Bombadil as Aule?

[Mister Underhill]

I seem to be specializing in pulling Bombadil threads off-topic these past few days.

But I am intrigued as to why this should be the case with Tom and Goldberry and not with others.

Well – it isn’t just the case with Tom and GB. The “again” in the quote refers to an earlier distinction Tolkien makes between what Treebeard knows and what he, the author, knows.

In a way, this unreliability of some characters is a stroke of genius on Tolkien’s part, allowing inconsistencies and rough edges in the tales to be gently whitewashed away. There are some characters whose accounts I think we can trust without reservation: Gandalf, for instance. Others’ accounts are more suspect. For instance, as I noted in another thread, I don’t think Galdor’s words about Bombadil at the Council of Elrond carry much authority, prefaced as they are by the disclaimer, `I know little of Iarwain save the name...'

My point is only that Tolkien specifically tells us that we have to take Tom and Goldberry’s words and accounts of themselves with a grain of salt, all part of a general downplaying of efforts to read too much into them. Again, I’d urge you to check out the cited letters for more background.

Anywho, have at the Bombadil as Aulë theory, and sorry for the side trek.