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Originally Posted by Sauron the White
2- Tolkien bases his story on the idea of the Ring. What it is, how powerful it is, how it can control everyone who comes in contact with it, how it can tip the fate of the peoples of Middle-earth, and its history. Just when we have bought into the idea that this ring is the be all and end all of the everything, we then get introduced to a character who does not care about the ring, can wear it without being impacted by it in the least, cares nothing for it, and will not do anything to help with the central problem of the ring. Then the story moves on, leaving TB in his version of Disneyland, and nothing more happens with him. It is absolutely pointless.
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But the Ring is not 'the be all & end all of everything. The TB episode is designed to show exactly that. Tom is beyond the Ring's power, & its his very nature, free from all desire, that puts him beyond it. 'He is' says Goldberry, meaning he is complete in himself, desires nothing, needs nothing to make him 'more' than he is. His songs are 'silly' because he is joy incarnate. Nothing can touch him. He laughs at Old Man Willow, at Barrow Wights, at the Ring itself. In many ways he is the most purely 'spiritual' character in the book. He is 'irritating' only to those who take life, & more importantly, themselves, too seriously. His power is joy & laughter. He laughs at everything & thus nothing can touch him, or gain power over him. He is necessary for that very reason. His appearance is like the appearance of the Star (Earendel) in Mordor:
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Frodo sighed and was asleep almost before the words were spoken. Sam struggled with his own weariness, and he took Frodo's hand; and there he sat silent till deep night fell. Then at last, to keep himself awake, he crawled from the hiding-place and looked out. The land seemed full of creaking and cracking and sly noises, but there was no sound of voice or of foot. Far above the Ephel Duath in the West the night-sky was still dim and pale. There, peeping among the cloudwrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach. His song in the Tower had been defiance rather than hope; for then he was thinking of himself. Now, for a moment, his own fate, and even his master's, ceased to trouble him. He crawled back into the brambles and laid himself by Frodo's side, and putting away all fear he cast himself into a deep untroubled sleep.
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The Star & Tom area expressions/manifestations of the same thing - transcendent joy untouched, & untouchable, by evil. There is hope that the Quest will succeed, & more than hope - Tom & the Star confirm to the Hobbits (& to the reader) that the Ring is not overwhelmingly powerful, that to some things it is nothing at all. This is essential to Tolkien's philosophy, & the underlying philosophy of the book.