Of Bombadillos and Balrogs - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

Oliphaunt · 02-08-2001, 08:38 PM

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Of Bombadillos and Balrogs

I don't think Bombadil is Illuvatar; didn't it specifically say that He never went into the circle of Arda? I think that we (the Tolkien-reading public) aren't supposed to question TB's origin. Tolkien put him in there for his own reasons, and its those reasons we should try to figure out, not his classifications. People say that Tom is an embodiment of the vanishing Oxford countryside, but I never really made the connection. Was there a man with a blue coat and yellow boots with songs of "derry doll" in the vanishing Oxford countryside?

I first read "The Fellowship of the Ring" and imagined Durin's Bane with fiery wings long before I knew there were people devoting hours of thinking and arguing about those wings. Perhaps Tolkien kept the descriptions unclear and contradicting so the reader could imagine the more natural for him/herself.

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02-08-2001, 08:38 PM	#1
Oliphaunt Animated Skeleton Join Date: Jul 2000 Posts: 48	<font face="Verdana"><table><TR><TD><FONT SIZE="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Animated Skeleton Posts: 28</TD><TD></TD></TR></TABLE> Of Bombadillos and Balrogs I don't think Bombadil is Illuvatar; didn't it specifically say that He never went into the circle of Arda? I think that we (the Tolkien-reading public) aren't supposed to question TB's origin. Tolkien put him in there for his own reasons, and its those reasons we should try to figure out, not his classifications. People say that Tom is an embodiment of the vanishing Oxford countryside, but I never really made the connection. Was there a man with a blue coat and yellow boots with songs of "derry doll" in the vanishing Oxford countryside? I first read "The Fellowship of the Ring" and imagined Durin's Bane with fiery wings long before I knew there were people devoting hours of thinking and arguing about those wings. Perhaps Tolkien kept the descriptions unclear and contradicting so the reader could imagine the more natural for him/herself. </p>