Who do you think Tom Bombadil really was

[Mithadan]

<font face="Verdana"><table><TR><TD><FONT SIZE="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Shade of Carn Dûm
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Re: Who do you think Tom Bombadil really was

This is one of the most frequently debated questions about JRRT's works. JRRT himself, in Letters, siad Tom was an enigma, not really fitting in to any category, and was intentionally left that way. Opinions I have seen? Tom is: Eru; Aule; a Maia; an undefined spirit; the embodiment of Arda; an elf; etc. Letters and Sil. (and probably HoME) seem to say that Eru would not inhabit Ea, certainly not in a physical form. Those who advocate Aule surprise me. Aule was a smith, he concerned himself with the stuff of Arda (rocks, mountains, the materials which make up the earth). Tom loved trees and forests and exercised some control over them. This doesn't fit with Aule (might fit with Orome but I'm not going there). My view? If you have to fit him into a category, he's one of the lesser Ainur who came to inhabit Arda but did not specifically ally himself with the Valar and certainly not with Morgoth. Thus he could be considered a Maia and a &quot;free agent&quot;.

--Mithadan--
"The Silmarils with living light
were kindled clear, and waxing bright
shone like stars that in the North
above the reek of earth leap forth." </p>