Tom Bombadil

[Halfir]

The Half Hobbit:Insofar as we are all unique individual creations I would not disagree with your statement that:"The essential 'self' of each of them is something I can only guess at."But I do think we can know, from textual content , much more about all the characters in LOTR than we can about Tom, who in that sense is unique.

Moreover, I would certainly not accept that each character is an enigma like Tom. The provenance of Gandalf is clear, he is an Istari, sent by the Valar with his compartriots to aid the races of Middle earth against Sauron. Elrond Halfelven's pedigree is clear, as is Aragaron's and Denethor's et.al. Moreover, their characters and charateristics are not veiled in the same way that Tom's are, so I don't think they fit into the same category - not that Tom has yet been adequately fitted into a category, which is what makes him such an interesting individual.

Goldberry says of Tom:"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."

I think that if you link "No one has ever caught old Tom....under light and shadow." to Tom's later comment of :"He knew the dark under the stars whenn it was fearless"you get a steer as to whom he is.

Tom is Master because he is fearless -"the only thing to fear is fear itself"- and Tom doesn't. He is not controlled by either the forces of light or darkness - 'light and shadow'. He is neither controlled nor does he wish to control -"The trees and the grasses and all things growing or living in the land belong each to themselves"- Tom respects this.

He only uses control - through his songs, when other entities - Old Man Willow - The Barrow Wight - seek to interrupt or control the freedom of others. In the same way, in The Adventures of Tom Bombadil he uses his powers of song to 'control' Goldberyy, Old Man Willow, a family of badgers, and a Barrow Wight, when they seek to 'catch' him. He is theultimate free spirit because he is a, if not the force of nature.