New words about Bombadil

[Inziladun]

Boro! Good to see you made it back!

Originally Posted by Boromir88

Well, Tolkien does say Gandalf is only a character in his story, prone to errors like any other. Even though I'm inclined to agree with you about Gandalf. I'm not sure anyone who is "inside" the story, could tell what would happen to Bombadil if he was truly the "last" in the world against Sauron.

I'm familiar with Tolkien's words from one of the Letters in which he says Treebeard is only a character in the story, but I didn't recall similar statements about Gandalf. The reason I made that assertion was that Gandalf seems to be the one to make moral judgments, such as approving Bilbo's giving the Arkenstone to Bard, and emphasizing to Frodo that Bilbo was absolutely correct in not killing Gollum. Though he failed to see Saruman's turn to evil until it was too late, was Gandalf ever demonstrably wrong about something he'd made a judgment on?

Originally Posted by Boromir88

How does Bombadil, the alien observer completely disinterested in "power," still possess formidable power in a world he's not part of? Even if it's within a limited and defined boundary?

That's my question as well. Tom has obvious power over the denizens of the Old Forest, and the Barrow-wights cannot stand against him. In order for him to exercise such influence, he must have some place in Arda.