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

[Fingolfin II]

Davem said:

Secondly, if when Frodo puts on the Ring he 'passes into the otherworld', & so cannot be seen in this one, does that mean that Tom (who can see Frodo clearly when he wears the Ring).like the High Elves, also lives in both worlds at once?

Ah, now that's a very interesting possibility- one that I hadn't seen before. To me, it suggests one of two things- that Tom lived in the Blessed Realm before he came to dwell near Buckland, or that he just has the sight of the 'Ringwraith world'. Gandalf said that those who have dwelt in Valinor live in both world at once, so I think we can safely assume that is true. If it is, that means that Tom was an 'outsider' in the sense that he came to Middle-Earth from the Blessed Realm, which further deepens the mystery of his origin, which I do not wish to debate as Aiwendil has already covered it above, and there are plenty of threads discussing this.