Tom Bombadil

[Hakon]

I could not find a thread already about him so I just made this one. I have always wondered who he is. I know what inspired Tolkien to create Tom but I do not know who Tom is. None of us do since nothing is really explained about him in the books. Some of the theories I have heard about him are that he is Eru or he is in fact the land itself in the form of a person. I doubt that second one. I do not think that he could be Eru. He is not serious enough. I think wikipedia offers some insight into who he could be, but it is not a lot. What do you all of you think about Tom?

[radagastly]

From "In the House of Tom Bombadil:"

Old Tom Bombadil is a merry fellow;
Bright blue his jacket is, and his boots are yellow.

'Fair lady!' said Frodo again after a while. 'Tell me, if my asking does not seem foolish, who is Tom Bombadil?'

'He is,' said Goldberry, staying her swift movements and smiling.

Frodo looked at her questioningly. 'He is, as you have seen him,' she said in answer to his look. 'He is the Master of wood, water and hill.'

'Then all this strange land belongs to him?'

'No indeed!' she answered, and her smile faded. 'That would indeed be a burden,' she added in a low voice, as if to herself. 'The trees and the grasses and all things growing or living in the land belong each to themselves. Tom Bombadil is the Master. No one has ever caught old Tom walking in the forest, wading in the water, leaping on the hill-tops under light and shadow. He has no fear. Tom Bombadil is master.'

Also, from "In the House of Tom Bombadil:"

Whether the morning and evening of one day or of many days had passed Frodo could not tell. He did not feel either hungry or tired, only filled with wonder. The stars shone through the window and the silence of the heavens seemed to be round him. He spoke at last out of his wonder and a sudden fear of that silence:
'Who are you Master?' he asked.

'Eh, what?' said Tom sitting up, and his eyes glinting in the gloom. 'Don't you know my name yet? That's the only answer. Tell me, who are you, alone, yourself and nameless? But you are young and I am old. Eldest, that's what I am. Mark my words, my friends: Tom was here before the river and the trees; Tom remembers the first raindrop and the first acorn. He made paths before the Big People, and saw the little People arriving. He was here before the Kings and the graves and the Barrow-wights. When the elves passed westward, Tom was here already, before the seas were bent. He knew the dark under the stars when it was fearless--before the Dark Lord came from Outside.'

I'm afraid there is little (if any) answer beyond this text. You can explore thread, after thread, after thread and many more threads besides these few. I don't think you'll find any more explanation than that.

Tom IS. The rest of the explanation is meant to come from inside you, yourself, I think. Tolkien is deliberately, even stubbornly, silent.

[Morsul the Dark]

I have said many times in the countless threads of Bombadil, He is an Ent... you see most Ents slow down become treeish, he saw Goldberry and fell in love thereby becoming "faster" his spirit ripping from his tree body Bombadil is the spirit, and the body? Well haven't you ever wondered why Od Man Willow is so angry? you'd be angry too without your soul.

actually side thought... is Old Man Willow a "Hanar"(is that what the moving trees are called? Been a while)

[Eomer of the Rohirrim]

Originally Posted by Hakon

I could not find a thread already about him so I just made this one.

You didn't look very hard. Search function + Bombadil brings up loads of threads. Literally hours of reading.

[Hakon]

Originally Posted by Eomer of the Rohirrim

You didn't look very hard. Search function + Bombadil brings up loads of threads. Literally hours of reading.

I did search him. 20 pages came up and I went through about 8 of them and found no thread specifically about Bombadil.

[Sardy]

Originally Posted by Hakon

I do not think that he could be Eru. He is not serious enough.

Why so serious? Seriously, I would like to think that Eru, who fabricated Middle-earth in song and music, and created such whimsical things as ents, Hobbits, Oliphants and inquisitive foxes would have much room for lightheartedness and fun...

[davem]

Over on another forum (LotR Plaza) there's a long discussion on TB (currently 12 pages long). The recently auctioned letter which contains the following

The letter continues with a detailed discussion of The Lord of the Rings, considering Mroczkowski's suggestion as to 'the simultaneity of different planes of reality touching one another ... part of the deeply felt idea that I had ... Beyond that too I feel that no construction of the human mind, whether in imagination or the highest philosophy, can contain within its own "englobement" all that there is ... There is always something left over that demands a different or longer construction to "explain" it ... This is like a "play", in which ... there are noises that do not belong, chinks in the scenery', discussing in particular the status of Tom Bombadil in this respect.

has been discussed & Charles Noad (Tolkien expert who proof read most of HoM-e for Christopher Tolkien) who got to see the whole letter at the auction passed on the following report:

Here Tolkien uses the analogy of a theatrical performance, where as well as the play that is being performed, there are chinks in the scenery which give glimpses of another different world outside - that of the producer and stagehands (and the author!). TB does not belong to the main pattern of the Legendarium, as can be deduced from the fact that the Ring has no effect on him whatsoever - he is outside the problems of power that involve the other characters. Tolkien says that he was tempted to 'tinker' with him to bring him into line, but (most unusually for Tolkien) he resisted that temptation.

So, direct from the horse's mouth, as 'twere, we have a clear statement that Tom is 'external' to the world of Middle-earth, & that Tolkien specifically avoided the temptation to integrate him into the Legendarium. So, the short answer is that Tom 'is' - he is himself: not Eru, or one of the Valar, or an Elf, or anything else.

[Hakon]

Originally Posted by davem

Over on another forum (LotR Plaza) there's a long discussion on TB (currently 12 pages long). The recently auctioned letter which contains the following

has been discussed & Charles Noad (Tolkien expert who proof read most of HoM-e for Christopher Tolkien) who got to see the whole letter at the auction passed on the following report:



So, direct from the horse's mouth, as 'twere, we have a clear statement that Tom is 'external' to the world of Middle-earth, & that Tolkien specifically avoided the temptation to integrate him into the Legendarium. So, the short answer is that Tom 'is' - he is himself: not Eru, or one of the Valar, or an Elf, or anything else.

I see. Since Tom is supposed to be external from the world that probably means he is some sort of God like figure in another world. The power he has in middle earth is like a fraction of his real power. That is my guess, it does not make sense that he is just some regular human.

Radagastly the second quote you put there, helps back up what I said. He has been there since the start of Arda is what it sounds like. To have the power to enter Arda, must mean he is something like Eru's equal in another world or he is some extremely powerful being that has only a fraction of his power in Middle Earth.

[davem]

Originally Posted by Hakon

I see. Since Tom is supposed to be external from the world that probably means he is some sort of God like figure in another world. The power he has in middle earth is like a fraction of his real power. That is my guess, it does not make sense that he is just some regular human.

He has been there since the start of Arda is what it sounds like. To have the power to enter Arda, must mean he is something like Eru's equal in another world or he is some extremely powerful being that has only a fraction of his power in Middle Earth.

I don't think it necessarily implies any kind of 'divinity'. It certainly means that either Tom & Goldberry are in some sense 'external', are 'intruders' into Middle-earth - or it means that in some way their world (Tom's Country) is in some sense one of the 'different planes of reality' which touch/interconnect in the sense Tolkien mentions in the letter - in which case it would be the four Hobbits who are intruders into Tom's world.

Of course, 'Tom's world' existed long before LotR was written & its usually assumed that he & Goldberry, Old Man Willow & the Barrow Wight were introduced into LotR to provide an 'adventure'. But given Tolkien's words in the letter -about 'chinks in the scenery which give glimpses of another different world outside' & 'something left over that demands a different or longer construction to "explain" it' it seems that Tolkien is experimenting with concepts of multiple realities & interconnected & separate but interdependent dimensions. In some sense 'Tom's Country' is not Middle-earth, & different rules apply there. Tom 'is' - within the world of Middle-earth he cannot be explained - Tolkien deliberately chose not to fit him in. In that sense all those critics who claim he doesn't 'belong', that he is out of place, are absolutely correct. It could be argued from what Tolkien writes in that letter that not only does he not 'fit', he was not meant to fit. In some way the Hobbits cross into a different time/place, another 'reality', & do not re-enter Middle-earth till they step onto the road near Bree. It is very much a dream world in a sense, & dreams play a prominent part in the whole episode for that reason. In Tom's Country it is the Hobbits who are out of place.

[Aiwendil]

I did search him. 20 pages came up and I went through about 8 of them and found no thread specifically about Bombadil.

The trick is to search by thread titles. Here are many previous Bombadil threads.