LotR -- Book 1 - Chapter 07 - In the House of Tom Bombadil

[Lalwendë]

I have to say that I find Tom Bombadil fascinating. To me he symbolises the Green Man, the spirit of nature, and in particular of the woodlands. Possible evidence of this can be found when Tom says that he was making his last trip of the year to gather the lillies, which to me mirrors the yearly hibernation of the Green Man. He is also described as 'Master' of the woodlands, and he has a power over the trees and animals who live there.

Tom is an enigma, and an ancient being living in an undisturbed place, and I like to think that Tolkien was linking some of the oldest and most enigmatic of our folklore into his own creation of Middle Earth. There are the Valar and Maiar, the Elves and Men, all with their own structured histories, yet Tolkien still included this strange figure who cannot be defined by these structures. This mirrors actual mythology, in that we have the Celtic and Norse stories with gods, goddesses and heroes who all have their 'place', alongside older, all-encompassing and more intangible figures who we can only speculate upon.

Intriguingly, Goldberry is also an ancient figure herself, the Goddess - who is at once equal to and different from the god. As Fordim puts it, they are

joined in a relationship of mutuality

Tom and Goldberry are complementary to one another, as the ancient figures of the God and Goddess are. They are joined in the 'sacred marriage'. Goldberry is also the river-daughter, another representation of the goddess, and her treachery/trickery when she first meets Tom demonstrates the vividly dangerous side to the goddess figure.

So, not entirely objective thoughts, and possibly not that new, either, but when I read chapters 6 to 8, everything I have read about ancient beliefs and myths immediately springs to mind. Maybe Tolkien had in mind to stir in the possibility that we might start to suspect that Middle Earth was older than its own 'established' mythology? Or just to add in something of the enigmatic aspects of our own ancient past?

[mark12_30]

.

Jack, do you never sleep?
Does the green still run deep
in your heart?
Oh, oh,
Or will these changing times,
Motor-ways, power lines,
keep us apart?

Well I don't think so;
I saw some grass growing
through the pavements today.

[davem]

Originally Posted by Fordim

Quote:
‘But I see that you are an elf-friend; the light in your eyes and the ring in your voice tells it.’

Here Goldberry reveals that she is more than ordinarily perceptive. She sees the full Frodo in her first glance: the good (elf-friend) and the evil (the ring in his voice).

This hadn't struck me before - but what does it say about the nature of the elf-friend? Elves are ring-makers - perhaps the more we learn about the nature of the rings the more we'll learn about the elves (& their friends)- was Annatar ever named an 'elf-friend', I wonder.

But Goldberry - how come, after all this time, after all the threads & all the posts, why have we all suddenly become aware of Goldberry? Oh, that somebody would write a proper study of her!

(Having said that, I'll turn to Tom )

I suppose I lean towards Lalwende's feelings about Tom & Goldberry

He then told them many remarkable stories, sometimes half as if speaking to himself, someties looking at them suddenly with a bright blue eye under his deep brows. Often his voice would turn to song & he would get out of his chair & dance about.

So, what stories does he tell the hobbits, exactly?

He begins, with the place they’re in - the Old Forest. He tells them its nature & history, the stories of its inhabitants, giving them an insight into the place they’re in. then his stories take them out from the forest into the hills of the Barrow Downs. He takes them, also, back in time, back through the history of the Land, but his stories don’t stop there:

When they caught his words again they found that he had now wandered into strange regions beyond their memory & beyond their waking thought (but not beyond their ‘sleeping’ thought?), into times when the world was wider, & the seas flowed straight to the western Shore; & still on & back Tom went singing out into the starlight, when the Elf-sres were awake.....The hobbits sat still before him, enchated; & it seemed as if, under the spell of his words, the wind had gone, , & the clouds had dried up, & the day had been withdrawn, & darkness had come from east & west, & all the sky was filled with the light of white stars...

Whether the morning & evening of one day or of many days had passed Frodo could not tell. He did not feel either hungry or tired, only filled with wonder. the stars shone through the window & the silence of the heavens seemed to be round him.

They have been transported from the everyday world, with the earth solid beneath their feet, back to the begining, where the stars of Elbereth shine in the silence. But still, Tom is there, his voice speaking out of that silence. And he is going to tell them something important, something vital - he tells them to ‘mark my words, my friends’:

Tom was here before the river & the trees; Tom remembers the first raindrop & the first acorn He made paths before the Big People & saw the little People arriving . He was here before the Kings & the graves & the Barrow Wights. When the Elves passed westward, Tom was here already, befor the seas were bent. He knew the dark under the stars when it was fearless-before the Dark Lord came from Outside.

What Tom is telling them is that his ‘stories’ are not simply stories - they are his own memories - he is telling them of his own experiences. But this visionary experience doesn’t end with Tom standing in the fearless dark, beneath the stars, something else is to culminate the whole mystical experience:

A shadow seemed to pass by the window, & the hobbits glanced hastily through the panes. When they turned again, Goldberry stood in the door behind, framed in light. She held a candle, shielding the flame from the draught with her hand: & the light flowed through it, like sunlight through a white shell.
‘The rain has ended,’ she said; ‘and new waters are running downhill, under the stars. Let us now laugh & be glad!’

We’ve gone back to the begining of the world, guided by Tom Bombadil, & who do we find awaiting us, bearing a light in her hand, echoing the Secret Fire, telling us that new waters are flowing under the stars, but Goldberry, the River Daughter!

Finally, what do we make of Tom’s verse:

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

This is a kind of ‘invocation’ - Tom is called by invoking the elements of the Land - water & earth, the living plants & trees (including the ‘dread’ Willow!), the (the ‘Secret’?)‘fire’, & finally, by the lights of heaven, the Sun & the Moon. They are to call on the elements of the Land beneath & the heavens above them, to bring Tom to their aid, & if they do so, he will come to them.

[HerenIstarion]

This post, due to considerable lack of time, will be brief and a bit jumpy (but I promise to come out with a bit about Tom and his versified speech in the next chapter discussion. I will probably include the following as the part of the post to come, as incantation in question is repeated in chapter 8 too):

The last verse in davem's post re:

Probable hint at ‘who is Tom Bombadil’ may be found in the incantation he teaches hobbits to entreat him to their aid:

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

Hobbits must implore to nature elements to summon him. May it be he is nature spirit? (though yours truly leans over to the ‘ëalar theory’, or all of the mixed up). Interesting too is that three out of four are mentioned: earth, water, fire, but not air. Why, one should ask? In addition to this one may reflect upon the following:

I am no weather-master

So, Tom controls water, earth and fire inside his boundaries, but not air. (hey, who said poetry is dumb? who dares to skip the verses in LoTR. You! Yes, you! Detention!). That’s why Bombadil may not be Manwe (as I’ve heard some say. But merely earth spirit is not enough – what about water and fire, than? I probably may argue that Bombadil is all of them together, i.e. earth spirit (by hill + marriage to river daugher, scenery reminiscent (or so I'm told) of Oxford countryside), a bit of a Maia (Gandalf as his equal and rolling stones, but that will be jumping before the train, as it comes out by the end of the book), a bit of Eru (omnipotence inside his land, the incanantatio he uses to wake hobbits - chapter 8, 'I will not step outside') etc. But, er, well, before I go too far along the road of Tom’s origin, let me refer you to burra’s excellent Derry Dol, Indeed thread and stop here.

So far so good

As for the Light in Frodo's face and Ring in his Voice, I doubt the light and ring are to oppose each other as symbols of Good and Evil. True to alleged jumpiness, and due to proclaimed busyness, I will refrain from discourse at the spot, but merely direct you to the following:

Concerning Elf-Friends

Cheers

[Fingolfin II]

Fordim said:

Here Goldberry reveals that she is more than ordinarily perceptive. She sees the full Frodo in her first glance: the good (elf-friend) and the evil (the ring in his voice).

That's an extremely good pick up, Fordim. Also just let me add that I think it works both ways- I think that Frodo's 'elvishness' and his burden are beginning to show more on his physical characteristics, and that we can see this stated explicitly sometimes (i.e. when he looks at himself in the mirror in Rivendell).

I never knew that Goldberry generated so much interest for lots of people- to me it was Tom who was more interesting, and I assumed that whatever he was (i.e. Maia, spirit, etc.) Goldberry was too; I must make it my mission to read The Adventures. At first when I heard it was a collection of poems, and I skim read one, I thought it was very "babyish" (it was similar to Sam's poem about the trolls), but now I've come to love the more "babyish" or "hobbitish" of Tolkien's poems as much as, or even more than, his more serious, darker ones. Goldberry is certainly an very interesting lady, to say the least.

[davem]

Originally Posted by Heren-Istarion

Hobbits must implore to nature elements to summon him. May it be he is nature spirit? (though yours truly leans over to the ‘ëalar theory’, or all of the mixed up). Interesting too is that three out of four are mentioned: earth, water, fire, but not air. Why, one should ask?

Indeed, & why invoke him by the plants of the forest & not the animals? Also, in the light of Tom's songs - which seem to be the source (or perhaps the means of 'channelling') his power - Tom seems able to overcome his foes because 'his songs are stronger songs, & his feet are faster'. My take on this is that Tom's songs are 'stronger' because they are true songs, coming out of his own experience. The songs of the Barrow Wight & OMW are 'false', & cannot stand against Tom's. Also, does the reference to his feet being faster refer to his tendency to dance as well as sing - its his song & his dance that his power manifests itself.

Secondly, if when Frodo puts on the Ring he 'passes into the otherworld', & so cannot be seen in this one, does that mean that Tom (who can see Frodo clearly when he wears the Ring).like the High Elves, also lives in both worlds at once?

Finally (as far as I remember), only three of Frodo's dreams are given in detail (if we don't count 'Frodo's Dreme, that is) - one at Crickhollow, & the other two under Tom's roof - ie, the first happens as Frodo prepares to enter the Old Forest, the second while he is on the edge of it & the third as he prepares to leave it, one dream on each successive night. Does this relate to the dreamlike nature of the Old Forest - even during daytime being in the OF is dreamlike, & being there (or in the vicinity) seems to intensify an individual's dream experiences. Flieger classifies the first dream, of the tower, as 'psychological', the second, of Gandalf at Orthanc, as 'psychic' - he is witnessing an actual event - albeit one that actually happened some days prior to Frodo's dream of it, & the third dream, of the grey rain-curtain & the far green country, as 'spiritual'. In each successive dream Frodo goes 'deeper'.

[Fingolfin II]

Davem said:

Secondly, if when Frodo puts on the Ring he 'passes into the otherworld', & so cannot be seen in this one, does that mean that Tom (who can see Frodo clearly when he wears the Ring).like the High Elves, also lives in both worlds at once?

Ah, now that's a very interesting possibility- one that I hadn't seen before. To me, it suggests one of two things- that Tom lived in the Blessed Realm before he came to dwell near Buckland, or that he just has the sight of the 'Ringwraith world'. Gandalf said that those who have dwelt in Valinor live in both world at once, so I think we can safely assume that is true. If it is, that means that Tom was an 'outsider' in the sense that he came to Middle-Earth from the Blessed Realm, which further deepens the mystery of his origin, which I do not wish to debate as Aiwendil has already covered it above, and there are plenty of threads discussing this.