI, ch. 9, “The Grey Havens”
- Appendices The Lord of the Rings, Appendix C, “Family Trees”
- Appendices The Lord of the Rings, Appendix B, “The Great Years”
- Appendices The Lord of the Rings, Appendix B, “Later Events Concerning the Members of the Fellowship of the Ring”