[Priya]

Well despite my surprise at the lack of pushback in this thread - nevertheless I’m going to soldier on. I guess I must have bored you all to tears. Or perhaps you don’t want to interrupt the flow, or maybe you are all in a state of shock?

But seriously, from all my ferreting around over the years, nobody really discusses in depth most of this minutia. I guess it’s easier to skip over and ignore these seeming anomalies. But we shouldn’t ever forget that Tolkien was an extreme pedant. Every single word mattered:

“The writing of The Lord of the Rings is laborious, because I have been doing it as well as I know how, and considering every word.”

– The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, Letter #35

“… I am a pedant devoted to accuracy, even in what may appear to others unimportant matters.”

– The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, Letter #294

“Hardly a word in its 600,000 or more has been unconsidered. And the placing, size, style, and contribution to the whole of the features, incidents, and chapters has been laboriously pondered.”

– The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, Letter #131 – late 1951

From the text, one thing is clear, Tom Bombadil’s speech (and the episode) is filled with referrals to mysterious ‘entrances and exits’:

“Tom can’t be always near to open doors and willowcracks.”
- Fog on the Barrow-downs (my underlined emphasis)

“… like the pillars of a headless door, two huge standing stones.”
- Fog on the Barrow-downs (my underlined emphasis)

“Night under Night is flown, and the Gate is open!”
- Fog on the Barrow-downs (my underlined emphasis)

“Where gates stand forever shut, till the world is mended.”
- Fog on the Barrow-downs (my underlined emphasis)

However, unless I’m mistaken the latter two quotes concerning the ‘gate’ and ‘gates’ have nothing to do with Middle-earth Faërie. So I’m going to sideline further investigation there, and instead concentrate on:

“Tom can’t be always near to open doors and willowcracks.”
- Fog on the Barrow-downs (my underlined emphasis)


Is it possible that one of the doors Tom is referring to is back at his house or nearby to it? Is there enough information to pin down another entry point at Bombadil’s abode? A way that led into Middle-earth Faërie? Back in my post of 09/08/25 - I said that understanding the significance of the standing stone and thus the sudden appearance of the two magical ones may be helpful in unraveling some of the strange events that occurred In the House of Tom Bombadil chapter. Happenings that have not only absolutely flummoxed readers but also bewildered all scholars out there too.

But to make that leap - opens up much greater matters. Not only will we comprehend how Tom performed those seemingly miraculous tricks, but also we will gain an understanding of the underlying construct behind Tolkien’s entire world. And that’s where I will be going soon. But first, I want to open a new thread and strengthen my case that there is much unrealized academic substructure to the tale. And the path I will take will be by expanding on Tom’s hidden persona and exposing how he was connected to ‘gods’ of traditional myths other than Lugh Lamfada.