When looking at LotR, its easy to pick out the friendships throughout the story. The unyielding friendship of Frodo and Sam, the unexpected one between Legolas and Gimli and others all show the varieties of friendships Tolkien writes about. He makes characters both with strong ties to those they are familar with and those outside of their own race. In the case of Frodo and Sam, I feel as though thier friendship is a very deep and importaint one. In a way it represents where one comes from and the importance of one's roots. It is the familiarity of home.
Legolas and Gimil's friendship, on the other hand, is more about overcoming old feuds to forge a bond. Given that Tolkien lived through both world wars, I think it is safe to say he say the importance of both friendships with those from the same place as you, but also those that are different from you. LotR has a very strong theme of unity and by using different races as an example, Tolkien is showing the power of unity and how importaint it is to see things from someone else's view.
I think it was a really smart decision of Tolkien to develop character friendships that were all strong in their own way but varied in nature. As you said, Frodo and Sam's friendship is extremely close and intimate, as they hold onto each other for support and familiarity during their journey. On the other hand, Legolas and Gimli is a newer but still strong friendship. Merry and Pippin's friendship is also admirable, as even when they split apart, one going to Gondor and the other staying in Rohan, they remain loyal to each other so that when they come back together, it seems that not a day has passed.
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