Tom Bombadil Quotes

The Mysterious and Significant Tom Bombadil

In J.R.R. Tolkien's, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Fellowship of the Ring is the first novel. The setting of the story takes place in Middle Earth, which is a world Tolkien created himself. It rotates around the One Ring that holds a considerable measure of power, and that power is held by Frodo Baggins. He leaves the shire to keep the ring out of Sauron's hands, which grasps all Sauron's power and if he holds that power again, he can enslave Middle Earth and do incredible evil things. Along their adventure, they meet a man named Tom Bombadil. Tolkien purposely made Bombadil a puzzling character, yet significant. Bombadil is mysterious because he does not have a classification and the ring does

not affect him and his significance is his personification of Middle Earth and some form of monastic impoverishment he represents.
There is not a lot of knowledge on who Tom Bombadil is. When the four hobbits are rescued by Bombadil they have a lot of questions of who he is. Frodo mentions to his wife, Goldberry, “Tell me, if my asking does not seem foolish, who is Tom Bombadil?” (Tolkien, 122; ch. 7). Goldberry's answer to Frodo goes to show how mysterious Bombadil is, ““He is,” said Goldberry, staying her swift movements and smiling. Frodo looked at her questioningly. 'He is, as you have seen him,”” (122; ch. 7). His own wife does not know how explain who he is. Tolkien did not do this on accident, he had reason to make Bombadil mysterious and that is because of his significance.
A point to be made, is why Bombadil is a mysterious character.

Each character can be recognized into a major group that classifies who they are in the Middle Earth, and yet Bombadil does not have a place with one group. He nearly acquires a trait or characteristic from each group. Bombadil is not a Orc in light of the fact that “Orcs were made to be evil; their inclinations are always to wickedness and they have no tendency to establish any emotional link or friendship” and he “does not show any sign of hatred or desire to kill and destroy . . . his inclination is always to help and to save”(Janka). Bombadil is neither a Troll or Dragon since they are generally characterized physically, and he looks more like a Man or a Dwarf. Which he may look as though he were a Man or a Dwarf, but they are mortal and “Tom was here before the river and the trees; Tom remembers the first raindrop and the first acorn. . .. He knew the dark under the stars when it was fearless – before the Dark Lord came from Outside” (131; ch. 7) this demonstrates he is very old and potentially eternal like the Ents or the Elves. The Ents are talking trees, Bombadil does not meet this portrayal; the Elves are affected by the Ring, he is not. Bombadil could be named a Maia which is kind of J.R.R. Tolkien's portrayal of angels, like Gandalf or Sauron. Although, this could be valid because of his special powers, be that as it may, the lack of interest for the Ring refutes this classification. The reasoning

behind why Bombadil does not have a place in any group shows his mysterious being.
To add to the way that Bombadil is a mysterious character is, the interaction that happens amongst him and the ring. He is extremely reckless with the ring which disturbs Frodo because even Gandalf thought the ring was vital. Frodo places the ring on him, “Merry was staring blankly at his chair, and obviously could not see him. He got up and crept quietly away from the fireside towards the otter door” (131; ch. 7). As Frodo is leaving the fireside, Tom lets tells him ““Hey! Come Frodo, there! Where be you a-going? Old Tom Bombadil's is not as blind as that yet”” (131; ch. 7). He can see Frodo when the ring is put on him. The ring is a “ring of power, one which invests its wearer with latent powers – most dramatically, the power of invisibility” (Herbert). Bombadil, however, does not fall to the power of the ring. It has no control over him and “he, in turn, has no desire to wield its power, not even in the interest of justice and goodness” (Herbert).
To the extent the noteworthiness of Bombadil, there is a motivation behind why Tolkien place him in the novel. After Tolkien could tell a greater amount of the hobbits, he “enlarged the portrait of Tom Bombadil and used his “spirit” to express an idea of primary moment to the story of the Lord of the Rings” (Treschow and Duckworth). Bombadil speaks to things that are not specified in the story. He was not a mishap, he was in the story since he had a place.
To speak of, Bombadil has a relationship with nature and speaks for it. This makes him a personification of nature or Middle Earth because Middle Earth is nature. When he is talking about the nature to hobbits, he starts singing a melody as if nature is singing:
Often his voice would turn to song, and he would get out of his chair and dance about. He told them tales of bees and flowers, the ways of trees, and strange creatures of the Forest, about the evil things and good things, things friendly and things unfriendly, cruel things and kind things, and secrets hidden under blankets.
As they listened, they began to understand the lives of the Forest, apart from themselves, indeed to feel themselves as the strangers where are all other things were home (127; ch. 7).
Bombadil's words have “power – great power; his words have resonance and his songs carry authority and authenticity” (Kascakova). He has control over nature, which might indicate personification because you can control nature if you are nature. Bombadil also lives out in the woods with “The Daughter of the River,” which whom, he is married to. Bringing back the power of the ring, he is not affected by it. The ring only affects people, so if he is not a person per se, then it makes sense that the ring has no effect. In a way, Bombadil is nature and this makes him significant. He can speak for nature and understand nature like no one else. His talk about nature helps the four hobbits get a better understanding about the Ring.
Being that the land itself is a theory, Tolkien implied that Bombadil represented some form of monastic impoverishment.

The one way to get out of this battle between good and evil is to truly renounce attachment to the world. The world is torn about by this greed of the ring, which is power, and other material things but since Bombadil does not care about that stuff, he stays on the outside looking in. This is seen when Frodo asks Bombadil about his forthcoming, ““Did you hear me calling, Master, or was it just chance that brought you at that moment?”” talking about Bombadil saving Frodo and the other hobbits. Bombadil responded to Frodo's question as if he were sleep talking, “” Did I hear you calling? Nay, I did not hear: I was busy singing. Just chance brought me then, if chance you call it”” (123; ch. 7). Bombadil separates himself from everyone else with melody and the place he calls him, deep in the woods. This is the reason why no one knows who Bombadil is because he purposely separates

himself.
Although, Bombadil is disliked character in the narrative he does hold a lot of significance and mystery, that makes him interesting. Tolkien knew that Bombadil was not the ideal character for the plot of the story. Bombadil was included in the novel because Tolkien had already come up with the character. He wanted Bombadil to be mysterious with significance and this exactly what he did.