I went to a discussion by Tom Shippey (author of JRR Tolkien: Author of the Century) and the question of "who is Tom Bombadil" was brought to his attention.
He did not really know how to answer it completely, but he had his theories. He started by saying what happened to the Elves of Middle Earth (who did not sail West) - that they became a part of nature itself. They are the trees, the grasses... etc. In turn he said that Tom was born from the Earth. Perhaps that he was once part of nature and because of this connection he was not corrupted by the ring because he was not living in the same sense as Hobbits, or Elves, or Men... etc.
Don't know if I fully agree, but it was an interesting discussion. I wish I had taped it so that I could put actual quotes here.
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