The evolution of Tom Bombadil: From the Oxford and Berkshire countryside to Middle-earth and beyond

[In 2015 the present author began a journey of discovery regarding Tom Bombadil, the enigmatic character in J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. That journey revealed Tom to be the Middle-earth manifestation of the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Catholic Blessed Trinity (i.e. God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit). Tom is the Secret Fire / Flame Imperishable element of Tolkien's Eru - an all powerful, immortal figure, present to guide and assist the sentient beings of Middle-earth in the fight against evil. The text below was written in 2017 and represents the tentative steps taken during the beginning of that journey of discovery. Some of the articles and videos linked about represent the more recent outcomes. Michael Organ 1 June 2024.]

What J.R.R. Tolkien (1892-1973) Middle-earth character has the ability to manipulate and control the mind like Obi Wan Kinobi in Star Wars; meditate for hours on end like a Tibetan monk; is unaffected by the One ring of power such that he is able to make it disappear; twice saves the party of hobbits led by Frodo Baggins at the beginning of their journey to Mordor; resurrects the hobbits following their death at the hands of a Barrow-wight; is the oldest living being in Middle-earth, yet seemingly not of Middle-earth; speaks through song and has the power therein to create; is able to instill sleep, dreams and visions in others; is in love with a water spirit; is the embodiment of goodness and joyfulness; can travel through space instantaneously; can manipulate time; and, at the end of The Lord of the Rings, following the defeat of Sauron and destruction of the One ring of power, sees Gandalf the White seeking his consul?

The answer is the little known character Tom Bombadil - a being of such mystery, significance and indeed oddness that one could easily label him the Dalai Lama of Middle-earth, or the Rainman of the Old Forest. Yet this character, who was deemed important and necessary by Tolkien, yet also inexplicable, is more often then not omitted from dramatisations of his best known work The Lord of the Rings, on the pretext that his role therein is irrelevant to the narrative. This is an easily refuted notion. His exclusion from the Peter Jackson films generated much criticism at the time and remains a sore point with fans of the character. Sure, Tom Bombadil provides adventure on the way for the hobbits, is presented as jolly, and is dismissive of the power of the One ring. But there is much more to him than just that. The fact is, Tom Bombadil is a powerful character of deep significance within the fantasy world created by Tolkien, and this is something readers of his work do not always, or easily, recognise.

Questions in regards to who or what Tom Bombadil is have occupied and confounded Tolkien fans and scholars for decades, and most especially since 1954 when the first volume of The Lord of the Rings appeared. Is he an earth spirit / nature spirit who, like the angelic Ainur, sings the songs of Arda (Earth) to appease, and in some cases control, those around him? Is he a God-like Eru, or lesser Vala or Maia as in one of the Gandalf-like beings with special powers? Is he perhaps a unique being outside the world of Middle-earth as defined by Tolkien?

It is not the intention of this blog to deal with such questions in detail, or offer any new theory around Bombadil's origin, as these have been dealt with elsewhere through numerous publications and YouTube videos. Despite this, Tom Bombadil remains a mystery to most readers of The Lord of the Rings because Tolkien failed, within that text and beyond, to explain Bombadil's actions in dealing with the party of hobbits led by Frodo Baggins. Likewise the information provided at the Council of Elrond by Gandalf and Golder, who knew of, and about, Tom Bombadil prior to his encounter with the hobbits, was not put in context nor revealed to be limited and biased. There was no detailed back story provided by Tolkien and, as a result, since the time of the original publication of The Lord of the Rings, various authors and commentators have attempted to answer questions around who and what Tom Bombadil is, building upon the somewhat limited and cryptic biographical details provided by Tolkien in his correspondence, published works and initial draft manuscripts. The amount of articles, blogs and internet postings dealing with the subject of the true nature of Tom Bombadil is voluminous, with each providing a different interpretation of Tolkien's raw material.

The current author, when he initially began looking into the subject in 2015, was attracted to the idea, which was based on a comment by Tolkien, that Tom was an earth spirit / nature spirit, and somewhat separate from the world as described in The Hobbit (Tolkien 1937) and The Lord of the Rings (Tolkien 1954-5). This separateness was reinforced by the Tolkien Estate website which stated that Bombadil originated outside the legends of Arda. Another interesting assessment was that provided during 2013 by the anonymous Ranger of the North blog, presenting a logical, though complex argument for Bombadil as the incarnated (i.e., living) spirit of the music of the Ainur.

What is that, you may ask? In order to understand what the music of the Ainur is, and its significance, one needs to go beyond The Lord of the Rings and Middle-earth, deeper into the world of The Silmarillion (Tolkien 1977), and more specifically the first chapter of that work called Ainulindalë, which first appeared during 1918 as a chapter entitled The Music of the Ainur in Tolkien's The Book of Lost Tales. This is nothing less than Tolkien's creation myth, and it applies, in part, to the universe within which The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings takes place. Creation was important to the Catholic Tolkien, and his view of God, nature and the fall of man is reflected – though not duplicated – within his writings, but most especially within the unfinished work known as The Silmarillion. Therein he created, in language and prose reflecting that commonly encountered within the Bible, a material universe - Ea - and a world – Arda - that was the equivalent of our earth. The Middle-earth which features in The Lord of the Rings was a continent analogous to Europe.

In attempting to understand who Tom Bombadil is and a possible association with the Ainur, we can use The Silmarillion to go to the very dawn of time, and before time began, to the creation of Ea. The God-like figure in Tolkien’s imaginary universe was Eru, who made use of music and song as a primary form of expression and creation. At one point he made the Ainur - holy ones or angels - and in turn gave them, through song, a limited power of creation. Only Eru could create sentient life. The subsequent process through which the universe was created was referred to as the Music of Ainur and is described in Ainulindalë. Unfortunately one of the Ainur - Melkor - introduced evil into the mix and as a result this was brought to what became Middle-earth, along with his servant Sauron. The fight between good - the Ainur - and evil - Melkor / Morgoth - became a universal and eternal dilemma, carried on by their children, creations and followers, though with the knowledge of Eru.

Tolkien was a skillul writer, steering away from allegory in most instances and masking his strongly held Catholic beliefs beneath timeless tales of fantasy for young and old, in both prose and verse. The Tom Bombadil character is evidence of this. One commentator put forward a persuasive argument that he is Tolkien's version of the Holy Spirit - a manifestation of God's power or spirit. Whilst discussions such as the possible link between Tom Bombadil and the Ainur are informative, the task of identifying him through a process of elimination is flawed. For example, in The Lord of the Rings Tom states in regards to his age:

Eldest, that’s what I am. Mark my words, my friends: Tom was here before the river and the trees; Tom remembers the first raindrop and the first acorn. He made paths before the Big People, and saw the little People arriving. He was here before the Kings and the graves and the Barrow-wights. When the Elves passed westward, Tom was here already, before the seas were bent. He knew the dark under the stars when it was fearless - before the Dark Lord came from Outside.

However, the correspondent Acarinaro noted in the Tom Bombadil's Identity discussion on the Fanatics Plaza website, following on a speech by Bombadil in regards to his age:

The 'dark under the stars was fearless' only before Melkor came. Therefore, the 'Dark Lord' referred to in Tom's speech cannot be Sauron. It must be Melkor. Therefore, Tom was there before Melkor entered into the world. Given that Melkor is said to be the first of the Ainur to enter, this means that Tom cannot be one of the Ainur. Since all the Valar and all the Maiar are Ainur, this means that Tom cannot be a Maia or Valar. ... It should also be noted that the process of elimination is doomed to fail, as it makes a fundamental assumption that all types of beings in Middle-earth are catalogued. This is untrue.

Such arguments are scattered throughout the literature and on the internet as fans grapple with the issues around Tom's identity. Adding to the complexity of the matter is the fact that Tolkien developed the aforementioned creation mythology over an extensive period of time, from 1916 through to at least the 1960s, and it was only published posthumously within The Silmarillion. The mythology is estimated to go back some 60,000+ years before the present, and the fact that it was in such a state of flux may explain Tolkien's reluctance to specify Tom Bombadil's origin and background within the context of The Lord of the Rings, the more general Middle-earth legendarium and the older Eru mythology. Tom Bombadil had originally been created outside all of these, though Tolkien subsequently added elements to the character whilst meaningfully leaving his true origin open and mysterious. As a result, Tom remained enigmatic through to the end of the the author's life.

Tom Bombadil [audio], a summary and discussion, duration: 8.51. Source: YouTube.

In light of this, what is perhaps more interesting than grappling with the enigmatic elements and trying to explain who or what he is, is the process of identifying what Tolkien actually said about the character known to most as Tom Bombadil, and variously by others such as Iarwain Ben-adar, Iaur, Orald by Northern Men, Erion by Gnomes, Forn by Dwarves and Yare by Elves. In going down this path of discovery we can take Bombadil for what he is, as revealed to us by the author, rather than waste time philosophizing about what he could be beyond what Tolkien cared to reveal. This latter effort is fraught with difficulty and leads to confusion and variant opinion. Tom Bombadil is ultimately a riddle created by Tolkien in much the same manner as Lewis Carrol's unanswerable question: "Why is a raven like a writing desk?" from Alice in Wonderland (Carrol 1865). Within this blog we look to the author's words in order to better understand Tom Bombadil, whilst never cracking the nut in regards to who or what he is - a nut that is, at the end of the day, not all that important for, as his partner Goldberry clearly states, "He is", and that is all that matters.

In the forest of Tom Bombadil [video], duration: 12.18. Source: YouTube. Amateur production.

What Tolkien said

enigma (noun) a person or thing that is mysterious or difficult to understand.

Tom Bombadil is the prevailing mystery in Tolkien's work (The Encyclopedia of Arda)

Tom Bombadil is actually the key to understanding Tolkien's worldview - [he] is a character of great symbolic and spiritual depth (Denney 2012)

The character of Tom Bombadil evolved over time, both within and without the realm of Middle-earth, for Tolkien was amenable to refining and defining him according to his needs as a writer. This is revealed in the analysis of the drafting of The Lord of the Rings carried out by his son Christopher and published as The Return of the Shadow within The History of Middle-earth series (1983-96). Whilst this evolution can lead to confusion, it also provides us with a rich tapestry, revealing much about Tom and the people and environment around him. And it all begins with a toy, for at some point during the 1920s the Tolkien children - John, Michael, Christopher and Priscilla - obtained a Dutch doll which became known as Tom Bombadil. The distinctive clothing of the subsequent literary character - blue coat, yellow boots and cap with a feature - came initially from the doll. It was obviously played with, and the focus of stories developed by the author for his children. Tolkien at some point wrote a brief piece of historical fictional fantasy which contains the first mention of the character:

Tombombadil was the name of one [of] the oldest inhabitants of the kingdom [of Bon & Barroc]; but he was a hale and hearty fellow. Four foot high in his boots he was, and three foot broad; his beard went below his knees; his eyes were keen and bright, and his voice deep and melodious. He wore a tall hat with a blue feather; his jacket was blue and his boots were yellow (Scull & Hammond 2014).

Therein the references to being old, hale and hearty very much summed up Tom, and remained traits in his characterisation which evolved through to the 1960s. The prose also has elements of verse within it, especially in the last sentence, and this was something Tolkien developed in the character, most obviously through the use of song. In addition to this brief text, an undated note by Tolkien was attached to a piece of verse known as Ho! Tom Bombadil. It includes the annotation: Date unknown - germ of Tom Bombadil, so evidently in mid 1930s'. The verse is as follows:

Ho! Tom Bombadil

(Said I)

Ho! Tom Bombadil

Whither are you going

With John Pompador

Down the river rowing?

(Said he)
'Through Long Conglegy,
Stoke Canonicorum,
Past King's Singleton
To Bumby Cocalorum -

To call Bill Willoughby
Whatever he be doing
And ax Harry Larraby
What beer he is a-brewing'

(And he sang)
'Go, boat! Row! The willows are a-bending,
reeds are leaning, winds is in the grasses.
Flow, stream, flow! The ripples are unending;
green they gleam, and shimmer as it passes.

Run, fair Sun, through heaven all the morning,
rolling golden! Merry is our singing!
Cool the pool, though summer be a-burning;
in shady glades let laughter run a-ringing!'

Tolkien was often imprecise in his memory with regards to writing dates, and if this is the germ of our subject, then it may predate the previous piece of prose, with both written during the latter half of the 1920s or very early 1930s. This verse is also a precusor to Bombadil goes boating, which was written and published in 1962. Building upon the previous two works, around 1931 Tolkien prepared some elaborate Elvin texts which included elements of what would become The Adventures of Tom Bombadil, and which in turn was earlier known as The History of Tom Bombadil.

Elvish script by J.R.R. Tolkien referring to Tom Bombadil, circa 1931.

In 1934 the first published version of The Adventures of Tom Bombadil appeared in the Oxford Magazine (Tolkien 1934). It was later republished with minor amendments during 1962. Both versions are reproduced in the table below.

1934

1962

The Adventures of Tom Bombadil

Old Tom Bombadil was a merry fellow;

bright blue his jacket was and his boots were yellow.

He lived down under Hill; and a peacock’s feather

Nodded in his old hat, tossing in the weather.

Old Tom Bombadil walked about the meadows

gathering the buttercups, a-chasing of the shadows,

tickling the bumblebees a-buzzing in the flowers,

sitting by the waterside for hours upon hours.

There his beard dangled long down into the water:

up came Goldberry, the Riverwoman’s daughter;

pulled Tom’s hanging hair. In he went a-wallowing

under the water-lilies, bubbling and a-swallowing.

‘Hey, Tom Bombadil! Whither are you going?’

said fair Goldberry. ‘Bubbles you are blowing,

frightening the finny fish and the brown water-rat,

startling the dabchicks, and drowning your feather-hat!’

‘You bring it back again, there’s a pretty maiden!’

said Tom Bombadil; ‘I do not care for wading!

Go down! Sleep again where the pools are shady

far below willow-roots, little water-lady!’

Back to her mother’s house in the deepest hollow

swam young Goldberry; But Tom, he would not follow;

On knotted willow-roots he sat in sunny weather,

drying his yellow boots and his draggled feather.

Up woke Willow-man, began upon his singing,

sang Tom fast asleep under branches swinging;

in a crack caught him tight: quiet it closed together,

trapped Tom Bombadil, coat and hat and feather.

‘Ha, Tom Bombadil! What be you a-thinking,

peeping inside my tree, watching me a-drinking

deep in my wooden house, tickling me with feather,

dripping wet down my face like a rainy weather?’

‘You let me out again, Old Man Willow!

I am stiff lying here; they’re no sort of pillow,

your hard crooked roots. Drink your river-water!

Go back to sleep again like the River-daughter!’

Willow-man let him loose, when he heard him speaking;

locked fast his wooden house, muttering and creaking,

whispering inside the tree. Tom, he sat a-listening.

On the boughs piping birds were chirruping and whistling.

Tom saw butterflies quivering and winking;

Tom called the conies out, till the sun was sinking.

Then Tom went away. Rain began to shiver,

round rings spattering in the running river;

Clouds past, hurrying drops were falling helter-skelter;

Old Tom Bombadil crept into a shelter.

Out came Badger-brock with his snowy forehead

and his dark blinking eyes. In the hill he quarried

with his wife and many sons. By the coat they caught him,

pulled him inside the hole, down their tunnels brought him.

Inside their secret house, there they sat a-mumbling:

‘Ho, Tom Bombadil! Where have you come tumbling,

bursting in the front-door? Badgerfolk have caught you;

You’ll never find it out, the way that we have brought you!’

‘Now, old Badger-brock, do you hear me talking?

You show me out at once! I must be a-walking.

Show me to your backdoor under briar-roses;

then clean grimy paws, wipe your earthy noses!

Go back to sleep again on your straw pillow,

like fair Goldberry and Old Man Willow!’

Then all the Badger-folk said: ‘We beg your pardon!’

showed Tom out again to their thorny garden,

went back and hid themselves, a-shivering and a-shaking,

blocked up all their doors, earth together raking.

Old Tom Bombadil hurried home to supper,

unlocked his house again, opened up a shutter,

let in the setting sun in the kitchen shining,

watched the stars peering out and the moon climbing.

Dark came under Hill. Tom, he lit a candle,

upstairs creaking went, turned the door-handle.

‘Hoo, Tom Bombadil! I am waiting for you!

Just here behind the door! I came up before you.

You’ve forgotten Barrow-wight dwelling in the old mound

up there a-top the hill with the ring of stones round.

He’s got loose to-night; under the earth he’ll take you!

Poor Tom Bombadil, pale and cold he’ll make you!’

‘Go out! Shut the door, and never come back after!

Take away gleaming eyes, take your hollow laughter!

Go back to grassy mound, on your stony pillow

lay down your bony head, like Old Man Willow,

like young Goldberry, and Badger-folk in burrow!

Go back to buried gold and forgotten sorrow!’

Out fled Barrow-wight, through the window flying,

through the yard, over wall, up the hill a-crying,

past white drowsing sheep, over leaning stone-rings,

back under lonely mound, rattling his bone-rings.

Old Tom Bombadil lay upon his pillow

sweeter than Goldberry, quieter than the Willow,

snugger than the Badgerfolk, or the Barrow-dwellers;

slept like a hummingtop, snored like a bellows.

He woke in morning-light, whistled like a starling,

sang, ‘Come, derry-dol, merry-dol, my darling!’

clapped on his battered hat, boots, and coat and feather;

opened the window wide to the sunny weather.

Old Tom Bombadil, he was a clever fellow;

bright blue his jacket was, and his boots were yellow.

None ever caught old Tom, walking in the meadows

winter and summer-time, in the lights and shadows,

down dale, over hill, jumping over water –

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

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

an old song singing fair 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 all laden:

yellow cream, honeycomb, white bread and butter;

roses at the window-pane peeping through the shutter.

You shall come under Hill! - never mind your mother

in her deep weedy pool: there you’ll find no lover!’

Old Tom Bombadil had a merry wedding

crowned all in buttercups, his old feather shedding;

his bride with forgetmenots and flaglilies for garland,

robed all in silver-green. He sang like a starling,

hummed like a honey-bee, lilted to the fiddle,

clasping his river-maid round her slender middle.

Lamps gleamed within his house, and white was the bedding;

in the bright honey-moon Badgerfolk came treading,

danced down under Hill, and Old Man Willow

tapped, tapped at window-pane, as they slept on the pillow,

on the bank in the reeds Riverwoman sighing

heard old Barrow-wight in his mound crying.

Old Tom Bombadil heeded not the voices,

taps, knocks, dancing feet, all the nightly noises;

slept till the sun arose, then sang like a starling:

‘Hey! Come derry-dol, merry-dol, my darling!’

sitting on the door-step chopping sticks of willow,

while fair Goldberry combed her tresses yellow.

The Adventures of Tom Bombadil

Old Tom Bombadil was a merry fellow;
bright blue his jacket was and his boots were yellow,
green were his girdle and his breeches all of leather;
he wore in his tall hat a swan-wing feather.
He lived up under Hill, where the Withywindle
ran from a grassy well down into the dingle.

Old Tom in summertime walked about the meadows
gathering the buttercups, running after shadows,
tickling the bumblebees that buzzed among the flowers,
sitting by the waterside for hours upon hours.

There his beard dangled long down into the water:
up came Goldberry, the River-woman’s daughter;
pulled Tom’s hanging hair. In he went a-wallowing
under the water-lilies, bubbling and a-swallowing.

‘Hey, Tom Bombadil! Whither are you going?’
said fair Goldberry. ‘Bubbles you are blowing,
frightening the finny fish and the brown water-rat,
startling the dabchicks, and drowning your feather-hat!’

‘You bring it back again, there’s a pretty maiden!’
said Tom Bombadil. ‘I do not care for wading.
Go down! Sleep again where the pools are shady
far below willow-roots, little water-lady!’

Back to her mother’s house in the deepest hollow
swam young Goldberry. But Tom, he would not follow;
on knotted willow-roots he sat in sunny weather,
drying his yellow boots and his draggled feather.

Up woke Willow-man, began upon his singing,
sang Tom fast asleep under branches swinging;
in a crack caught him tight: snick! it closed together,
trapped Tom Bombadil, coat and hat and feather.

‘Ha, Tom Bombadil! What be you a-thinking,
peeping inside my tree, watching me a-drinking
deep in my wooden house, tickling me with feather,
dripping wet down my face like a rainy weather?’

‘You let me out again, Old Man Willow!
I am stiff lying here; they’re no sort of pillow,
your hard crooked roots. Drink your river-water!
Go back to sleep again like the River-daughter!’

Willow-man let him loose when he heard him speaking;

locked fast his wooden house, muttering and creaking,

whispering inside the tree. Out from willow-dingle

Tom went walking on up the Withywindle.

Under the forest-eaves he sat a while a-listening:

on the boughs piping birds were chirruping and whistling.

Butterflies about his head went quivering and winking,

until grey clouds came up, as the sun was sinking.

Then Tom hurried on. Rain began to shiver,

round rings spattering in the running river;

a wind blew, shaken leaves chilly drops were dripping;

into a sheltering hole Old Tom went skipping.

Out came Badger-brock with his snowy forehead

and his dark blinking eyes. In the hill he quarried

with his wife and many sons. By the coat they caught him,

pulled him inside their earth, down their tunnels brought him.

Inside their secret house, there they sat a-mumbling:

‘Ho, Tom Bombadil! Where have you come tumbling,

bursting in the front-door? Badger-folk have caught you.

You’ll never find it out, the way that we have brought you!’

‘Now, old Badger-brock, do you hear me talking?

You show me out at once! I must be a-walking.

Show me to your backdoor under briar-roses;

then clean grimy paws, wipe your earthy noses!

Go back to sleep again on your straw pillow,

like fair Goldberry and Old Man Willow!’

Then all the Badger-folk said: ‘We beg your pardon!’

They showed Tom out again to their thorny garden,

went back and hid themselves, a-shivering and a-shaking,

blocked up all their doors, earth together raking.

Rain had passed. The sky was clear, and in the summer-gloaming

Old Tom Bombadil laughed as he came homing,
unlocked his door again, and opened up a shutter.
In the kitchen round the lamp moths began to flutter;
Tom through the window saw waking stars come winking,
and the new slender moon early westward sinking.

Dark came under Hill. Tom, he lit a candle;
upstairs creaking went, turned the door-handle.
‘Hoo, Tom Bombadil! Look what night has brought you!
I’m behind the door. Now at last I’ve caught you!
You’d forgotten Barrow-wight dwelling in the old mound
up there on hill-top with the ring of stones round.
He’s got loose again. Under earth he’ll take you.
Poor Tom Bombadil, pale and cold he’ll make you!’

‘Go out! Shut the door, and never come back after!
Take away gleaming eyes, take your hollow laughter!
Go back to grassy mound, on your stony pillow
lay down your bony head, like Old Man Willow,
like young Goldberry, and Badger-folk in burrow!
Go back to buried gold and forgotten sorrow!’

Out fled Barrow-wight through the window leaping,
through the yard, over wall like a shadow sweeping,
up hill wailing went back to leaning stone-rings,
back under lonely mound, rattling his bone-rings.

Old Tom Bombadil lay upon his pillow
sweeter than Goldberry, quieter than the Willow,
snugger than the Badger-folk or the Barrow-dwellers;
slept like a humming-top, snored like a bellows.

He woke in morning-light, whistled like a starling,
sang, ‘Come, derry-dol, merry-dol, my darling!’
He clapped on his battered hat, boots, and coat and feather;
opened the window wide to the sunny weather.

Wise old Bombadil, he was a wary fellow;
bright blue his jacket was, and his boots were yellow.
None ever caught old Tom in upland or in dingle,
walking the forest-paths, or by the Withywindle,
or out on the lily-pools in boat upon the water.
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 all laden:
yellow cream, honeycomb, white bread and butter;
roses at the window-sill and peeping round the shutter.
You shall come under Hill! Never mind your mother
in her deep weedy pool: there you’ll find no lover!’

Old Tom Bombadil had a merry wedding,
crowned all with buttercups, hat and feather shedding;
his bride with forgetmenots and flag-lilies for garland
was robed all in silver-green. He sang like a starling,
hummed like a honey-bee, lilted to the fiddle,
clasping his river-maid round her slender middle.

Lamps gleamed within his house, and white was the bedding;
in the bright honey-moon Badger-folk came treading,
danced down under Hill, and Old Man Willow
tapped, tapped at window-pane, as they slept on the pillow,
on the bank in the reeds River-woman sighing
heard Barrow-wight in his mound crying.

Old Tom Bombadil heeded not the voices,
taps, knocks, dancing feet, all the nightly noises;
slept till the sun arose, then sang like a starling:
‘Hey! Come derry-dol, merry-dol, my darling!’
sitting on the door-step chopping sticks of willow,
while fair Goldberry combed her tresses yellow.

A recording by Tolkien of The Adventures of Tom Bombadil was supposedly done in August 1952, however therein the text used in the 1962 version, rather than the original 1934 verse. This suggests that the recording date is wrong, or that Tolkien had amended the verse to bring it into line with The Lord of the Rings by 1952,

J.R.R. Tolkien recites The Adventures of Tom Bombadil [audio], August 1952?, duration: 7.02. Source: YouTube.

This verse was a lightweight affair, though it contains much which would define the character of Tom Bombadil. Unfortunately at no point did it describe what type of being he was. We were simply presented with a few biographical details of his life, snippets of how he lived, and a description of how he and his partner Goldberry came together. Both were figures of fantasy and not, at that stage, part of Tolkien's developing Middle-earth legendarium. Neither were they defined in time or space. And it remained this way for a number of years whilst Tolkien was occupied with the publication of The Hobbit. That original text had been written during the early 1930s and was substantially complete by late 1932, two years prior to the publications of The Adventures of Tom Bombadil. The Hobbit was published on 23 September 1937 and was an immediate success, bringing with it pressure on Tolkien to write a sequel. On 16 December 1937, in a letter to his publisher Stanley Unwin (letter #20), Tolkien therefore identifies Tom as an earth spirit and proposes an expansion of his story:

...Do you think Tom Bombadil, the spirit of the (vanishing) Oxford and Berkshire countryside, could be made into the hero of a story? Or is he, as I suspect, fully enshrined in the enclosed verses? Still I could enlarge the portrait....

Tom Bombadil was a interesting character already developed and therefore able to be used to fill up the blank pages which were then before Tolkien. However in a letter written just three days later on 19 December 1937 and addressed to C.A. Furth of Allen & Unwin, he noted that he had begun writing the first chapter of what was to become The Lord of the Rings. The idea of making Tom Bombadil the hero of the story was abandoned, with Tom replaced by a hobbit. Over the following weeks, and through to the end of January 1938, the first chapter went quickly developed through four different versions. During this period he also drafted a further two chapters and complied additional notes which included the first reference to the inclusion of Tom Bombadil within the story:

#1 - Make dubious regions - Old Forest on way to Rivendell. South of River. They turn aside to call up Frodo Br, get lost and caught by Willowman and by Barrow-wights. T. Bombadil comes in. (HME II 42). Circa January 1938.

#2 - B.B. sets out with 2 nephews. They turn S ward to collect Frodo Brandybuck. Get lost in Old Forest. Adventure with Willowman and Barrow-wights. T. Bombadil. (HME II 43) Circa January 1938.

The aforementioned notes indicate that Tolkien made the decision very early on to include Tom Bombadil in The Lord of the Rings. The author felt he could easily provide the hobbits with an adventure during the early stages of the book and at a point where the precise direction of the work was not known. He had obviously given some thought to expansion of the role of Bombadil between publication of The Hobbit and commencing the first chapter of The Lord of the Rings around 19 December. With this in mind, Tolkien was not willing to totally abandon the character within the new story, and so it was that we see Bombadil feature in the early chapters. Tolkien later wrote that he felt the need to include him as he represented a character otherwise not included.

So it was that by the end of January 1938 the first three chapters had been written in draft form. After the initial flourish of writing, and as work and family commitments took over, Tolkien put this aside from February through to the middle of 1938. However between 29-31 August he completed the work up to the beginning of what would ultimately become chapter VII, with Tom and Goldberry now featuring in chapters in VI and VII. The events contained in these and later chapters as they pertain to Tom Bombadil can be briefly summarised as follows:

Year: Third Age 3018

Monday, 26 September - The four hobbits encounter Old Man Willow and are rescued by Tom Bombadil. They spend the night at Tom's house, with three of the hobbits dreaming.
Tuesday, 27 September - The weather sets in and the hobbits spend a second night with Tom Bombadil and Goldberry.
Wednesday, 28 September - The hobbit party traverse the Barrow-downs and are captured by a Barrow-wight (ghost or zombie-like figures). Tom Bombadil rescues them, gives them weapons and four ponies and suggests they visit the Prancing Pony at Bree. He then sends them on their way.
Thursday, 29 September - The hobbit party arrive at Bree. They depart the following day.
25 October - The Council of Elrond discusses Tom Bombadil as a possible ring-bearer.

Year: Third Age 3019

30 October - Following the defeat of Sauron, Gandalf informs the hobbits that he is keen to sit down and have a long talk with Tom Bombadil. He then leaves them as they return to the Shire.

This summary only includes what was eventually published in The Lord of the Ring., for in the writing of that text Tolkien both expanded and contracted the role of Tom Bombadil. This is clearly revealed within The History of Middle-earth volumes. For example, for a long period there was an episode wherein Gandalf meets Tom at his house prior to traveling on to Bree in pursuit of the hobbit. Unfortunately this was cut and no narrative survives of a conversation between the two. Likewise there was an encounter between Aragorn and Bombadil at The Prancing Pony inn, Bree, which was excised, along with Tom's visit there for discussions with his old friend the inn keeper. Many such references are referred to in the analysis below of what Tolkien wrote during his lifetime in regards to Tom Bombadil, whether it was published or not. All such information helps one flesh out this mysterious character. In addition, animations of the Bombadil chapters which are derived from the 2007 The Lord of the Rings computer game are linked below. Whilst there is a lot of game play therein, they are useful in assisting us visual the character of Tom Bombadil in the absence of a definitive cinematic versions and as a supplement to a reading of The Lord of the Rings and information contained within this blog.

The Lord of the Rings game, 2007, part 7, Old Man Willow and Tom Bombadil, duration: 7.52. Source: YouTube.

The Lord of the Rings game, 2007, part 8, Goldberry, duration: 7.24. Source: YouTube.

The Lord of the Rings game, 2007, part 9, Barrow-downs, duration: 7.59. Source: YouTube.

The early chapters of The Lord of the Rings feature detailed encounters between Tom and Goldberry and the party of hobbits that would ultimately comprise Frodo Baggins, Samwise Gamgee, Mariadoc ‘Merry’ Brandybuck and Peregrin ‘Pippin’ Took, though they were not known by those names within the initial drafts. The chapters were eventually entitled 'The Old Forest', ‘In the House of Tom Bombadil’ and ‘Fog on the Barrow-down’. In two instances Tom came to the rescue of the hobbits - from the Willowman and a Barrow-wight - and later helped them on their way to Bree and the The Prancing Pony inn. Here they met Aragorn who assisted them throughout the remainder of their quest. Following the decision to insert Tom and Goldberry into his evolving Middle-earth legendarium, Tolkien was forced to expanded and adapt the character of Tom Bombadil, just as he had to update The Hobbit and its original portrayal of Gollum. The modifications were interesting but not all that significant. Within the new context of living in a house at the source of the Withywindle River, by the edge of the Old Forest, Tom appeared to be a man, but was not. Neither was he hobbit, elf, dwarf or other specified Middle-earth living entity. Similarly, his partner Goldberry was not identified, though appeared to be a manifestation of a water spirit. During the writing of The Lord of the Rings between December 1937 and its ultimate publication in 1954-5, Tolkien re-wrote the various chapters on numerous occasions and attempted to bring a level of internal consistency to the people, places and events portrayed therein. As a result, the activities of Tom Bombadil changed. The following Tom Bombadil references from the 3-volume omnibus edition of The History of Middle-earth (HME) record some of these changes. They mostly come from the substantial chapters initially designated IV and V, prior to later splitting by the author. In addition, relevant extracts and commentary from the published edition are also included to highlight differences and present the most fulsome account of Tom Bombadil:

#3 - Initial draft notes of chapter IV - Willowman. Meeting with Tombabdil. Barrow-wights. Camp on the downs. (HME II 111).

The Willowman as presented in the final published version has powers similar to Tom, in that he uses song to induce sleep and dreams in the hobbits as they get near to him. Fortunately Sam is not as prone to the Willowman's seduction as the other three and, with the assistance of Tom Bombadil, helps his friends escape. The fact that the Willowman and Tom share similar powers may explain the reference to Tom as "master", with the sentient beings of the Old Forest around him his students / apprentices and exhibiting a subset of his abilities. Later that day, when the hobbits rest in Tom's house, they sleep heavily, dream and have visions which may have been prompted by him.

#4 - Preliminary sketch of chapter IV - Willowman traps Bingo and Odo. Suddenly a singing is heard in the distance. (Tom Bombadil not named). The Willow relaxes its hold ... They get through to end of forest as evening comes on, and climb on to the downs. It gets very cold - mist is followed by a chilly drizzle. They shelter under a big barrow. Barrow-wight takes them inside. The wake to find themselves buried alive. They shout. At last Marmaduke and Bingo begin a song. An answering song outside. Tom Bombadil opens the stone door and lets them out. The go to his house for the night - two Barrow-wights come galloping after them, but stop every time Tom Bombadil turns and looks at them. (HME II 112)

This early scenario was changed such that the encounter with the Barrow-wight took place after their second night at Tom's house and on their way to Bree.

The first appearance of Tom in the published version is as follows: There was another burst of song, and then suddenly, hopping and dancing along the path, there appeared above the reeds an old battered hat with a tall crown and a long blue feather stuck in the band. With another hop and a bound there came into view a man, or so it seemed. At any rate he was too large and heavy for a hobbit, if not quite tall enough for one of the Big People, though he made noise enough for one, stumping along with great yellow boots on his thick legs, and charging through grass and rushes like a cow going down to drink. He had a blue coat and a long brown beard; his eyes were blue and bright, and his face was red as a ripe apple, but creased into a hundred wrinkles of laughter. In his hand he carried on a large leaf as on a tray a small pile of white water-lilies." The Old Forest, LOTR)

#5 - Brief outline for chapter V and the account of the hobbits' stay at Tom Bombadil's house - Tom Bombadil rescues them from Willow Man. He says it was lucky he came that way - he had gone to the water-lily pool for some white water-lilies for Goldberry (my wife). He turns out to know Farmer Maggot. (Make Maggot not a hobbit, but some other kind of creature - not dwarf, but akin to Tom Bombadil). They rest at his house. He says only way out is along his path beside the Withywindle. Description of feast and willow fire. Many noises at night. Tom Bombadil wakes them singing derry dol, and opening all the windows (he lives in a little house under the down-side facing the forest edge and the east corner of the wood). He tells them to go north but avoid the high Down and barrows. He warns them of barrow-wights; tells them a song to sing if the barrow-wights frighten them or a cold day. The mist thicken and they get lost. (HME II 117)

This outline gets closer to the final version, though the relationship between Farmer Maggot and Tom does not survive.

Tom Bombadil's country, based on the description contained within The Lord of the Rings.

#6 - Set of notes outlining the hobbits' time at Tom Bombadil's house: Water-lily motive - last lilies of summer for Goldberry. Relation of Tom Bombadil to Farmer Maggot (Maggot not a hobbit?) Tom Bombadil is an 'aborigine' - he knew the land before men, before hobbits, before barrow-wights, yes before the necromancer - before the elves came to this quarter of the world. Goldberry says he is 'master of water, wood and hill'. Does all this land belong to him? No! The land and the things below to themselves. He is not the possessor but the master, because he belongs to himself. Description of Goldberry, with her hair as yellow as the flag-lilies, her green gown and light feet. Barrow-wights are related to Black-riders. Are Black-riders actually horsed Barrow-wights? The guests sleep - there is a noise as of wind surging in the edges of the forest and .... through the panes and gables and the doors. Galloping of horses round the house. (HME II 117-8)

We can see from this set of notes that Tolkien is expanding the history of Tom and bringing in the fact that he is very old. He even uses the term Aborigine which implies an attachment to the local place as an original inhabitant, perhaps prior to the coming of Middle-earth creatures such as Men, Elves and Dwarfs. The connection with Maggot is subject to question by Tolkien, as is the relationship between the Black-riders (eventually known as Ringwraiths) and the Barrow-wights. In then next draft version the hobbits are leaving Tom after the first night, but Tolkien decides that they should stay another day to talk and consider the threat of the Black-riders.

#7 - The first fulsome narrative of chapter V includes a description of Frodo's lucid and visionary dream, followed by Tom Bombadil's morning welcome: 'Good morning, merry friends!' said Tom, opening the east window wide. A cool air flowed in. 'The sun will heat you when the day is older. I have been walking far, leaping on the hill-tops, since the grey twilight came and the night foundered, wet grass underfoot .... When they were dressed Tom took them up the hillside the sun was already risen over the hill, and the clouds were melting away. In the forest valley trees were appearing like tall heads rising out of the curling sea of mist. They were glad of breakfast - indeed they were glad to be awake and safe and at the merry end of a day again. The thought of going was heavy on them - not only for fear of the road. Had it been a merry road and the road home they would still have wished to tarry there. But they knew that could not be. Bingo too found in his heart that the noise of hoofs was not only dream. They must escape quickly or else ... pursued here. So he made up his mind to get such help and advice as old Bombadil could or would give. 'Master,' he said, 'we cannot thank you for your kindness for it has been beyond thanks. But we must go, against our wish and quickly. for I heard horsemen in the night and fear we are pursued.' Tom looked at him. 'Horsemen,' he said. 'Dead men riding the wind. 'Tis long since they came hence. What ails the Barrow-wights to leave their old mounds? You are strange folk to come out of the Shire, even stranger than my news told me. Now you had best tell me all - and I will give you counsel. ... [Make it sudden rainy day. They spend it at Tom's house, and tell him the tale; and he of Willow-man and the ... He is concerned about the riders; but he says he will think of counsel. Next day is fine. He takes them to the hilltop. They ... the barrows. (HME II 119-120)

In the published text Goldberry states: Tom Bombadil is the Master. No one has ever caught old Tom walking in the forest, wading in the water, leaping on the hill-tops, under light and shadow. He has no fear. Tom Bombadil is master. (In the House of Tom Bombadil, LOTR)

Published version: A door opened and in came Tom Bombadil. He had now no hat and his thick brown hair was crowned with autumn leaves.... Tom Bombadil came trotting round the corner of the house, waving his arms as if he was warding off the rain - and indeed when he sprang over the threshold he seemed quite dry, except for his boots.... Tom was all in clean blue, blue as rain-washed forget-me-knots, and he had green stockings. ( In the House of Tom Bombadil, LOTR)

#8 - In this first draft of chapter V Tom makes reference to Farmer Maggot: We are kin, he said, distantly, very distantly, but near enough to count. (HME II 122)

Tolkien here outlines a relationship between Maggot and Tom, though with tantalisingly little detail. This element would not survive into the final version, where Maggot is presented as a hobbit.

#9 - In the second narrative of chapter V Tom's voice is described as: ...always in a sing-song or actually singing. (HE II 120)

This is a core element of Tom Bombadil and a key to his powers. It is also a reflection of his age and provides an important linkage to Tolkien's creation story and the music of the Ainur. Bombadil is a deeply spiritual character who counsels, consoles and calms the hobbits whilst they are under his care. He does this through song and the natural poetic rhythm of his speech.

#10 - In the second narrative of chapter V, it is noted that the end of his talk: ... and still further Tom went singing back before the Sun and before the Moon, out into the old starlight. (HME II 121)

Tom is constantly singing, as he goes about his business of creating and taking care of the world around him. Just like Eru Iluvatar and the Ainur he appears to have the ability to create and effect change through song. He sleeps, but also can do his work throughout the night, as though not requiring any rest. Once again the dichotomy of his being is revealed - he is both earthbound and a free spirit; human and heavenly; a man in love with Goldberry, living a happily married life, and a timeless being not of Middle-earth.

#11 - In the second narrative of chapter V, Tom's answer to the question from Frodo 'Who are you, Master?' is as follows: 'Eh, what?' said Tom sitting up, and his eyes glinted in the gloom. 'I am an Aborigine, that's what I am, the Aborigine of this land. I have spoken a mort of languages and called myself by many names. Mark my words, my merry friends: Tom was here before the River or the Trees. Tom remembers the first acorn and the first rain-drop. He made paths before the Big People, and saw the Little People arriving. He was here before the kings and the graves and the ghosts Barrow-wights. When the Elves passed westward Tom was here already - before the seas were bent. He saw the Sun rise in the West and the Moon following, before the new order of days was made. He knew the dark under the stars when it was fearless - before the Dark Lord came from Outside. (HME II 121)

This is a significant piece of text by Tolkien as it outlines some of the history of Tom Bombadil and especially in regards to his creation and age. From this we can see that Tom is very old, but how old remains unanswered. The last sentence is subject to interpretation, especially as the reference to the 'Dark Lord' could be to Melkor, Morgoth or Sauron. If it is to Melkor who brought fear into the world, then Tom is older than the creation of Middle-earth and the universe by the Ainur, and perhaps on par with Eru Iluvatar. Yet Tom appears to be an intimate part of Arda (earth) and therefore may be younger than Melkor. Once again, by writing in this manner Tolkien have left readers with unanswerable questions around Tom Bombadil.

#12 - In this second draft of chapter V Tom refers to Farmer Maggot as: We are kinfolk, he and I. In a way of speaking: distantly and far back, but near enough for friendship. (HE II 122)

This line suggests that Tolkien is backing away from an explicate connection between Tom and Farmer Maggot, towards the eventual transformation of the latter into a hobbit.

#13 - In the second draft of chapter V, when Bingo puts on the ring, Tom says:

Hey, come Bingo there, where are you a-going?

To which there are two different answers comments by Tom, as Tolkien attempts to get the wording right:

- What be you a-grinning at? Are you tired of talking? Take off that Ring of yours and sit down a moment. We must talk a while more. [Make the seeing clearer]

- Did you think I should not see when you had the Ring on? Ha, Tom Bombadil's not as blind as that yet. Take off your golden Ring, and sit down a moment. (HME II 123)

#14 - In an early draft of chapter VII, there is reference to Tom's encounter with the hobbits at the Barrow mound after he has been called upon to save them from being buried alive:

Tom sings a song over Odo Frodo Merry. Wake now my merry ... ! ... of the pillar and how they became separated. Tom puts a blessing or a curse on the gold and lays it on the top of the mound. None of the hobbits will have any but Tom takes a brooch for Goldberry. Tom says he will go with them, after chiding them for sleeping by the stone pillar. They soon find the Road and the way seems short. The turn along the Road. Gallops come after them. Tom turns and holds up his hand. They fly back. As dusk falls they see a ... light. Tom says good bye - for Goldberry will be waiting. .... Flight over Ford. Bingo flings a stone and imitates Tom Bombadil. Go back and ride away! The Riders halt as if astonished, and looking up at the hobbits on the back can see no faces in their hoods. Go back says Bingo, but he is not Tom Bombadil, and the riders ride into the ford. (HME II 125-6)

This paragraph also introduces the concept of the hobbit hero trying to make use of powers he had observed in Tom Bombadil, namely using the strength of his voice and will to ward off the Black-riders. This does not work as he does not possess Tom's inherent power.

#15 - In an early draft of chapter VII, Tom says the following in regards to the treasure of the Barrow mound and the brooch he takes for Goldberry: ... free to all finders, bird, beast, elves or men and all kind creatures, for the makers and owners of these things are not here, and their day is long past, and the makers cannot claim them again until the world is mended. ... Fair was she who long ago wore this on her shoulder, and Goldberry shall wear it now, and we shall not forgot them, the vanished folk, the old kings, the children and the maidens, and all those who walked the earth when the world was younger. (HME II 128)

Tom is able to talk about the distant future "when the world is mended" and the spirits of the departed will return to earth. There are additional references to this time, generally known as the end of the world, the apocalypse, the time of the Second Coming. They suggest that Tom will live through till the end of time, just as he was there at the beginning.

#16 - In the draft of chapter VII, the following is said of what Tom chooses for the hobbits: ... bronze swords, short, leaf-shaped and keen. These, he said, were made many ages ago by men out of the West. They were foes of the Ring-lord. (HME II 128)

These swords are enchanted and protect the hobbits against the forces of evil such as the Black-riders. They are used by them throughout The Lord of the Rings. Unfortunately in the Peter Jackson films the swords are given to the hobbits by Aragorn, not Tom Bombadil.

#17 - The drafts for chapter VII include incidents in the parting of Tom and the hobbits as they head toward Bree: Tom seemed to remember something unhappy and would not say much. ... Bingo rode done onto the track and looked both ways. There was no one in sight. 'Well, here we are again at last!' he said. 'I suppose we haven't lost more than a day by Merry's short cut. We had better stick to the beaten way after this.' 'You had better,' said Tom, 'and ride fast.' Bingo looked at him. Black riders came back into his thought. He looked a little anxiously back towards the setting sun, but the road was brown and empty. 'Do you think,' he asked hesitatingly, 'do you think we shall be - er, pursued tonight?' 'Not tonight,' said Tom. 'No, not tonight. Not perhaps the next day. Not perhaps for days to come. But I cannot say for certain. Tom is not master of the Riders that come out if the Black Land far beyond this country.' All the same the hobbits wished that Tom was coming with them. They felt that he would know how to deal with them - if anyone did. They were now at last going forward into lands wholly strange to them, and beyond all but the most distant legends of the Shire, and they began to feel really lonely, exiled, and rather helpless. But Tom was now wishing them a final farewell, bidding them good heart, and ride till the dark without halting.
- But he encouraged them - a little - by telling them that he guessed the Riders (or some of them) were seeking now among the mounds. For he seemed to think that the Riders and Barrow-wights had some kind of kinship or understanding. If that were so, it might prove in the end well that they had been captured. They learned from him that some miles away along the road was the old village of Bree, on the west side of Bree-hill. It had an inn that could be trusted: the White Horse [Prancing Pony]. The keeper was a good man and not unknown to Tom. 'Just you mention my name and he will treat you fairly. There you can sleep sound, and after that morning will speed you well upon your way. Go now with my blessing.' They begged him to come as far as the inn and drink once more with them. But he laughed and refused, saying" 'Tom has his house to mind, and Goldberry is waiting.' Then he turned, tossed up his hat, leaped on Lumpkin's back, and rode over the bank and away singing into the gathering dusk.
- Tom refers them to Barnabas Butterbur, the inn keeper at Bree, and says the following in verse:

He knows Tom Bombadil, and Tom's name will help you.
Say 'Tom sent us here' and he will treat you kindly.
There you can sleep sound, and afterwads the morning
Will speed you upon your way. Go now with my blessing!
Keep up your merry hearts, and ride to meet your fortune! (HE II 129-30)

#18 - The manuscript for chapter VIII describes the hobbits arrival at the Bree inn and comment upon hearing that it is full: 'I was afraid it might be,' said Bingo. 'I hear it is an excellent house. We were specially recommended to stop here by our friend Tom Bombadil.' 'In that case anything can be managed!' said Mr Butterbur, slapping his thighs and beaming. 'Come right inside! And how is the old fellow? Mad and merry, but merrier than mad, I'll be bound! Why didn't he come along too, and then we should have had some fun! (HMR II 134-5)

#19 - One of the manuscripts for chapter VII includes a comment by Bingo to Mr Butterbur as the party leaves the inn: 'I am grateful,' said Bingo, 'I am sorry I cannot tell you the whole story, Mr Butterbur. I am very tired, and rather worried. But to put it briefly, these - er - black riders are just what I'm trying to escape. I should be very grateful (and so also will Gandalf be, and I expect old Tom Bombadil as well) if you would forget that anyone by Mr Hill passed this way; though I hope these abominable riders won't bother you any more.' (HMR II 152)

#20 - A separate manuscript for chapter VII refers to Tom Bombadil's recommendation to the hobbits to trust Mr Butterbur. (HME II 159)

#21 - The manuscript for chapter VIII includes a comment on the fate of Tom Bombadil's ponies after the hobbits left them at Bree and they were purchased by Barnabas Butterbur: Still, I believe he came out on the right side in the end; for it turned out that the ponnies, wild with terror, had escapted, and having a great deal of sense eventually made their way to find old Fatty Lumpkin. And that proved useful. For Tom Bombadil saw them, and was afraid that disaster had befallen the hobbits. So he went off to Bree to find out what he could; and there he learned all that Barnabas could tell him (and a bit more). Also he bought all the ponies off Barnabas (as they belonged to him now). (HME II 164)

#22 - Whilst on the road they meet Glorfindel who gives them a drink that remined them of the drink in Bombadil's house: ... for the drink they took was refreshing like spring-water, but filled them also with a sense of warm vigour. (HME II 194)

#23 - In an early note for the flight across the ford, Tolkien wrote: Flight over the Ford. Bingo flings a stone and imitates Tom Bombadil. Go back and ride away! The Riders halt as if astonished, and looking up at the hobbits on the bank the hobbits can see no faces in their hoods. Go back says Bingo, but he is not Tom Bombadil, and the riders ride into the ford. (HME II 198)

#24 - In the third draft of the chapter concerning the arrival of the hobbits at Rivendell and the house of Elrond, the following conversation between Bingo and Gandalf is noted: Things work out oddly. But for that 'short cut' you would not have met old Bombadil, nor had the one kind of sword the Riders fear. Why did I not think of Bombadil before! If only he was not so far away, I would go straight back now and consult him. We have never had much to do with one another up till now. I don't think he quite approves of me somehow. He belongs to a much older generation, and my ways are not his. He keeps to himself and does not believe in travel. But I fancy somehow that we shall all need his help in the end - and that he may have to take an interest in things outside his own country. (HME II 213-4)

#25 - In a note regarding the conversation between Bingo and Gandalf, it is stated: Gandalf astonished to hear about Tom. (HME II 214)

#26 - A note regarding a comment by Gandalf concerning the hobbits journey through the Old Forest: I trusted Tom Bombadil to keep them out of trouble. (HME II 351)

#27 - In an early draft of the Council of Elrond, Gandalf replies to Elrond in regards to Tom Bombadil: I knew of him. Bit I had quite forgotten him. I must go and see him as soon as there is a chance. (HME II 413)

#28 - An early draft of the Council of Elrond states: Elrond was also deeply interested in the events in the Old Forest. 'The Barrow-wights I knew of,' he said, 'for they are closely akin to the Riders; and I marvel at your escape from them. But never before have I heard tell of this strange Tom Bombadil. I would like to know more of him. Did you know of him Gandalf?' 'Yes,' answered the wizard. 'And I sought him out at once, as soon as I found that the hobbits had disappeared from Buckland. When I chased the Riders from Crickhollow I turned back to visit him. I daresay he would have kept the travellers longer in his home, if he had known that I was near. But I am not sure of it: he is a strange creature, and follows his own counsels, which few can fathom.' 'Could we not even now send messages to him and obtain his help?' asked Erestor. 'It seems that he has a power even over the Ring.' 'That is not quite the way of it,' said Gandalf. 'The Ring has no power over him or for him: it can neither harm nor serve him: he is his own master. But he has no power over it, and he cannot alter the Ring itself, not break its power over others. And I think that the mastery of Tom Bombadil us seen only on his own ground - from which he has never stepped within my memory.' 'But on his own ground nothing seems to dismay him,' said Erestor. 'Would he not perhaps take the Ring and keep it there forever harmless!' 'He would, perhaps, if all the free fold of the world begged him to do so,' said Gandalf. 'But he would not do so willingly. For it would only postpone the evil day. In time the Lord of the Ring would find out its hiding-place, and in the end he would come in person. I doubt whether Tom Bombadil, even on his own ground, could withstand that power; but I am sure we should not leave him to face it. Besides, he lives too far away and the Ring has come from his land only at great hazard. It would have to pass through greater danger to return. (HME II 401-2)

"[The Ring...] seemed to grow larger as it lay for a moment on his big brown-skinned hand. Then suddenly he put it to his eye and laughed. For a second the hobbits had a vision, both comical and alarming, of his bright blue eye gleaming through a circle of gold. Then Tom put the Ring round the end of his little finger and held it up to the candlelight. For a moment the hobbits noticed nothing strange about this. Then they gasped. There was no sign of Tom disappearing!"
Book 1, Ch 7, In the House of Tom Bombadil, FOTR, LOTR

Published version: It was a merry journey with Tom Bombadil trotting gaily beside them, or before them, on Fatty Lumpkin [...] Tom sang most of the time, but it was chiefly nonsense, or else perhaps a strange language unknown to the hobbits, an ancient language whose words were mainly those of wonder and delight. 'I am sorry to take leave of Master Bombadil,' said Sam. 'He's a caution and no mistake. I reckon we may go a good deal further and see naught better, nor queerer.' (Fog on the Barrow-Downs, LOTR)

Within The Lord of the Rings are also contained a number of poems / verse / songs by Tom, as follows:

1. Bombadil's First Song - Tom Bombadil sings this song when he first meets the hobbits in the Old Forest as they are struggling with the Willowman.

Hey dol! merrydol! ring a dong dillo!
Ring a dong! hop along! fal lal the willow!
Tom Bom, jolly Tom, Tom Bombadillo!

Hey! Come merry dol! derry dol! My darling!
Light goes the weather-wind and the feathered starling.
Down along under Hill, shining in the sunlight,
Waiting on the doorstep for the cold starlight,
There my pretty lady is, River-woman's daughter,
Slender as the willow-wand, clearer than water.
Old Tom Bombadil water-lilies bringing
Comes hopping home again. Can you hear him singing?
Hey! Come merry dol! derry dol! and merry-o,
Goldberry, Goldberry, merry yellow berry-o!
Poor old Willow-man, you tuck your roots away!
Tom's in a hurry now. Evening will follow day.
Tom's going home again water-lilies bringing.
Hey! Come merry dol! Can you hear me singing?

2. Tom and Goldberry's songs of welcome - The Old Forest. Tom sings after the Hobbits, encouraging them to follow him to his house.

Hop along my little friends, up the Withywindle!
Tom's going on ahead candles for to kindle.
Down west sinks the Sun: soon you will be groping.
When the night-shadows fall, then the door will open.
Out of the window-panes light will twinkle yellow.
Fear no alder black! Heed no hoary willow!
Fear neither root nor bough! Tom goes on before you!
Hey now! merry dol! We'll be waiting for you!

Tom greets the Hobbits from inside as they approach his house.

Hey! Come derry dol! Hop along, my hearties!
Hobbits! Ponies all! We are fond of parties.
Now let the fun begin! Let us sing together!

Goldberry sings to the Hobbits and continues to encourage them to rest and relax.
Now let the song begin! Let us sing together.
Of sun, stars, moon and mist, rain and cloudy weather,
Light on the budding leaf, dew on the feather,
Wind on the open hill, bells on the heather,
reeds by the shady pool, lilies on the water:
Old Tom Bombadil and the River-daughter!

3. Song to Goldberry - In The House of Tom Bombadil. Frodo sang the song to Goldberry when he first met her:

O slender as a willow-want! O clearer than clear water!
O reed by the living pool! Fair river-daughter!
O spring-time and summer-time, and spring again after!
O wind on the waterfall, and the leaves' laughter!

4. Tom's Annual Errand for Goldberry - In the House of Tom Bombadil. The hobbits are inside Tom's house, listening to his stories, when Frodo asks how it chanced that Tom found them, to which Tom replied:

I had an errand there: gathering water-lilies,
green leaves and lilies white to please my pretty lady,
the last ere the year's end to keep them from the winter,
to flower by her pretty feet till the snows are melted.
Each year at summer's end I go to find them for her,
in a wide pool, deep and clear, far down Withywindle;
there they opened first in the spring and there they linger latest.
By that pool long ago I found the River-daughter,
fair young Goldberry sitting in the rushes.
Sweet was her singing then, and her heart was beating!

He opened his eyes and looked at them with a sudden glint of blue:

And that proved well for you - for now I shall no longer
go down deep again along the forest-water,
not while the year is old. Nor shall I be passing
Old Man Willow's house this side of spring-time,
not till the merry spring, when the River-daughter dances
down the withy-path to bathe in the water.

5. Ho! Tom Bombadil, Tom Bombadillo! - In The House of Tom Bombadil. Tom taught the Hobbits a rhyme to sing if they should by ill-luck fall into any danger or difficulty the next day.

Ho! Tom Bombadil, Tom Bombadillo!
By water, wood and hill, by reed and willow,
By fire, sun and moon, harken now and hear us!
Come, Tom Bombadil, for our need is near us!

The draft version of this song was:

Ho! Tom Bombadil! Whither do you wander?
Up, down, near or far? Here, there, or yonder?
By hill that stands, wood that grows, and by the water falling,
Here new we summon you! Can you hear us calling?

6. Get out, you old Wight! Vanish in the sunlight! - Fog on the Barrow-downs. Tom sang this song to chase off the Barrow Wight:

Get out, you old Wight! Vanish in the sunlight!
Shrivel like the cold mist, like the winds go wailing,
Out into the barren lands far beyond the mountains!
Come never here again! Leave your barrow empty!
Lost and forgotten be, darker than the darkness.
Where gates stand for ever shut, till the world is mended.

7. Wake now my merry lads! Wake and hear me calling! - Fog on the Barrow-downs. He sang this song to wake Merry, Pippin and Sam from the Barrow-wight sleep:

Wake now my merry lads! Wake and hear me calling!
Warm now be heart and limb! The cold stone is fallen;
Dark door is standing wide; dead hand is broken.
Night under Night is flown, and the Gate is open

8. Hey! Now! Come hoy now! Whither do you wander? - Fog on the Barrow-downs. Finally he sang this song as he sprang away down hill, whistling and calling:

Hey! Now! Come hoy now! Whither do you wander?
Up, down, near or far, here, there or yonder?
Sharp-ears, Wise-nose, Swish-tail and Bumpkin,
White-socks my little lad, and old Fatty Lumpkin!

9. Tom's Country Ends Here... - Fog on the Barrow-downs. After Tom rescues the Hobbits from the Wights, he guides them back to the road and, in response to much pleading for him not to leave them just yet, departs with these words:

Tom's country ends here: he will not pass the borders.
Tom has his house to mind, and Goldberry is waiting!

The Lord of the Rings was published during 1954-5 and apart from the two substantive chapters outlined above, Tom Bombadil is also mentioned at other points throughout the three volumes. These include:

Elrond, at the Council of Elrond states: ...In those lands I journeyed once, and many things wild and strange I knew. But I had forgotten Bombadil, if indeed this is still the same that walked the woods and hills, long ago, and even then was older than the old. That was not then his name. Iarwain Ben-adar we called him, oldest and fatherless. But many another names he has since been given by other folk: Forn by the Dwarves, Orald by the Northern Men, and other names beside. He is a strange creature, but maybe I should have summoned him to the Council.
Galdor at the Council of Elrond states the following in regards to Tom: ....Power to defy our Enemy is not in him, unless such power is in the earth itself. And yet we see that Sauron can torture and destroy the very hills. It is assumed that Sauron therefore has the power to kill or otherwise destroy Tom Bombadil.
At the Rivendell Ford, the hobbits are pursued by the Black Riders. In an effort to ward them off, Frodo thinks of using a loud voice and strong words, in the manner of Tom Bombadil. However it does not work, as Frodo ... had not the power of Bombadil.
Merry and Pippin noted that Treebeard was interested in everything, including Tom Bombadil.
In Shelob's Lair, Sam says: I wish old Tom was near us now! Tom is seen by the hobbits as a powerful protector and defender.
Gandalf says to the hobbits as they part company at the end of the quest: But if you would know, I am turning aside soon. I am going to have a long talk with Bombadil: such a talk as I have not had in all my time. He is a moss-gatherer, and I have been a stone doomed to rolling. But my rolling days are ending, and now we shall have much to say to one another.

Beyond the Ring

On 25 February 1954, in a letter (#144) from Tolkien to Naomi Mitchison, the author comments at length on aspects of the Tom Bombadil character:

...And even in a mythical Age there must be some enigmas, as there always are. Tom Bombadil is one (intentionally)..... Tom Bombadil is not an important person – to the narrative. I suppose he has some importance as a ‘comment’. I mean, I do not really write like that: he is just an invention (who first appeared in the Oxford Magazine about 1933), and he represents something that I feel important, though I would not be prepared to analyze the feeling precisely. I would not, however, have left him in, if he did not have some kind of function. I might put it this way. The story is cast in terms of a good side, and a bad side, beauty against ruthless ugliness, tyranny against kingship, moderated freedom with consent against compulsion that has long lost any object save mere power, and so on; but both sides in some degree, conservative or destructive, want a measure of control. But if you have, as it were taken ‘a vow of poverty’, renounced control, and take your delight in things for themselves without reference to yourself, watching, observing, and to some extent knowing, then the question of the rights and wrongs of power and control might become utterly meaningless to you, and the means of power quite valueless. It is a natural pacifist view, which arises in the mind when there is a war. But the view in Rivendell seems to be that it is an excellent thing to have represented, but that there are in fact things with which it cannot cope; and upon which its existence nonetheless depends. Ultimately only the victory of the West will allow Bombadil to continue, or even to survive. Nothing would be left for him in the world of Sauron....

September 1954 - in a letter (#153) from Tolkien to Peter Hastings, the author rejects the proposition that Bombadil is a God-like figure:

...As for Tom Bombadil, I really do think you are being too serious, besides missing the point. (Again the words used are by Goldberry and Tom, not me as a commentator). You rather remind me of a Protestant relation who to me objected to the (modern) Catholic habit of calling priests Father, because the name father belonged only to the First Person, citing last Sunday’s Epistle - inappositely since that says ex quo. Lots of other characters are called Master; and if ‘in time’ Tom was primeval he was Eldest in Time. But Goldberry and Tom are referring to the mystery of names. See and ponder Tom’s words in Vol. I p. 142 [I.7:129]. You may be able to conceive of your unique relation to the Creator without a name—can you: for in such a relation pronouns become proper nouns? But as soon as you are in a world of other finites with a similar, if each unique and different, relation to Prime Being, who are you? Frodo has asked not ‘what is Tom Bombadil’ but ‘Who is he’. We and he no doubt laxly confuse the questions. Goldberry gives what I think is the correct answer. We need not go into the sublimities of 'I am that I am' -- which is quite different from he is.* [*Only the first person (of worlds or anything) can be unique. If you say he is there must be more than one, and created (sub) existence is implied. I can say 'he is' of Winston Churchill as well as of Tom Bombadil, surely?] She adds as a concession a statement of part of the ‘what’. He is master in a peculiar way: he has no fear, and no desire of possession or domination at all. He merely knows and understands about such things as concern him in his natural little realm. He hardly even judges, and as far as can be seen makes no effort to reform or remove even the Willow. I don’t think Tom needs philosophizing about, and is not improved by it. But many have found him an odd or indeed discordant ingredient. In historical fact I put him in because I had already ‘invented’ him independently (he first appeared in the Oxford Magazine) and wanted an ‘adventure’ on the way. But I kept him in, and as he was, because he represents certain things otherwise left out. I do not mean him to be an allegory—or I should not have given him so particular, individual, and ridiculous a name—but ‘allegory’ is the only mode of exhibiting certain functions: he is then an ‘allegory’, or an exemplar, a particular embodying of pure (real) natural science: the spirit that desires knowledge of other things, their history and nature, because they are ‘other’ and wholly independent of the enquiring mind, a spirit coeval with the rational mind, and entirely unconcerned with ‘doing’ anything with the knowledge: Zoology and Botany not Cattle-breeding or Agriculture. Even the Elves hardly show this: they are primarily artists. Also T.B. exhibits another point in his attitude to the Ring, and its failure to affect him. You must concentrate on some part, probably relatively small, of the World (Universe), whether to tell a tale, however long, or to learn anything however fundamental— and therefore much will from that ‘point of view’ be left out, distorted on the circumference, or seem a discordant oddity. The power of the Ring over all concerned, even the Wizards or Emissaries, is not a delusion—but it is not the whole picture, even of the then state and content of that part of the Universe....

7 June 1955 - letter #163 Tolkien to W.H. Auden: ....But I met a lot of things along the way that astonished me. Tom Bombadil I already knew;....

30 November 1955 - letter #175 Tolkien to Molly Waldron: .....I think the book quite unsuitable for 'dramatization', and have not enjoyed the broadcasts – though they have improved. I thought Tom Bombadil dreadful — but worse still was the announcer's preliminary remarks that Goldberry was his daughter (!), and that Willowman was an ally of Mordor (!!). Cannot people imagine things hostile to men and hobbits who prey on them without being in league with the Devil!

8 April 1958 - letter #206 Tolkien to Rayner Unwin: ....The introduction of characters and the indications of what they are to say have little or no reference to the book. Bombadil comes in with 'a gentle laugh'! ....

June 1958 - letter #210 Tolkien to Forrest Ackerman in response to a draft film script for The Lord of the Rings of which he is very critical: .... 7. The first paragraph misrepresents Tom Bombadil. He is not the owner of the woods; and he would never make any such threat. 'Old scamp!' This is a good example of the general tendency that I find in Z to reduce and lower the tone towards that of a more childish fairy-tale. The expression does not agree with the tone of Bombadil's long later talk; and though that is cut, there is no need for its indications to be disregarded. I am sorry, but I think the manner of the introduction of Goldberry is silly, and on a par with 'old scamp'. It also has no warrant in my tale. We are not in 'fairy-land', but in real river-lands in autumn. Goldberry represents the actual seasonal changes in such lands. Personally I think she had far better disappear than make a meaningless appearance.

4 October 1961 - letter #231 Tolkien to his auny Jane Neave: ...I think your idea about Tom Bombadil is a good one, not that I feel inclined to write any more about him. But I think that the original poem (which appeared in the Oxford Magazine long before The Lord of the Rings) might make a pretty booklet of the kind you would like if each verse could be illustrated by Pauline Baynes. If you have not ever seen the original Tom Bombadil poem I will try and find it and have a copy made for you.

1961 - unnumbered letter from Tolkien to Christopher Fettes: I think there are two answers; (i) External (ii) Internal; according to (i) Bombadil just came into my mind independently and got swept up into the growing stream of The Lord of the Rings. The original poem about him, in the curious rhythm which characterizes him, appeared in the Oxford Magazine at some time not long before the war. According to (ii), I have left him where he is and not attempted to clarify his position, first of all because I like him and he has at any rate a satisfyingly geographical home in the lands of The Lord of the Rings; but more seriously because in any world or universe devised imaginatively (or imposed simply upon the actual world) there is always some element that does not fit and opens as it were a window into some other system. You will notice that though the Ring is a serious matter and has great power for all the inhabitants of the world of The Lord of the Rings, even the best and most holy, it does not touch Tom Bombadil at all. So Bombadil is ‘fatherless’, he has no historical origin in the world described in The Lord of the Rings.”

12 April 1962 - letter #237 Tolkien to Rayner Unwin: ...You may note that I have written a new Bombadil poem, which I hope is adequate to go with the older one, though for its understanding it requires some knowledge of the L.R. At any rate it performs the service of further 'integrating' Tom with the world of the L.R. into which he was inserted.* [In the original poem he was said to wear a peacock's feather, which (I think you will agree) was entirely unsuitable to his situation in the L.R. In it his feather is merely reported as 'blue'. Its origin is now revealed.]

Original cover of The Adventures of Tom Bobadil (1962), featuring a drawing by Pauline Baynes.

1962 - Tolkien's The Adventures of Tom Bombadil and other verses from The Red Book includes an updated version of the original 1934 verse. The major changes include reference to the Withywindle River in order to tie it in with The Lord of the Rings geography, and the replacement of a peacock feather in his hat with that of a swan's.

1962 - Tolkien's Preface to The Adventures of Tom Bombadil and other verses from The Red Book includes reference to Tom as follows:

Nos. 1 and 2 evidently come from the Buckland. They show more knowledge of that country, and of the Dingle, the wooded valley of the Withywindle, than any Hobbits west of the Marish were likely to possess. They also show that the Bucklanders knew Bombadil, though, no doubt they had as little understanding of his powers as the Shirefolk had of Gandalf's: both were regarded as benevolent persons, mysterious maybe and unpredictable but nonetheless comic. No. 1 is the earlier piece, and is made up of various hobbit-versions of legends concerning Bombadil. No. 2 uses similar traditions, though Tom's raillery is here turned in jest upon his friends, who treat it with amusement (tinged with fear); but it was probably composed much later and after the visit of Frodo and his companions to the house of Bombadil.

1962 - Bombadil goes boating is published within The Adventures of Tom Bombadil and other verses from The Red Book, for which it was especially written. It is very much in the spirit of the original 1934 verse.

Bombadil goes boating

The old year was turning brown; the West Wind was calling;
Tom caught a beechen leaf in the Forest falling.
‘I’ve caught a happy day blown me by the breezes!
Why wait till morrow-year? I’ll take it when me pleases.
This day I’ll mend my boat and journey as it chances
West down the withy-stream, following my fancies!’

Little Bird sat on twig ‘Whillo, Tom! I heed you.
I’ve a guess, I’ve a guess where your fancies lead you.
Shall I go, shall I go, bring him word to meet you?’

‘No names, you tell-tale, or I’ll skin and eat you,
babbling in every ear things that don’t concern you!
If you tell Willow-man where I’ve gone, I’ll burn you,
Roast you on a willow-spit. That’ll end your prying!’

Willow-wren cocked her tail, piped as she went flying:
‘Catch me first, catch me first! No names are needed.
I’ll perch on his hither ear: the message will be heeded.
“Down by Mithe”, I’ll say, “just as the sun is sinking”.
Hurry up, hurry up! That’s time for drinking!’

Tom laughed to himself:’ Maybe then I’ll go there.
I might go by other ways, but today I’ll row there.’
He shaved oars, patched his boat; from hidden creek he hauled her
through reed and sallow-brake, under leaning alder,
then down the river went singing: ‘Silly-sallow,
Flow withy-willow-stream over deep and shallow!’

‘Whee! Tom Bombadil! Whither be you going,
bobbing in a cockle-boat, down the river rowing?’

‘Maybe to Brandywine along the Withywindle;
maybe friends of mine fire for me will kindle
down by the Hays-end. Little folk I know there,
kind at the days end. Now and then I go there.’

‘Take word to my kin, bring me back their tidings!
Tell me of diving pools and fishes’ hidings!’

‘Nay then’, said Bombadil, ‘I am only rowing
just to smell the water like, not on errands going.’

‘Tee hee! Cocky Tom! Mind your tub don’t founder!
Look out for willow-shags! I’d laugh to see you flounder’.

‘Talk less, Fisher Blue! Keep your kindly wishes!
Fly off and preen yourself with the bones of fishes!
Gay lord on your bough, at home a dirty varlet
Living in a sloven house, though your basket be scarlet.
I’ve heard of fisher-birds beak in air a-dangling
To show how the wind is set: that’s an end of angling!’

The King’s fisher shut it’s beak, winked his eye, as singing
Tom passed under bough. Flash! Then he went winging;
Dropped down jewel-blue a feather, and Tom caught it
Gleaming in a sun-ray: a pretty gift he thought it.
He stuck it in his tall hat, the old feather casting:
‘Blue now for Tom’, he said, ‘a merry hue lasting!’

Rings swirled round his boat, he saw the bubbles quiver.
Tom slapped his oar, smack! at a shadow in the river.
‘Hoosh! Tom Bombadil! ‘Tis long since last I met you.
Turned water-boatman, eh? What if I upset you?’

‘What? Why, Whisker-lad, I’d ride you own the river.
My fingers on your back would set your hide a-shiver.’

‘Pish, Tom Bombadil! I’ll go and tell my mother;
“Call all our kin to come, father sister, brother!
Tom’s gone mad as a coot with wooden legs: he is paddling
Down Withywindle stream, an old tub a-straddling!”

‘I’ll give your otter-fell to the Barrow-wrights. They’ll taw you!
Then smother you in gold-rings! Your mother if she saw you,
She’d never know her son, unless ‘twas by a whisker.
Nay, don’t tease old Tom, until you be far brisker!’

‘Whoosh!’ said otter-lad, river-water spraying
over Tom’s hat and all; set the boat a-swaying,
dived down under it, and by the bank lay peering,
till Tom’s merry song faded out of hearing.

Old Swan of Elvet-isle sailed past him proudly,
Gave Tom a black look, snorted at him loudly.
Tom laughed: ‘You old cob, do you miss your feather?
Give me a new one then! The old was worn by weather.
Could you speak a fair word, I would love you dearer:
Long necks and dumb throat, but a haughty sneerer!
If one day the king returns, in upping he may take you,
Brand your yellow bill, and less lordly make you!’
Old Swan huffed his wings, hissed, and paddled faster;
In his wake bobbing on Tom went rowing after.

Tom came to Withy-wier. Down the river rushing
Foamed into Windle-reach, a-bubbling and a-splashing;
Bore Tom over stone spinning like a windfall,
Bobbing like a bottle-cork, to the hythe at Grindwall.

‘Hoy! Here’s Woodman Tom with his billy-beard on!’
laughed all the little folk of hays-end and Breredon.
‘Ware, Tom! We’ll shoot you dead with our bows and arrows!
We don’t let Forest-folk nor bogies from the Barrows
cross over Brandywine by cockle-boat nor ferry’.
‘Fie, little fatbellies! Don’t ye make so merry!

I’ve seen hobbit-folk digging holes to hide ‘em,
Frightened if a horny gat or a badger eyed ‘em,
afeared of the moony-beams, their own shadows shunning
I’ll call the orcs on you: that’ll send you running!’

‘You may call, Woodman Tom. And you can talk your beard off.
Three arrows in your hat! You we’re not afeared of!
Where would you go now? If for beer you’re making,
The barrels ain’t deep enough in Breredon for your slaking!’

‘Away over Brandywine by Shirebourn I’ll be going,
but too swift fro a cockle-boat the river now is flowing
I’d bless little folk that took me in their wherry,
Wish them evenings fair and many mornings merry.’

Red flowed the Brandywine; with flame the river kindled
As sun sank beyond the Shire, and then to grey it dwindled.
Mithe Steps empty stood. None was there to greet him.
Silent the Causeway lay. Said Tom: ‘A merry meeting!’

Tom stumped along the road, as the light was failing.
Rushey lamps gleamed ahead. He heard a voice him hailing
‘Whoa there!’ Ponies stopped, wheels halted sliding.
Tom went plodding past, never looked beside him.

‘Ho there! Beggarman trampling the Marish!
What’s your business here? Hat all stuck with arrows!
Someone warned you off, caught you at your sneaking?
Come here! Tell me what it is you’re seeking!
Shire-ale, I’ll be bound, through you’ve not a penny.
I’ll bid them lock their doors, and then you won’t get any!’

‘Well. Well, Muddy-feet! From one that’s late fro meeting
away back by the Mithe that’s a surly greeting!
You old farmer fat that cannot walk for wheezing,
Cart-drawn like a sack, ought to be more pleasing.
Penny-wise tub-on-legs! A beggar can’t be chooser,
Or else I’d bid you go, and you would be the loser.
Come, Maggot! Help me up! A tankard now you owe me.
Even in cockshut light an old friend should know me!’

Laughing they drove away, in Rushey never halting,
Through the inn open stood and they could smell the malting.
They turned down Maggt’s Lane, rattling and bumping,
Tom in the farmer’s cart dancing round and jumping.
Stars shone on Bamfurlong, and Maggot’s house was lighted;
Fire in the kitchen burned to welcome the benighted.

Maggot’s sons bowed at door, his daughters did they curtsy.
His wife brought tankards out fro those that might be thirsty.
Songs they had and merry tales, the supping and the dancing;
Goodman maggot there for all his belt was prancing,
Tom did a hornpipe when he was not quaffing,
Daughters did the Springle-ring, goodwife did the laughing.

When others went to bed in hay, fern or feather,
Close in the inglenook they laid their heads together,
Old Tom and Muddy-feet, swapping all the tidings
From Barrow-downs to Tower Hills: of walkings and of ridings;
Of wheat-ear and barley-corn, of sowing and of reaping;
Queer tales from Bree, and talk at smithy, mill and cheaping;
Rumours in whispering trees, south-wind in the larches,
Tall Watchers by the Ford, Shadows on the marches.
Old Maggot slept at last in chair beside the embers.
Ere dawn Tom was gone: as dreams one half remembers,
Some merry, some sad, and some of hidden warning.
None heard the door unlocked: a shower of rain at morning
His footprints washed away, at Mithe left no traces,
At Hays-end they heard no song nor sound of heavy paces.

Three days his boat lay by the hythe at Grindwall,
And then one morn was gone back up Withywindle.
Otter-folk, hobbits said, came by night and loosened her,
Dragged her over weir, and up stream they pushed her.

Out of Elvet-isle Old Swan came sailing,
in beak took her painter up in the water trailing,
drew her proudly on, otters swam beside her;
the King’s fisher perched on bow, on thwart the wren was singing,
merrily the cockle-boat homeward they were bringing.
To Tom’s creek they came at last. Otter lad said ‘Whish now!
What coot without his legs, or a finless fish now?’
O! silly-sallow-willow-stream! The oars they’d left behind them!
Long they lay at Grindwall hythe for Tom to come and find them.

1965 - publication of Once upon a time, the third verse to include reference to Tom Bombadil. It has been suggested that this is a melancholic, end-of-life story (Scull & Hammond 2014).

Once upon a time

Once upon a day on the fields of May

there was snow in summer where the blossom lay:

the buttercups tall sent up their light

in a stream of gold, and wide and white

there opened in the green-grass skies

the earth-stars with their steady eyes

watching the Sun climb up and down.

Goldberry was there with a wild-rose crown,

Goldberry was there in a lady-smock

blowing away a dandelion clock,

stooping over a lily-pool

and twiddling the water green and cool

to see it sparkle round her hand:

once upon a time in elvish land.

Once upon a night in the cockshut light

the grass was grey but the dew was white;

the shadows were dark, and the Sun was gone,

the earth-stars shut, but the high stars shone,

one to another winking their eyes

as they waited for the Moon to rise.

Up he came, and on leaf and grass

his white beams turned to twinkling glass,

and silver dripped from stem and stalk

down to where the lintips walk

through the grass-forests gathering dew.

Tom was there without boot or shoe,

with moonshine wetting his big, brown toes:

once upon a time, the story goes.

Once upon a moon on the brink of June

a-dewing the lintips went too soon.

Tom stopped and listened, and down he knelt:

Ha! little lads! So it was you I smelt?

What a mousy smell! Well, the dew is sweet,

so drink it up, but mind my feet!';

The lintips laughed and stole away,

but old Tom said: 'I wish they'd stay

The only things that won't talk to me

say what they do or what they be.

I wonder what they have got to hide?

Down from the Moon maybe they slide,

or come in star-winks, I don't know':

Once upon a time and long ago.

1966 - the publisher of The Tolkien Reader (1966) noted:

The Adventures of Tom Bombadil is a collection of verse about the "master of wood, water and hill," ballads in praise of Tom Bombadil (staunch friend of Hobbits and a welcome figure in The Lord of the Rings.)

1968 - the draft of an unpublished letter by Tolkien makes what is likely the author's final comment on the enigmatic nature of Tom Bombadil:

I do not know his [Tom Bombadil] origin though I might make guesses. He is best left as he is, a mystery. There are many mysteries in any closed / organised system of history / mythology.

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Tom Bombadil, character history [audio], duration: 10.43. Source: YouTube.

Looking for Tom

Tom = Tolkien having written himself into the story as a neutral observer but enjoying the beauty in Middle-earth. Think about it: Love for song, not interested in the Ring (but having power over it) or the wars because he knows how it'll play out. On top of that he has a lovely elf-like wife, an abundance of poems and pipe weed [and a], love for nature. That, and he was not specifically named during the creation song, yet was there since the beginning and has knowledge of obscure minor characters (such as the broach-wearing fair maiden) of ages long past... Definitely the Lord of the Ring equivalent of a Stan Lee cameo.(Hans Gouws, comment, 2017)

Tom Bombadil will forever be different things to different people. From his first appearance in The Lord of the Rings saga there has been vigorous discussion and debate around precisely who and what Tom Bombadil is, and why Tolkien included him in the trilogy despite the fact that he was such a discordant character. The inclusion was in part explained by Tolkien in a letter from 1954 in which he stated that he intentionally retained the character as enigmatic and therefore subject to such questions. But more importantly, he felt he needed to include someone like Tom within The Lord of the Rings, but then did not feel the need or obligation to expand upon the description contained therein. The later prose references did not address the issue of what he was to any degree, being merely descriptive rather than expansive. So Tom remained an enigma, for despite the fact that during his lifetime Tolkien wrote a lot about him, he never wrote enough to satisfy the fans and critics. There was no backstory or community of Bombadils as there existed, for example, with hobbits and dwarfs. As a result, questions around who and what Bombadil is remain outstanding. Nevertheless, in order to better understand him rather than solve Tolkien's unsolvable mystery, we can look at what Tolkien himself said, beyond what is commonly known from a reading of The Lord of the Rings. All such known references are therefore listed below and discussed. From the aforementioned references we can see that Tom Bombadil is an important character within the context of The Lord of the Rings, though we don't precisely know why, and neither did Tolkien. Additionally, the author points out that the character serves a specific function, and this is both in and of himself and also within the context of the quest to destroy the ring of power. It is the former that is of most interest here, and which leads us to consider the true nature of Tom Bombadil.

It is not my intention in this blog to go over, summarise, or necessarily comment upon the various conjectures, assertions or findings contained within published and online discussions concerning the true nature of Tom Bombadil, for authors more knowledgeable than I in matters concerning the Middle-earth legendarium have done so, and much of their work is listed in the attached references. What I hope to do, however, is to bring something new to the discussion, if that is at all possible. I should point out that I only came to the matter of Tom Bombadil relatively recently – during September 2017 – though I first read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings during my late teens back in the 1970s. At the time, and over the many years since then, the character of Tom Bombadil did not resonate with me at all. In fact, I forgot all about him. Like the hobbits led by Frodo Baggins, I only engaged with him in passing. As such I did not query his exclusion from the Peter Jackson films between 2001-3, and was only vaguely aware of the controversy around that directorial decision. However in the years since then, with the proliferation of fan fiction, online blogs, games and documentaries around those films and Tolkien’s work in general, not to mention related academic publications and research, the name Tom Bombadil became a little more familiar to me, though not so much as to draw me to dig deeper. However since 2014 I had carried out my own research into elements of Tolkien’s legendarium, including publishing an article on his relationship with Japonisme, and writing an analysis of his short novel Leaf by Niggle. As part of this process of trying to better understand and appreciate the work of J.R.R. Tolkien, I had compiled a collection of his published works. These included an updated and expanded edition of The Adventures of Tom Bombadil (Tolkien 2014).

So it was that one day early in September 2017, as I was heading off to catch the train to work, I was looking for something to read – perhaps a book that would be small enough to fit into my already bulging bag. I picked up the new Adventures of Tom Bombadil as it was pocket size. I read the first twenty pages between home and work and was immediately intrigued. The following day I printed off five major articles on the various aspects of the Tom Bombadil controversy. By the third day I was able to discuss him with some of my friends and colleagues who were deeply knowledgeable on all things Tolkien, querying them as to their thoughts regarding who and what Tom was. By the end of the week I had a revelation - Tom Bombadil seemed, in my view, to be the Middle-earth equivalent of the Dalai Lama, or some such spiritual being. He also appeared, like the Dalai Lama, to have a timeless element to his nature. I could therefore use the Dalai Lama analogy to help me connect with his character, and that of Goldberry, and also perhaps understand the actions of Tolkien in presenting the two in such a mysterious and enigmatic manner. So I began to work on this blog, both as a record of my personal voyage of discovery of Tom Bombadil, but also to focus my thoughts and hopefully present them in a way which would support my argument. A week after I began I undertook an internet search on the terms 'Tom Bombadil Dalai Lama' and came across a hypothetical raised on the Quora listserve in October 2015. The hypothesis put was: Tom Bombadil is the Dalai Lama of Middle Earth. Discuss. Needless to say I was somewhat surprised and dismayed that I was not the first to make such a connection. However the seven answers posted all basically rejected the hypothesis, putting forward rather weak (in my view) arguments such as:

1) the Dalai Lama never had sex, whilst Tom Bombadil supposedly did, with Goldberry - a rather shallow point, and to be ignored;
2) they both wear different coloured clothes, therefore they could not have a connection - a frivolous point, likewise to be ignored;
3) Tom does not 'preach' like the Dalai Lama - wrong, for both speak simply and with a profound wisdom;
4) that Bombadil was more like a Taoist or shaman rather than a Buddhist monk - possible, and it is not worth quibbling over the precise version of spirituality within the analogy;
5) it was inappropriate to make any such frivolous connection - this displays a lack of understanding of the depth of the character as written by Tolkien;
6) Tom is only concerned with his immediate world, not the whole world around him as the Dalai Lama is - he is more solitary - this is a good point (Quora 2015).

Whilst it would appear that the argument was lost in this instance, I had reached my own conclusion that there were analogous elements. So what do I mean by ‘the Dalai Lama of Middle-earth’ and why would I make such an association? For this writer, the analogy with the Dalai Lama is an obvious and helpful one. The Dalai Lama is the spiritual leader of Buddhism in Tibet, and the traditional political leader of the country. In comparing Tom Bombadil with the Dalai Lama, we can identify similar traits. The present Dalai Lama, and his forebears, can be briefly described as follows:

Height: this can vary.
Age: every Dalai Lama lives a normal lifespan for a man / human being. However, he is said to be immortal in so far as he is reborn into a new body. The current Dalai Lama - Tenzin Gyatzo - is the 14th, though he is the 74th in a line which can be traced back to the time of Buddha.
Race: human / humane.
Disposition: his is happy-go-lucky, jolly, a very wise person, with a deep understanding of the world around him. He is impervious to the brutality of the Chinese invaders, though he is the embodiment of compassion and cares deeply for the world around him.
Relationships: head of his Sect and of Tibet. Not married.
Appearance: a simple monk, dressed in robes.
Speech: speaks with an incredible amount of simplicity and wisdom, in Tibetan or English.

A reading of the various texts by Tolkien tell us the following about Tom Bombadil:

Height: he is approximately 5 feet tall.
Age; he appears anywhere between 30 and 60 years old, though all discussions around his true age refer to him as the oldest being in Middle-earth, therefore he could be immortal, or thousands of years old. Can he die? Yes. We are told that the power of Sauron could kill him.
Race: he looks like a man but is not a man, neither is he a hobbit, elf or like any other creature in Middle-earth. In many discussions he has been linked with the Maia.
Disposition: he is happy-go-lucky, jolly, a practical person, with a deep relationship with the earth, the forest and the animals around him. He is impervious to the power of the Ring and cares not for power.
Relationships: he is married to Goldberry, daughter of a water spirit. He does not have any other family, though he has many friends and is well known throughout Middle-earth.
Appearance: he is usually drawn as a middle-aged man with a long beard and wearing a blue coat, yellow boots and a cap with a feature in it - initially a peacock feather, but more commonly a blue feather. Sometimes he is without his cap.
Speech: he generally sings in rhymes, but also uses normal speech.

In comparing Tom Bombadil with the Dalai Lama we can therefore see a number of similar traits. These of course help us to understand both, and also place Tom in a contemporary context. However the comparison only goes part of the way, for there is a lot more to Tom than just the Dalai Lama similarities. For example, there are many aspergers elements to his nature and behaviour:

he is intense in regards to his thought;
he seems to lack empathy, and perhaps actually does lack empathy;
he smiles inappropriately;
he is moral;
he defends, protects and saves the hobbits;
he has no vision of the future, but refers to the past for guidance, for his perspective;
he speaks in the 2nd person;
he is confident in his knowledge and wisdom;
he waffles on in his speech, with his mind full of detail.

In many ways he is the Rainman of the Old Forest, the Dalai Lama of Middle-earth, and an enigma. All of this makes him a character very much outside of the battle for power and fight for freedom which lies at the core of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. As Tolkien pointed out, Tom Bombadil can be compared to a pacifist under these circumstances. But once again, that is only one part of a very complex character. According to Tolkien, writing in the 1937 letter to Stanley Unwin, Tom Bombadil was '...the spirit of the (vanishing) Oxford and Berkshire countryside' . That is, he was nothing less than a - or the - spirit of the earth. This is also referred to as a nature spirit within the Council of Elrond blog site (Council of Elrond 2017). As such, he was not a standard Middle-earth creation, but a manifestation of something that was in many ways separate from the whole Middle-earth legendarium that Tolkien created in association with The Silmarillion and The Hobbit / The Lord of the Rings series. In notes later published by his son Christopher, Tolkien described nature spirits / sprites as follows:

.....the sprites of trees and woods, of dale and forest and mountain-side, or those that sing amid the grass at morning and chant among the standing corn at eve. These are… brownies, fays, pixies, leprawns, and what else are they not called, for their number is very great… they were born before the world and are older than its oldest, and are not of it, but laugh at it much, for had they not somewhat to do with its making, so that it is for the most part a play for them…” “These were fays …; no one knows whence they came: they are not of the Valar nor of Melko, but it is thought that they came from the outer void and primeval dark when the world was first fashioned. .... About them fared a great host who are the sprites of trees and woods, of dale and forest and mountain-side, or those that sing amid the grass at morning and chant among the standing corn at eve. These are the Nermir and the Tavari, Nandini and Orossi, brownies, fays, pixies, leprawns, and what else are they not called, yet they must not be confused with the Eldar, for they were born before the world and are older than the oldest…[they] laugh at it much, for had they not somewhat to do with its making, so that it is for most part play for them… (Book of Lost Tales 1)

We can see from these notes some of the elements attached to Bombadil by the author. Tolkien believed that his description of Tom Bombadil was "fully enshrined" in the 1934 verse The Adventures of Tom Bombadil. Therefore he felt he did not need to add anything more or to expand upon that, though of course his fans wanted him to do this for they were not privy to the background present in his thoughts. Tolkien accommodated them to a degree within his personal correspondence, which has subsequently been published in part, and two additional prose pieces, not to forget the substantial amount of material included within The Lord of the Rings. For example, in the preface he wrote for the 1962 The Adventures of Tom Bombadil and other verses from The Red Book the author referred to both Tom Bombadil and Gandalf as 'benevolent persons, mysterious maybe and unpredictable but nonetheless comic.' He also stated that the original verse was 'a hobbit version of legends concerning Tom Bombadill' (Tolkien 1962).

Tom Bombadil, a discussion [video], duration 13.29. Source: YouTube.

Whoever or whatever Tom Bombadil is, he is not simply 'Tom Bombadil', for he refers to himself in speech within the 2nd person, indicating that the name is simply a label that has been atttached to him and used at that specific time and place. For example, he tells us that "Tom was here... He was here....." as he explains his longevity. He never says "I am Tom Bombadil". Likewise Goldberry's statement that "He is" is basically telling us that despite any persona given him by those in Middle-earth, Tom basically is who he is. "Don't you know my name yet? That is the only answer" he tells Frodo Baggins. In other words, he is a name - Tom Bombadil - and beyond that there is nothing else apart from what people perceive or experience. There is no lineage, no revelation, no explanation. Such a metaphysical being is perhaps unique to Middle-earth and for this reason has, to date, defied identification or classification. Tolkien nevertheless meaningfully inserted him into the world of hobbits, elves and men. The name Tom Bombadil was supposedly given him by the people of Buckland and, according to Tolkien, 'to add to his many other ones.' Goldberry may also be of his kind i.e. an earth spirit, and there may be others like him outside of the boundaries of Middle-earth as it is known to the characters within Tolkien's writings. Tolkien created him, but did not give him any back story and readers remain confused about his origin, role and place in Middle-earth. Tolkien intentionally presents us with a significant though enigmatic figure and informs us that Tom Bombadil should not be philosophized over. Yet this is contradictory - Tom was, in Tolkien's view, necessary, important and real - "I needed to make a character like him" - yet the author refused to expand upon him, to allocate him a place in the Middle-earth legendarium as detailed and as complex as individuals such as, for example, Gandalf, Elrond and Sauron. Where does he fit? The answer is basically nowhere, because he is both unique and made that way by Tolkien. He was not abandoned by the author, but merely left as is, for us to observe and learn from. Nothing more.

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Last updated: 25 October 2017.

Michael Organ, Australia

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