What creature is Tom Bombadil?

[Amras Oronar]

Well as you see in the title, I am wondering what creature exactly he is. It probaly is stated in the book about him, yet unfortunably, I havn't red that. (it's on my list for books to read in the future though :D )

I've had some discussion about this with a friend, we cam to the conclusion that he is most likely a Maiar. This might seem very ridicoules to you, but keep in mind that the only information we 2 red about him is Lotr ;) .
But he must be something mightier even then the average Maiar, and much mightier then any elf. For the ring did not effect him even though Galadriel (greatest of all elfs as is said in Unfinished Tales) knows of herself that she isn't great enough to control it, Curunir it drove mad, and even Orolin with the greatest spirit of the istari wasn't great enough for it, yet Bombadil is not at all effected by it....
So does somewone have any other theorys (if it isn't mentioned in a book I havn;t red..) of what Tom Bombadil is?

[Ghazi]

No one knows for sure. Tolkien identified him as an intentional "enigma". If you look around the Internet and on this site you'll be able to find plenty of interesting speculation (in English). Unfortunately, I'm not sure of the available speculation in other languages being limited as I am in that regard.

[Amras Oronar]

Yes, well, somewone has awnsered this question in a other thread now^^

He is not from Middle-Earth, he existed before Tolkien wrote about Middle-Earth therefore he is probaly not to be place in any midle-earthian race :D

[Elfchick7]

This seems to be the appropriate place to post this:

Who is Tom Bombadil? Why doesn't the Ring affect him? I confess that although I have read the LOTR three times I never really took interest until now. I just began my forth reading when I suddenly became intrigued by this VERY mysterious character.

Does anyone have insight? :confused: :confused: :confused:

[Raynor]

In letter #19, Tolkien calls Bombadil the "spirit of the (vanishing) Oxford and Berkshire countryside", an obvious out-of-story referrence. More importantly, he says of him:
And even in a mythical Age there must be some enigmas, as there always are. Tom Bombadil is one (intentionally). Concerning his resistance to the ring, the closest Tolkien came to explaining it is this (to my knowledge):
...both sides in some degree, conservative or destructive, want a measure of control. but if you have, as it were taken 'a vow of poverty', renounced control, and take your delight in things for themselves without reference to yourself, watching, observing, and to some extent knowing, then the question of the rights and wrongs of power and control might become utterly meaningless to you, and the means of power quite valueless. It is a natural pacifist view, which always arises in the mind when there is a war. But the view of Rivendell seems to be that it is an excellent thing to have represented, but that there are in fact things with which it cannot cope; and upon which its existence nonetheless depends. Ultimately only the victory of the West will allow Bombadil to continue, or even to survive. Nothing would be left for him in the world of Sauron.with another occasion, I commented that:
Interesting that Tom is compared to Rivendell; there dwells the greates loremaster of Middle Earth at the time. Another interesting parallel is that both Tom and Elrond are healers in their own way (Tom at least of land). The elves are also said to have the subcreative faculties in the highest degree among all mortals, and the peculiarity of subcreation/Art is its lack of possessiveness, which also seems to define Tom as well. While both the Elves and Tom enjoy lore, the Elves seem to be the closest to perfection in creating, and Tom seems to be closest to perfection in attitude (a chapter where the elves lack, since they can be seduced to a kind of minor Melkorism, to be their own masters in Arda - cf. the Athrabeth). Just as Men/Elves represent the two facets of Mortality (letter #181), Elves/Tom may represent the two facets of the perfect archetype.

I would also compare Tom's 'invulnerability' to the ring to his simple and pure nature, which is apparent in hobbits too - Tolkien commented in letter #109 on the "refusal of their nature and reason at the last pinch to compromise or submit".

[davem]

Of course all Tolkien's statements re Tom are attempts to account for him 'after the fact'. Tom existed long before LotR was written (he first appeared in the poem The Adventures of TB published in (I think) The Oxford Magazine in the 1920's) & entered into LotR in order to provide an 'adventure' for the travellers. Hence Tolkien's struggles to explain him & make him fit - he is an 'illegal alien' & doesn't really fit in at all.

Not much point in trying too hard to account for him, & the best explanation is Goldberry's - 'He is.'

(EDIT It was apparently published in 1933-34)

[The Squatter of Amon Rûdh]

Astonishing though this may seem, the subject of Tom Bombadil's origins has turned up once or twice during the history of the forum. A search (http://forum.barrowdowns.com/search.php) of The Books and Haudh-en-Ndengin for threads with the words 'Tom' and 'Bombadil' in their titles returns just over a page of links, of which I give some dealing specifically with who and what Tom is below. The simple answer is that nobody does or can know who Tom Bombadil is supposed to be, and that Tolkien deliberately didn't tell anyone, probably because he couldn't think of a satisfactory explanation. In reality Tom was incorporated into LR from some earlier stories and poems about a doll owned by Tolkien's children, none of which originally had anything to do with Middle-earth or The Hobbit. This is why he cannot easily be placed within the Silmarillion and LR cosmology. The opinions of most longer-standing members on this subject can be found in Fordim Hedgethistle's poll Who or What is Tom Bombadil (http://forum.barrowdowns.com/showthread.php?t=12446), which kicked off in December 2005.

Who do you think Tom Bombadil really was (http://forum.barrowdowns.com/showthread.php?t=504) (Started by Orald/Durelen, 12th November, 2000).

Re Tom Bombadil (http://forum.barrowdowns.com/showthread.php?t=621) (Started by Pippin, 19th November, 2001).

AGood Essay on Tom Bombadil. (http://forum.barrowdowns.com/showthread.php?t=1016) (Started by Elendur, 13th January, 2002). Links to an essay entitled Who is Tom Bombadil?

Tom Bombadil (http://forum.barrowdowns.com/showthread.php?t=1321) (Started by Maeglom, 1st May, 2002).

What is Tom Bombadil (http://forum.barrowdowns.com/showthread.php?t=2300) (Started by steve, 24th July, 2002).

Tom Bombadil - Maiar ? (http://forum.barrowdowns.com/showthread.php?t=1006) (Started by kingangmar, 1st August, 2002).

Bombadil: The Reader (http://forum.barrowdowns.com/showthread.php?t=1641) (Started by Olorin, 23rd July, 2003). Links to an essay that suggests Bombadil is an embodiment of the reader.

Bombadil as Aule? (http://forum.barrowdowns.com/showthread.php?t=1631) (Started by Lord of Angmar, 21st July, 2003). Suggests just what it says on the tin.

bombadil being a dwarf (http://forum.barrowdowns.com/showthread.php?t=457) (Started by lore_master, 2nd October, 2003).

Tom Bombadil (http://forum.barrowdowns.com/showthread.php?t=138) (Started by Maverick, 24th January, 2004).

[Bêthberry]

Tom Bombadil is the Holy Fool of Tolkien's Legendarium.


A little Madness in the Spring
Is wholesome even for the King,
But God be with the Clown-
Who ponders this tremendous scene -
This whole Experiment of Green -
As if it were his own!




There now, I can't recall ever seeing that on any of the previous Bomba threads.

[Lalwendë]

Usually I claim Tom as being a nature spirit, either the spirit of Middle-earth or as a representative of the Spirit of England - a bit of a Genus Loci, with a touch of the Gog and Magog going on.

But right now I'm having some fun thinking of Tom as a Timelord. Never aging, resistant to the Ring, a definite eccentric, he seems to exist outside the rules - so why shouldn't he be a Timelord? Which version of the good Doctor he is though, I wouldn't like to say, though he is quite Tom Baker like. ;)

Goldberry of course is the ultimate Assistant. :cool: