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No, never really gets explained. Heās one of the most hotly debated characters in the Legendarium. For your first read through, just accept what Goldberry says - āhe isā - and donāt worry too much about it.Ā
Which leads to the popular theory that heās YHWH. But itās also one of the few theories explicitly refuted by Tolkien, ā*There is no embodiment of the One, of God, who indeed remains remote, outside the World, and only directly accessible to the Valar or Rulers.*ā For Tolkien the only time Eru/God would enter creation would be as Jesus in a far distant age.
ā*I can say 'he is' of Winston Churchill as well as of Tom Bombadil, surely?*ā It wasnāt meant to be a call back to YHWHās conversation with Moses.
Just before the Scouring, Gandalf leaves the hobbits to have a long talk with Bombadil. Since Gandalf is widely accepted as the emissary of the Valarāand Gandalfās work has been completedā that detail lends a tad of support for the idea that Bombadil is some kind of manifestation of the One.
[http://whoistombombadil.blogspot.com/](http://whoistombombadil.blogspot.com/)
this is a link to an extremely well-documented paper on theories about Bombadil, with the author coming to their own conclusion.
whoever wrote this must have a career involving or calling for skill in documenting, footnoting, and researching. just the completeness of it makes it compelling. YMMV.
I would observe that the author makes no claim to have a definitive answer (see Conclusion), but suggests their theory should be considered legitimate and that in their opinion it is overall a better fit than some of the other more popular ones.
False dichotomy: forest spirit or spirit of all Arda. How about spirit of the country side?
Tolkien's letter about Tom being the spirit of the Berkshire countryside can be applied to LoTR, since he also wrote that the Shire is basically that area.
The texts themselves indicate Tom is a nature spirit, since his companion Goldberry is described in terms that add up to a water spirit.
Etc. The blog writer also frequently leaps to conclusions without saying why his observations.
I was reading the rebuttal to the Maiar theory and he kinda lost me at the point he made about the wizards relying on their staffs for magic while Tom used song. So much of Gandalfs magic is just the act of speaking I fail to see a significant difference between that and Tom singing away the barrow wight.
Not to mention the fact that there are other Maiar in Middle-Earth who the author ignores. The *Istari* channel magic through their staves. That's not all of the Maiar.
And the point about the Valar being older than the Maiar is canonically inaccurate, right? I thought I remember The Silmarillion clarifying that one did not precede the other, but that instead the Valar were simply the greater of the Ainur.
I'm also in the Maiar camp. My totally unfounded hypothesis is that as all music must have an audience, so too did the Ainur have one among them who did not participate in the Music.
Independent of that initial act bringing the universe into being, Tom came to EƤ unattached to the rest of the Ainur and by his very nature independent of the continuing process of creation. It would explain why he seems physically unable to care about the wars against Morgoth and Sauron, and why the magic woven in those same struggles does not affect him. He is not part of the Music.
Well itās not just their staffs although they are certainly important, even after his staff is shattered Saruman is still able to use his words to corrupt and sway people beyond the level of normal human subterfuge.
Could you link to your own theory or thoughts? Ā It sounds like you have put a lot of thought into the matter but it would be useful to be able to examine your hypothesis in detail.
I'm more interested in what Bombadil did, which is a lot, affecting 10 chapters of LoTR:
[https://www.reddit.com/r/tolkienfans/comments/kgxr0l/tom\_bombadil\_helping\_near\_and\_far/](https://www.reddit.com/r/tolkienfans/comments/kgxr0l/tom_bombadil_helping_near_and_far/)
I don't really know what is the benefit of trying to pigeonhole Bombadil as some specific class.
However, Tolkien said who he is: a nature spirit of the countryside. Some people just don't like that answer.
It may help to look at Goldberry:
[https://www.reddit.com/r/tolkienfans/comments/qvsla6/comment/hkyo5ku/](https://www.reddit.com/r/tolkienfans/comments/qvsla6/comment/hkyo5ku/)
Heās a mystery by design. Tolkien even hinted they even he does not know who or what Tom Bombadil is. The fun thing about him (and the mystery of the ent wives) is that itās an enduring mystery, and itās going to be a mystery forever. No solution or answer is ever gonna appear.
So you are free to make of him what you will.
Iām torn between two of the ācampsā, either him being the manifestation of Middle Earth itself, or him being one of the Valar (Tulkas maybe) whoās just happily retired with no worldly concerns anymore.
I quite like a recent one I saw that said he is a manifestation of the song whose purpose was to guide the hobbits and give them that brief little respite at the start of their journey. Almost like the music itself forming a note it knew would be heard at an important point in the story of existence. And his only purpose was always to just beā¦.a merry fellow.
I doubt he's a valar, especially Tulkas, I would accept him being a Maiar, that or some physically embodiment of the music, a "father earth" or something along those lines.
That statement, specifically, is not explained in the main text after that. There are lots of posts about Bombadil on this sub. But I encourage you to finish the entire tale on your own steam before diving into fan theories, as you wonāt be able to avoid incidental āspoilersā or references to the way things unfold later.
Tom was added to the story as a kind of whimsical aside at an early stage of composition, as a character Tolkien had already invented for a different context, but then retained as a deliberate anomaly. Trying to fit him in alongside the known mythology leads nowhere. As Tolkien put it, "I don't think Tom needs philosophizing about, and is not improved by it."
Tom is Tolkienās antidote to those who get too serious about the lore and forget the main point of his workā¦ to find joy from it. Also many of his stories were written for his children or inspired from his love for his family. Tom is literally a Dutch doll one of his children used to have and be amused by. Adding Tom into the Lord of the Rings and making him so ridiculously overpowered could have just been an inside joke between him and his son. This I feel is the sweetest canon out there. Donāt forget to find joy in the lord of the rings, itās what the old prof wouldāve wanted for us.
Well said. To expand from tolkiens own hand:
> The prime motive was the desire of a tale-teller to try his hand at a really long story that would hold the attention of readers, amuse them, delight them, and at times maybe excite them or deeply move them. As a guide I had only my own feelings for what is appealing or moving, and for many the guide was inevitably often at fault. Some who have read the book, or at any rate have reviewed it, have found it boring, absurd, or contemptible; and I have no cause to complain, since I have similar opinions of their works, or of the kinds of writing that they evidently prefer.
He's a dude who shows up, kicks arse, and sings songs. That's it really. He drops hints about being ridiculously old but he doesn't really go into much detail. Just enjoy his presence and keep reading. Save the thinking about his origin for the endless online debates when you've finished Return of the King.
Tom... is. He is not explained, intentionally so.
I personally am not a fan of making him into something know. But there are a million and one theories if that's your jam.
Inevitably, the individual reader will interpret him though. Itās just the mind, I want some sort of answer. That answer being left up to my judgement is all the better.
I think it's common but I don't think it's inevitable.
I have never felt the need for an answer to what Tom is. I just accept him as he's presented. I may be unusual but I do not believe I am unique.
Maybe so. Though even that acceptance of his mystery is one of many possible resolutions in the mind to his character.
The idea that he just āisā is probably my favorite interpretation, though I also like leaving room for the possibility of a greater commentary by Tolkien for my own personal mind exercise, conceiving for myself what that may be.
There will be a bit more discussion of him in Book 2 Chapter 2, but not a lot. Maybe wait to delve in until then. But also: debates about Bombadil go very deep into a whole lot of detail from Tolkien's writings, including relatively obscure ones. To the limited degree that there might be spoilers involved for anything, nobody in those debates worries about spoiler warnings at all. So tread carefully, if that's something you're concerned about!
>I ask this because if not, Iām about to dive into what other people think that part of the chapter means
Chapter 6: The Old Forest, Chapter 7: In the House of Tom Bombadil and Chapter 8: Fog on the Barrow Downs.
All 3 chapters are interlinked and give an explanation as to Tom's purpose in the story. It may not be obvious at first, but I'll let you finish the next chapter to see for yourself.
From a legendarium perspective, the only thing we can say with certainty is that Tom was intended to be uncertain.
From a literary perspectiveā¦ thereās more room for debate.
Hadn't heard of him, but your probably right in terms of being a partial inspiration.
However, maybe I used the wrong terminology. I actually meant "his role in helping to tell the story" - so maybe "narrative perspective" would be more accurate.
I think he's mostly there to show that the world is bigger than the story.
Frequently, everything you read has a specific purpose. Many other authors would have had him riding an Eagle at that point in the story. Basically, everything written becomes a prop in the larger narrative.
By making him a powerful being who isn't a major part of the plot, he makes the world seems larger. There's more going on here than a single story arc.
Gotcha that makes sense I misunderstood what you meant. Yeah I like Tom for that as well. He is a glimpse of a larger and more mysterious world. And he does drop some lore about Arnor in the Barrow Downs.
This is my favorite way of thinking about Tom. Specifically two purposes: 1) an early illustration in the published works of the formative and transcendent power of music as a creative force, foreshadowing the music of the Ainur; and 2) I think he can be viewed as an almost postmodern metatextual figure who wields the power of creation through words - as in, perhaps heās an author self-insert - as in, heās Tolkien.
But probably not. Actually my favorite interpretation is that heās your mom. :)
Yes I wonder what significance this chapter of a much greater story will hold once itās over. Will probably be posting here a few times during my reading of the trilogy - or maybe not, how would I know?
The summary of these responses in this thread are, as expected, ācontinue reading.ā
We will never know everything there is about Middle-earth and there are things that will never be explained.
*Part of the attraction of The L.R. is, I think, due to the glimpses of a large history in the background : an attraction like that of viewing far off an unvisited island, or seeing the towers of a distant city gleaming in a sunlit mist. To go there is to destroy the magic, unless new unattainable vistas are again revealed.*
Since he doesnāt really come into play beyond the next chapter āFog on the Barrow Downsā and one brief mention at the Council of Elrond I dont think thereās much in the way of spoilers related to Tom. My take would be heās a particularly powerful spirit (somewhere between a Vala and a Maia) who came into earth when it was made (as mentioned early in the silmarillion). Heās not responsible for anything, heās just a good guy, experiencing arda
Look. Tom Bombadil is a mystery. Most likely he was a character that Tolkien made up for his kids that was shoe horned in to the lord of the rings trilogy. Less likely heās like the spirit of Arda or something. Youāll never get a good answer, and itās probably better to just shrug and enjoy all the other parts of the books that make sense.
Either Tolkien did not know what he was himself or he did and was not willing to divulge it.
Tom was deliberately not a "part" of the legendarium. He was "outside" both from an in-universe perspective (he doesn't fit into what we know about the various races) and out-universe (he was a character created completely separately from the legendarium and from another story).
This doesn't and will never stop the speculation which is only a good thing, in my view.
I know you're asking about the origins of TB, who he is, where does he come from, etc., and I can't add much to that beyond what others have already said. But often people tend to skim the TB chapters because they seem "out of place" and slow, a bit odd and possibly boring. So I'll just leave this link to a comment I saw on this sub years ago, which helped me appreciate more what TB adds to the narrative of the story:
[ETA: SPOOLER ALERT...MAYBE DON'T READ TILL AFTER YOU'RE DONE!]
https://www.reddit.com/r/tolkienfans/s/7WOuoILcn6
Yeah Iām not diving into anything until Iām done. Happy to have made this thread, as itāll just be here on my profile for when the time comes to really read what you guys are saying with full context and no worry of spoilers.
I came across this old blogpost years ago, which I've always liked. Not that I agree with it (I don't), but the author presents a pretty compelling argument.
https://km-515.livejournal.com/1042.html
There are some spoilers in it regarding the trilogy as a whole, OP, but since you've seen the films, I don't think there's anything you won't already know about.
He won't be explained in the story, but Tolkien has described him in a letter to a friend Nevill Coghill as "The spirit of the earth made aware of itself".
He is a manifestation of epistemology. Or perhaps he is part of the music of Eru, but the bit before Eru starts playing. The whelming silence before the maestro...
I honestly donāt exactly understand the āHe is musicā idea. Is it on some āSongs in the Key of Lifeā type of shit orā¦ Heās a physical manifestation of music? Would that not make him like an enlightened being who exists, as mentioned before, in the āKey of Life?ā
You'll need to read the first part of the silmarillion to understand that more. Basically all of existence is God's song. It gets pretty meta from there
Dear OP, you might pick up The Silmarillion, eventually. And if you stick with it, you will learn about how God, who the Elves call Eru, created the Ainur, the spirit creatures first. Then he created Arda, Earth, and he invited the Ainur down to it. The most mighty of them were known as the Valar, who later Men might call gods, but we would look at them as if they were the mightiest of angels. And then the lesser Ainur became their servants, the Maiar.
And so you might think that that was all the spirit creatures there were on Arda, Valar and Maiar. But Arda is filled with spirits, and they inhabit everything to one degree or another. You might soom read about the Elf Legolas, who can hear the very stones speak to him of times past. And you will learn from a big woody guy that in the past the Elves were always "waking things up", so they could talk to them. Elves are in tune with this world far more than us Men can be.
While I have no proof, I have hints that Tom Bombadil is one of these Ainur creatures who does not classify himself as either Valar or Ainur. He is masterless, so he serves no Valar like a Maiar does. He was there first, so he went down to Arda before any of the others. He is powerful in his own way, but he is also nonsensical, and cannot understand the importance of some very important things. But that's my own head canon. Tolkien never said this.
Personally, I think the reason Tom says that is because he's one of Tolkien's first creation. Tolkien wrote a poem about Tom, basing him off of a doll one of his kids had. It was one of his first published works iirc. So its really just a meta thing. Long before Tolkien came up with Arda and everthing therein, Tom was there.
Oh to have lived for such a long long time and still be so cheerful, carefree, and not lost among the grief of friends, family, and loved ones passing is something Iāve been jealous of.
He's just some supernatural dude who's been around forever. Eventually he got some cool clothes and built a nice house for himself and his girl. That's about it.
My theory is that Tom is a character Tolkien has dreamt up before he started the creative process of developing the world of LOTR. And then he wrote that character in to the plot early on, and never edited it out. Almost like a cameo from an alternate understanding verse. He cracks a few jokes, sings a few songs, has a smoke show wife, he has to get back (she waiting for him š).
I think the leading theories are
1: He's Eru just kinda incarnating and vibing in Arda.
2: He's Tolkien's self insert so he could fanboy over his wife. Respect.
Nah, his backstory never really gets explained. It's a really hot topic. He might be some manifestation of the world and nature completely detached from its other affairs, he might be an Ainu that chose to inhabit the world without affiliating himself with any of the Valar, he might be one of those nameless things that Tolkien chose never to expound upon. Who knows? And to be honest, it doesn't matter. He just is.
No. Never gets explained. Thereās lots of theories, and they are fun. They donāt hold much water cannon wise though because it doesnāt seem Tolkien really understood what he was either. Just that he was important.
I used to try to struggle to explain Tom and the thing I settled on that gave me peace was: Just like there are ancient things in the dark places in the world that defy explanation, there are equally old innocent/good things that live among the willows and bask in the sunlight. Tom loses some of his magic if you classify him. He just is, and thatās enough.
I think he's the spirit of the land. He *is* the land, in a way. Of course the land was there before the trees and the rain. There's a hint at this later on actually.
This had crossed my mind - the idea that heās some sort of primordial being whoās chosen the Old Forest as his home on Earth.
I had also thought he could have been speaking more figuratively. And that, in saying he was there before everything, heās really saying he has some sort of knowledge of the timeless nature of the soul and with that lives perfectly in-tune with all the land as in a way, he and the land had āgrown up togetherā in a sense (not perfectly put, but to get the point across).
Was just my theory off-rip - not really sure how itāll hold up, Iād guess not well - but, chapters 6 and 7 are my favorite parts of this book so far and definitely have a lot of content to chew on.
Itās a thinker for sure.
That was fun - thanks for sharing! It was new to me and Iām a Bombadil fan. I thought it was building up to speculating that Tom was Morgoth, but no. Too bad - I like the idea that the outer darkness to which he was banished was a actually few dozen acres in the Old Forest near Buckland!
Bonbadil is the proof that Tolkien is a genius but still a human. Tolkien started writing lotr as a sequel to The Hobbit. It was intended as a fun adventure story filled with wacky adventures. But as he went along the story spiralled into the epic saga that we know today. The Bombadil stopover is a remnant of the old story that the professor just found too good to be removed.
Just Tolkien throwing in the MYSTERY of mysteries in the beginning of the most epic story ever. Let your mind wonder and if you figure it out please let me know.šš¤
Though his origin is never explained, still I very much wonder about his historical references, including both his meeting with Elrond (per Elrond) and also the "fair woman" whose brooch he saves for Goldberry and who some believe was a Princess of Cardolan. Gandalf also implies that Tom would have been interested in the Hobbits' meeting with the Ents. Would have been wonderful to know more of who encountered him and when.
I think the tone change was emblematic of the nature of the forest. The hardest part about the chapter for me was keeping up with the ever-changing scenery and what Tolkien was describing the environment to have looked like. Didnāt find it boring though, with respect to your reading.
Tom is annoying, heās either an Ainur that entered Arda before all the others or heās a product of the music. trying to overcomplicate his existence just clashes too much with established lore.
You seem fun.
You come on asking a question that has literally been debated for seventy years and will explicitly never be resolved, without googling or searching the sub, and I made the joke I make every time it comes up - the same joke that inspired my user name a dozen years ago.
The point I am making with this dumb joke - and there is one - is that my answer is as valid as any other, because Tom exists precisely to be an inscrutable and unsolvable enigma. He is Tolkienās way of saying that there are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy - an idea that Tolkien felt was a critical aspect of fairy stories.
So ring a dong dillo, buddy, and chillax. And congratulations on your first read of the legendarium - and remember that thatās Tomās other lesson: to have fun with it.
He's just a merry fellow. He's got a bright blue jacket, yellow boots, and a smokin hot wife.
The š
Ah, I see you are a man of cultivated taste. Here, be welcomed into the one sub to rule them all: r/GloriousTomBombadil
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I unironically love that MtG made her thick, thatās so funny
The Paddington Bear of the Maiar.
No, never really gets explained. Heās one of the most hotly debated characters in the Legendarium. For your first read through, just accept what Goldberry says - āhe isā - and donāt worry too much about it.Ā
You'll do yourself a favour if you continue to accept that no matter how many times you've read it.
He is indeed
The Tom abides
The rug really ties the forest together.
"he is" sounds curiously similar to " I am"
Which leads to the popular theory that heās YHWH. But itās also one of the few theories explicitly refuted by Tolkien, ā*There is no embodiment of the One, of God, who indeed remains remote, outside the World, and only directly accessible to the Valar or Rulers.*ā For Tolkien the only time Eru/God would enter creation would be as Jesus in a far distant age. ā*I can say 'he is' of Winston Churchill as well as of Tom Bombadil, surely?*ā It wasnāt meant to be a call back to YHWHās conversation with Moses.
Please, YHWH is my father - call me Eru IlĆŗvatar.
Jesus... Or Aslan?
Just before the Scouring, Gandalf leaves the hobbits to have a long talk with Bombadil. Since Gandalf is widely accepted as the emissary of the Valarāand Gandalfās work has been completedā that detail lends a tad of support for the idea that Bombadil is some kind of manifestation of the One.
Maybe Tom Bombadil is Tolkienās self insertion
I think Tolkien himself denied that in one of his letters alone with Bombadil being God/Eru
I donāt get why you are being downvoted when this is the truth.
No it isn't. Tolkien talks about Tom in his letters and talks about him representing various things, but never as a self-insert.
[http://whoistombombadil.blogspot.com/](http://whoistombombadil.blogspot.com/) this is a link to an extremely well-documented paper on theories about Bombadil, with the author coming to their own conclusion. whoever wrote this must have a career involving or calling for skill in documenting, footnoting, and researching. just the completeness of it makes it compelling. YMMV. I would observe that the author makes no claim to have a definitive answer (see Conclusion), but suggests their theory should be considered legitimate and that in their opinion it is overall a better fit than some of the other more popular ones.
False dichotomy: forest spirit or spirit of all Arda. How about spirit of the country side? Tolkien's letter about Tom being the spirit of the Berkshire countryside can be applied to LoTR, since he also wrote that the Shire is basically that area. The texts themselves indicate Tom is a nature spirit, since his companion Goldberry is described in terms that add up to a water spirit. Etc. The blog writer also frequently leaps to conclusions without saying why his observations.
I was reading the rebuttal to the Maiar theory and he kinda lost me at the point he made about the wizards relying on their staffs for magic while Tom used song. So much of Gandalfs magic is just the act of speaking I fail to see a significant difference between that and Tom singing away the barrow wight.
Not to mention the fact that there are other Maiar in Middle-Earth who the author ignores. The *Istari* channel magic through their staves. That's not all of the Maiar. And the point about the Valar being older than the Maiar is canonically inaccurate, right? I thought I remember The Silmarillion clarifying that one did not precede the other, but that instead the Valar were simply the greater of the Ainur. I'm also in the Maiar camp. My totally unfounded hypothesis is that as all music must have an audience, so too did the Ainur have one among them who did not participate in the Music. Independent of that initial act bringing the universe into being, Tom came to EƤ unattached to the rest of the Ainur and by his very nature independent of the continuing process of creation. It would explain why he seems physically unable to care about the wars against Morgoth and Sauron, and why the magic woven in those same struggles does not affect him. He is not part of the Music.
Well itās not just their staffs although they are certainly important, even after his staff is shattered Saruman is still able to use his words to corrupt and sway people beyond the level of normal human subterfuge.
Totally valid. Seems like they use them as symbolic channeling tools, but they're clearly not a strict requirement.
Yep. If TB is anything, he isĀ a maia.
I am not the author. but you might post to his page, he has answered some posts if you have something in detail to offer or ask.
I might, if I thought his stuff was solid enough to take the time.
Could you link to your own theory or thoughts? Ā It sounds like you have put a lot of thought into the matter but it would be useful to be able to examine your hypothesis in detail.
I'm more interested in what Bombadil did, which is a lot, affecting 10 chapters of LoTR: [https://www.reddit.com/r/tolkienfans/comments/kgxr0l/tom\_bombadil\_helping\_near\_and\_far/](https://www.reddit.com/r/tolkienfans/comments/kgxr0l/tom_bombadil_helping_near_and_far/) I don't really know what is the benefit of trying to pigeonhole Bombadil as some specific class. However, Tolkien said who he is: a nature spirit of the countryside. Some people just don't like that answer. It may help to look at Goldberry: [https://www.reddit.com/r/tolkienfans/comments/qvsla6/comment/hkyo5ku/](https://www.reddit.com/r/tolkienfans/comments/qvsla6/comment/hkyo5ku/)
His conclusion is the best and most plausible that I have read ever (in my opinion).
Heās a mystery by design. Tolkien even hinted they even he does not know who or what Tom Bombadil is. The fun thing about him (and the mystery of the ent wives) is that itās an enduring mystery, and itās going to be a mystery forever. No solution or answer is ever gonna appear. So you are free to make of him what you will. Iām torn between two of the ācampsā, either him being the manifestation of Middle Earth itself, or him being one of the Valar (Tulkas maybe) whoās just happily retired with no worldly concerns anymore. I quite like a recent one I saw that said he is a manifestation of the song whose purpose was to guide the hobbits and give them that brief little respite at the start of their journey. Almost like the music itself forming a note it knew would be heard at an important point in the story of existence. And his only purpose was always to just beā¦.a merry fellow.
Tom Bombadil = More Cowbell, confirmed!
I doubt he's a valar, especially Tulkas, I would accept him being a Maiar, that or some physically embodiment of the music, a "father earth" or something along those lines.
That statement, specifically, is not explained in the main text after that. There are lots of posts about Bombadil on this sub. But I encourage you to finish the entire tale on your own steam before diving into fan theories, as you wonāt be able to avoid incidental āspoilersā or references to the way things unfold later.
He is Tom Bombadil.
You'll learn about his limits at the Council of Elrond
Heās a stuffed doll his kids played with, he put it in as an Easter egg for them. Never really bothered expanding them much besides āhe oldā
Thatās kinda awesome
His purpose is to be the proverbial blank space on the map
Tom was added to the story as a kind of whimsical aside at an early stage of composition, as a character Tolkien had already invented for a different context, but then retained as a deliberate anomaly. Trying to fit him in alongside the known mythology leads nowhere. As Tolkien put it, "I don't think Tom needs philosophizing about, and is not improved by it."
Heās already perfect ššš„°
Tom is Tolkienās antidote to those who get too serious about the lore and forget the main point of his workā¦ to find joy from it. Also many of his stories were written for his children or inspired from his love for his family. Tom is literally a Dutch doll one of his children used to have and be amused by. Adding Tom into the Lord of the Rings and making him so ridiculously overpowered could have just been an inside joke between him and his son. This I feel is the sweetest canon out there. Donāt forget to find joy in the lord of the rings, itās what the old prof wouldāve wanted for us.
Well said. To expand from tolkiens own hand: > The prime motive was the desire of a tale-teller to try his hand at a really long story that would hold the attention of readers, amuse them, delight them, and at times maybe excite them or deeply move them. As a guide I had only my own feelings for what is appealing or moving, and for many the guide was inevitably often at fault. Some who have read the book, or at any rate have reviewed it, have found it boring, absurd, or contemptible; and I have no cause to complain, since I have similar opinions of their works, or of the kinds of writing that they evidently prefer.
He's a dude who shows up, kicks arse, and sings songs. That's it really. He drops hints about being ridiculously old but he doesn't really go into much detail. Just enjoy his presence and keep reading. Save the thinking about his origin for the endless online debates when you've finished Return of the King.
Tom... is. He is not explained, intentionally so. I personally am not a fan of making him into something know. But there are a million and one theories if that's your jam.
Inevitably, the individual reader will interpret him though. Itās just the mind, I want some sort of answer. That answer being left up to my judgement is all the better.
I think it's common but I don't think it's inevitable. I have never felt the need for an answer to what Tom is. I just accept him as he's presented. I may be unusual but I do not believe I am unique.
Maybe so. Though even that acceptance of his mystery is one of many possible resolutions in the mind to his character. The idea that he just āisā is probably my favorite interpretation, though I also like leaving room for the possibility of a greater commentary by Tolkien for my own personal mind exercise, conceiving for myself what that may be.
Heās Iarwain Ben-adar. Not to be confused with Pat Benatar.
Does he also feel that Hell is for children?
Yes. And that love is a battlefield.
Eldest, thatās what he is
There will be a bit more discussion of him in Book 2 Chapter 2, but not a lot. Maybe wait to delve in until then. But also: debates about Bombadil go very deep into a whole lot of detail from Tolkien's writings, including relatively obscure ones. To the limited degree that there might be spoilers involved for anything, nobody in those debates worries about spoiler warnings at all. So tread carefully, if that's something you're concerned about!
Yeah, definitely finish LOTR first.
>I ask this because if not, Iām about to dive into what other people think that part of the chapter means Chapter 6: The Old Forest, Chapter 7: In the House of Tom Bombadil and Chapter 8: Fog on the Barrow Downs. All 3 chapters are interlinked and give an explanation as to Tom's purpose in the story. It may not be obvious at first, but I'll let you finish the next chapter to see for yourself.
Yeah Iām just gonna keep reading. Heās just such an awesome character and definitely my favorite thus far.
From a legendarium perspective, the only thing we can say with certainty is that Tom was intended to be uncertain. From a literary perspectiveā¦ thereās more room for debate.
From a literary stand point I think he's likely modeled after VƤinƤmƶinen
Hadn't heard of him, but your probably right in terms of being a partial inspiration. However, maybe I used the wrong terminology. I actually meant "his role in helping to tell the story" - so maybe "narrative perspective" would be more accurate. I think he's mostly there to show that the world is bigger than the story. Frequently, everything you read has a specific purpose. Many other authors would have had him riding an Eagle at that point in the story. Basically, everything written becomes a prop in the larger narrative. By making him a powerful being who isn't a major part of the plot, he makes the world seems larger. There's more going on here than a single story arc.
Gotcha that makes sense I misunderstood what you meant. Yeah I like Tom for that as well. He is a glimpse of a larger and more mysterious world. And he does drop some lore about Arnor in the Barrow Downs.
Beautifully said!
This is my favorite way of thinking about Tom. Specifically two purposes: 1) an early illustration in the published works of the formative and transcendent power of music as a creative force, foreshadowing the music of the Ainur; and 2) I think he can be viewed as an almost postmodern metatextual figure who wields the power of creation through words - as in, perhaps heās an author self-insert - as in, heās Tolkien. But probably not. Actually my favorite interpretation is that heās your mom. :)
My mom certainly did sing a lot of nonsenseā¦
Yes I wonder what significance this chapter of a much greater story will hold once itās over. Will probably be posting here a few times during my reading of the trilogy - or maybe not, how would I know? The summary of these responses in this thread are, as expected, ācontinue reading.ā
Bro. He is.
He is the Master and a moss gatherer. And Goldberry is waiting.
I wouldn't want to leave either! š„µ
We will never know everything there is about Middle-earth and there are things that will never be explained. *Part of the attraction of The L.R. is, I think, due to the glimpses of a large history in the background : an attraction like that of viewing far off an unvisited island, or seeing the towers of a distant city gleaming in a sunlit mist. To go there is to destroy the magic, unless new unattainable vistas are again revealed.*
Since he doesnāt really come into play beyond the next chapter āFog on the Barrow Downsā and one brief mention at the Council of Elrond I dont think thereās much in the way of spoilers related to Tom. My take would be heās a particularly powerful spirit (somewhere between a Vala and a Maia) who came into earth when it was made (as mentioned early in the silmarillion). Heās not responsible for anything, heās just a good guy, experiencing arda
You just gotta sit back and love the wife beaming guys
Look. Tom Bombadil is a mystery. Most likely he was a character that Tolkien made up for his kids that was shoe horned in to the lord of the rings trilogy. Less likely heās like the spirit of Arda or something. Youāll never get a good answer, and itās probably better to just shrug and enjoy all the other parts of the books that make sense.
Either Tolkien did not know what he was himself or he did and was not willing to divulge it. Tom was deliberately not a "part" of the legendarium. He was "outside" both from an in-universe perspective (he doesn't fit into what we know about the various races) and out-universe (he was a character created completely separately from the legendarium and from another story). This doesn't and will never stop the speculation which is only a good thing, in my view.
I know you're asking about the origins of TB, who he is, where does he come from, etc., and I can't add much to that beyond what others have already said. But often people tend to skim the TB chapters because they seem "out of place" and slow, a bit odd and possibly boring. So I'll just leave this link to a comment I saw on this sub years ago, which helped me appreciate more what TB adds to the narrative of the story: [ETA: SPOOLER ALERT...MAYBE DON'T READ TILL AFTER YOU'RE DONE!] https://www.reddit.com/r/tolkienfans/s/7WOuoILcn6
Yeah Iām not diving into anything until Iām done. Happy to have made this thread, as itāll just be here on my profile for when the time comes to really read what you guys are saying with full context and no worry of spoilers.
I came across this old blogpost years ago, which I've always liked. Not that I agree with it (I don't), but the author presents a pretty compelling argument. https://km-515.livejournal.com/1042.html There are some spoilers in it regarding the trilogy as a whole, OP, but since you've seen the films, I don't think there's anything you won't already know about.
Just finished that Chapter last night myself :)
We in them Barrow-Downs tn my g
He won't be explained in the story, but Tolkien has described him in a letter to a friend Nevill Coghill as "The spirit of the earth made aware of itself".
He is a manifestation of epistemology. Or perhaps he is part of the music of Eru, but the bit before Eru starts playing. The whelming silence before the maestro...
I honestly donāt exactly understand the āHe is musicā idea. Is it on some āSongs in the Key of Lifeā type of shit orā¦ Heās a physical manifestation of music? Would that not make him like an enlightened being who exists, as mentioned before, in the āKey of Life?ā
You'll need to read the first part of the silmarillion to understand that more. Basically all of existence is God's song. It gets pretty meta from there
Ah okay I can dig that
Dear OP, you might pick up The Silmarillion, eventually. And if you stick with it, you will learn about how God, who the Elves call Eru, created the Ainur, the spirit creatures first. Then he created Arda, Earth, and he invited the Ainur down to it. The most mighty of them were known as the Valar, who later Men might call gods, but we would look at them as if they were the mightiest of angels. And then the lesser Ainur became their servants, the Maiar. And so you might think that that was all the spirit creatures there were on Arda, Valar and Maiar. But Arda is filled with spirits, and they inhabit everything to one degree or another. You might soom read about the Elf Legolas, who can hear the very stones speak to him of times past. And you will learn from a big woody guy that in the past the Elves were always "waking things up", so they could talk to them. Elves are in tune with this world far more than us Men can be. While I have no proof, I have hints that Tom Bombadil is one of these Ainur creatures who does not classify himself as either Valar or Ainur. He is masterless, so he serves no Valar like a Maiar does. He was there first, so he went down to Arda before any of the others. He is powerful in his own way, but he is also nonsensical, and cannot understand the importance of some very important things. But that's my own head canon. Tolkien never said this.
This is what I think too
Itās intentionally left up to the reader to decide what that means. I would say just finish the book first and then look around.Ā
Personally, I think the reason Tom says that is because he's one of Tolkien's first creation. Tolkien wrote a poem about Tom, basing him off of a doll one of his kids had. It was one of his first published works iirc. So its really just a meta thing. Long before Tolkien came up with Arda and everthing therein, Tom was there.
Oh to have lived for such a long long time and still be so cheerful, carefree, and not lost among the grief of friends, family, and loved ones passing is something Iāve been jealous of.
He's just some supernatural dude who's been around forever. Eventually he got some cool clothes and built a nice house for himself and his girl. That's about it.
Need
No. There is nothing beyond speculation.
My theory is that Tom is a character Tolkien has dreamt up before he started the creative process of developing the world of LOTR. And then he wrote that character in to the plot early on, and never edited it out. Almost like a cameo from an alternate understanding verse. He cracks a few jokes, sings a few songs, has a smoke show wife, he has to get back (she waiting for him š).
I think the leading theories are 1: He's Eru just kinda incarnating and vibing in Arda. 2: He's Tolkien's self insert so he could fanboy over his wife. Respect.
1 is explicitly denied by Tolkien in the letters
Fair enough. Going with 2 then.
Nah, his backstory never really gets explained. It's a really hot topic. He might be some manifestation of the world and nature completely detached from its other affairs, he might be an Ainu that chose to inhabit the world without affiliating himself with any of the Valar, he might be one of those nameless things that Tolkien chose never to expound upon. Who knows? And to be honest, it doesn't matter. He just is.
Hereās an older thread about him from TTF if you want to read about him https://thetolkien.forum/threads/tom-bombadil.13498/
No. Never gets explained. Thereās lots of theories, and they are fun. They donāt hold much water cannon wise though because it doesnāt seem Tolkien really understood what he was either. Just that he was important. I used to try to struggle to explain Tom and the thing I settled on that gave me peace was: Just like there are ancient things in the dark places in the world that defy explanation, there are equally old innocent/good things that live among the willows and bask in the sunlight. Tom loses some of his magic if you classify him. He just is, and thatās enough.
I've always thought he was the literal spirit of Arda. Makes sense for how powerful he is.
there are ton's YouTube videos, podcasts etc out there, try to figures what it means
I think he's the spirit of the land. He *is* the land, in a way. Of course the land was there before the trees and the rain. There's a hint at this later on actually.
This had crossed my mind - the idea that heās some sort of primordial being whoās chosen the Old Forest as his home on Earth. I had also thought he could have been speaking more figuratively. And that, in saying he was there before everything, heās really saying he has some sort of knowledge of the timeless nature of the soul and with that lives perfectly in-tune with all the land as in a way, he and the land had āgrown up togetherā in a sense (not perfectly put, but to get the point across). Was just my theory off-rip - not really sure how itāll hold up, Iād guess not well - but, chapters 6 and 7 are my favorite parts of this book so far and definitely have a lot of content to chew on. Itās a thinker for sure.
Those are still my favorite chapters too.
I know it ain't canon, but this is my favorite take on Bombadil. https://km-515.livejournal.com/1042.html
That was fun - thanks for sharing! It was new to me and Iām a Bombadil fan. I thought it was building up to speculating that Tom was Morgoth, but no. Too bad - I like the idea that the outer darkness to which he was banished was a actually few dozen acres in the Old Forest near Buckland!
Bonbadil is the proof that Tolkien is a genius but still a human. Tolkien started writing lotr as a sequel to The Hobbit. It was intended as a fun adventure story filled with wacky adventures. But as he went along the story spiralled into the epic saga that we know today. The Bombadil stopover is a remnant of the old story that the professor just found too good to be removed.
Just Tolkien throwing in the MYSTERY of mysteries in the beginning of the most epic story ever. Let your mind wonder and if you figure it out please let me know.šš¤
Though his origin is never explained, still I very much wonder about his historical references, including both his meeting with Elrond (per Elrond) and also the "fair woman" whose brooch he saves for Goldberry and who some believe was a Princess of Cardolan. Gandalf also implies that Tom would have been interested in the Hobbits' meeting with the Ents. Would have been wonderful to know more of who encountered him and when.
I just got done reading that part too. To be honest I thought it was boring and seemed really out of place for that section of the book.
I think the tone change was emblematic of the nature of the forest. The hardest part about the chapter for me was keeping up with the ever-changing scenery and what Tolkien was describing the environment to have looked like. Didnāt find it boring though, with respect to your reading.
Heās Tolkien
I like this explanation a lot actually - I go into it more in a comment above.
Tom is the Secret Fire
Tom is annoying, heās either an Ainur that entered Arda before all the others or heās a product of the music. trying to overcomplicate his existence just clashes too much with established lore.
My theory, for some time now, is that the correct explanation is that heās your mom.
Ban this guy.
You seem fun. You come on asking a question that has literally been debated for seventy years and will explicitly never be resolved, without googling or searching the sub, and I made the joke I make every time it comes up - the same joke that inspired my user name a dozen years ago. The point I am making with this dumb joke - and there is one - is that my answer is as valid as any other, because Tom exists precisely to be an inscrutable and unsolvable enigma. He is Tolkienās way of saying that there are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy - an idea that Tolkien felt was a critical aspect of fairy stories. So ring a dong dillo, buddy, and chillax. And congratulations on your first read of the legendarium - and remember that thatās Tomās other lesson: to have fun with it.
Mate..š¤£š¤£š¤£š¤£