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Old 05-06-2015, 08:12 PM   #1
Inziladun
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I would argue that the same thing does apply to Gandalf, at least in principle, even if he is not named in the letter.
Even so, Gandalf making it known to the hobbits that he was visiting Bombadil to have a talk such as he had not had before, not only since he came to Middle-earth as one of the Istari, but 'in all his time', is significant. He described Tom as a "moss gatherer", and himself as a "stone doomed to rolling", so the two were opposites, not regarding good/evil, but active/inactive. Gandalf was a Mover, and Tom was a Watcher. Bombadil's purpose seems to have been to merely be present in Middle-earth, and rarely, to put his hand in events and aid good. He said that his meeting and saving the hobbits was 'no plan of mine', but that implies that it was somebody's plan, and Tom was not going to look the other way that time. So Tom was mainly a passive outsider with a penchant for remaining out of general knowledge, but the fact that he did take action when required to me means that he was indeed part of the world.
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Old 05-07-2015, 08:40 AM   #2
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So Tom was mainly a passive outsider with a penchant for remaining out of general knowledge, but the fact that he did take action when required to me means that he was indeed part of the world.
Hmmm...I don't know. Was Eru part of the world? He did act on occasion and the implication is that he was always working in the background.

(I'm not equating Tom with Eru, just using it as an example.)
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Old 05-07-2015, 09:01 AM   #3
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Hmmm...I don't know. Was Eru part of the world? He did act on occasion and the implication is that he was always working in the background.

(I'm not equating Tom with Eru, just using it as an example.)
All Arda, and everything it contained, was the "offspring" of the mind and spirit of Eru. Did it have an objective existence apart from him, ie if he somehow ceased to exist, would Arda die also? My answer would be yes. If that is the case, then I think Eru would indeed be a part of the physical world he had made.
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Old 05-07-2015, 09:24 AM   #4
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When Professor Tolkien says that Bombadil is "outside" the story, he means outside the narrative of the Ring, does he not? Not outside the "narrative of Arda" (ie history) in general.

At the same time perhaps he's being a little disingenuous because surely, by virtue of rescuing the hobbits from Willow-Man and the Barrow Wights, Tom can at least dip into the narrative on occasion, while at the same time apparently recognise that there is a lot more to Eä than just this particular struggle against evil at this time in Middle-earth.
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