The Adventures of Tom Bombadil

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1. hacknatJul 2022
   This has always been my understanding of Bombadil as well. The most popular/accepted view of who he is among Tolkien-dom that I've heard is that he represents the lands of the West themselves (or perhaps all of Middle-Earth?). In the Tolkien legendarium power comes from knowing the right names for things and the right words to say to them. Tom Bombadil is the most powerful being in Middle-Earth because he is so old that he knows the proper name for everything and how to address them (he chastises Old Man Willow to release the Hobbits like he is a child).

   I do want to credit the author of this post with the observation that the rulers of lands in Tolkien's legendarium have influence over how those lands express themselves, but I think this letter is the answer to that. Tom is the exception; he eschews power. One of Gandalf's reasons for saying that they wouldn't want to give the ring to Tom is that he would probably lose the ring, not thinking it very important. Tom only cares of eating and drinking and making merry. In that regard he is a Dionysian figure. If you read the Adventures of Tom Bombadil (which this author surprisingly doesn't reference) he is clearly modeled on the Dionysus cycle of myths.

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2. kpgrahamJul 2022
   I always felt that Tom Bombadil was filler in order to bridge events between Crick Hollow and the Prancing Pony. Tolkien had already written The Adventures of Tom Bombadil as a separate piece with Goldberry and Old Man Willow. He just dropped that into the Fellowship and used it to fill the space.

   I used to skip the Tom section and move right up to Bree. Now I read the books much slower, and I savor every section, even Tom.

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3. hacknatJul 2022
   I get that Tolkien was a staunch Catholic, but he was also a preeminent philologist trained in a way that few people today are. He was deeply familiar with all forms of human myth. To blindly assume that all characters in LotR must have a Biblical corollary is lazy. Tom Bombadil "rapes" Goldberry (in the ancient sense of the word[1]) in The Adventures of Tom Bombadil that comports nicely with other myth cycles and not very well with the idea of the "first Man" or "Adam" (it's not even clear that Bombadil is Eru's direct creation). I think if you actually read the secondary Tolkien texts you might see it differently. They are almost all worth it.

   But one day Tom, he went and caught the River-daughter,

   in green gown, flowing hair, sitting in the rushes,

   singing old water-songs to birds upon the bushes.

   He caught her, held her fast! Water rats went scuttering

   reeds hissed, herons cried, and her heart was fluttering.

   Said Tom Bombadil: "Here's my pretty maiden!

   You shall come home with me! The table is laden...

   [1]https://www.etymonline.com/word/rape#:~:text=rape%20(v.),abd....

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4. inopinatusNov 2017
   Bombadil connects the story to the future, not to the past. He is the only character whose fate remains enigmatic after the book concludes. He transcends the plot and is unaffected by the ring, unlike literally every other character, including gods. In cross-reference to his characteristics depicted in The Adventures of Tom Bombadil, and to the letters of Tolkien (which contain a specific denial of Bombadil being "Iluvatar", that is, Tolkien's fictional creator) I came to the conclusion years ago that Tom Bombadil is J.R.R. Tolkien inserting himself into the story. It's quite possible this is an unintentional self-insertion, and he's certainly not an author surrogate (which is a different and much more literal class of self-appearance, like William in The Naked Lunch), but nevertheless, the cap fits.
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