[Iris Alantiel]

Interesting concept. Nothing like this ever occurred to me. It really gets to the heart of a lot of questions about the text, like exactly what the properties of the Ring are, how far it can affect characters, and what makes a character immune or susceptible to its influence.

If it can be said that hobbits are generally less susceptible to the Ring's influence than other races of Middle Earth (which I think is fair, since Bilbo unwittingly carried it for decades without becoming particularly corrupt and Frodo made it all the way to Mount Doom without giving in), then theoretically Sam would be just as capable of bearing the Ring as Frodo. However, Frodo was willing to give Gollum the benefit of the doubt, and Sam would almost certainly not have done so: he would have either killed Gollum or sent him away.

So what would have happened when Sam's strength faltered at the Crack of Doom? You might argue that Sam wouldn't do so, but I don't think Sam is any stronger than Frodo in that sense - his key characteristic is his loyalty, and he derives strength primarily from that. I suppose it's possible that he could use his love for and loyalty to Frodo, Rosie, and the Shire to summon the strength to cast the Ring away, which might have worked . . . but it's hard to say without knowing exactly the extent to which the Ring has power over one's thinking.

Assuming the Ring would take power over him, I suppose the question returns to Frodo - what would he have done? Would he have been able to fight Sam for the Ring (keeping in mind that he lacked Gollum's desperate drive for it, since in this version, he was never a ring-bearer)? If he did fight Sam, who would win? I think it's virtually impossible to say one way or another; it could go either way.

If we assume again that the Ring was destroyed one way or another, though, I'm not sure Sam would have needed to pass into the West with Gandalf and the elves the way Frodo did. It's difficult to say for sure, but I like to think that he would have found enough peace and solace in his life with Rosie, his children, and his restoration of the Shire that he would be able to move past his horrible experiences as the Ring-bearer. It seems to me that, in his Shire-life independent of the Quest, Sam has more of a sense of purpose than Frodo.