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

[Estelyn Telcontar]

Excellent thoughts on Goldberry, davem! In this context, I remembered an article by Michael Martinez about Tom and Goldberry's marriage - here it is: Love in the Trees. I find this sentence of his very interesting:

The only creature who masters Bombadil, other than Bombadil himself, is Goldberry.

He suggests that it is not Bombadil who chooses the River-daughter. Of their meeting, told in the TB poem davem quotes above, he says:

This is a classic courtship ritual. The woman does the choosing, and she tests the man to see if she can dominate him. If she can, he fails her test and she's not interested in him. Tom won't play any girlish games, though, and he goes on about his business, dismissing Goldberry as if she doesn't matter to him. So, he passes the test, and later on, at the end of the poem, when Tom comes to take her away, Goldberry is ready to be his wife.

Martinez also emphasizes that Goldberry is Tom's "number one priority", and goes on to show her autonomous power. They have an unusually modern combination of deep affection and strong independence, with not a shadow of subservience on Goldberry's part. This is a high ideal of marriage and a wonderful example!