New words about Bombadil

[Zigûr]

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.