Tom Bombadil

[Boromir88]

Let it be known also since Bombadil is one of the unanswered questions Tolkien left for us, we can never know truly what Bombadil is. Only speculation, but through other writings we can limit some of the choices.

Choices could be....
Eru
Maia
Valar
Tolkien writing himself into the story
An Enigma

We can automatically eliminate Valar, since all the Valar are accounted for. Also, we can eliminate Eru. Since it was stated Eru never set foot upon Arda. Also, Eru is like the god representative in Tolkien's stories. According to Glorfindel, Bombadil could be beaten, and of course we have to assume no one is more powerful then god.

The Council of Elrond
"But in any case" said Glorfindel, "to send the ring to him would only postpone the day of evil. He is far away. We could not now take it back to him, unguessed, unmarked by any spy. And even if we could, soon or late the Lord of the Rings would learn of its hiding place and would bend all his power towards it. Could that power be defied by Bombadil alone? I think not. I think that in the end, if all else is conquered, Bombadil will fall, Las as he was First; and then Night will come."

Obviously, we will never know what will happen if that day Glorfindel spoke of was to come. If Bombadil was the last standing on Middle-earth. If he truly would have fallen to Sauron. However, in my personal opinion, Glorfindel is a person who in death gained much wisdom, and is one of the more powerful elves still left during this time, I believe we can trust his word. I think the fact that it was said Eru never steppef foot on Arda we can say Bombadil wasn't Eru.

Anything beyond this point, to me, is speculation. Was he a Maia? Possibly, after all, not all Maia were named or are accounted for. Could he be Tolkien himself? Maybe. I do think Bombadil actually was Tolkien writing himself into the story. Look to see what we got, Bombadil is the only person, that we are aware of, that the ring has no effect on. Would a Maia be able to do such a thing? Could a Maia have no care for the "one ring?" In my opion, no. If we take a look at Goldberry's words...

In The House of Tom Bombadil
"Fair lady!" said Frodo again after a while. "Tell me, if my asking does not seem foolish, who is Tom Bombadil."
"He is," said Goldberry...

I've been searching, but I can't find the exact quote, however I do know Goldberry refers to Tom as "He just is," and "Master."

Since, I've established its not Eru, "master" and "he just is" makes me refer to the "master of the story," the "creator" of Lord of the Rings, and is therefor Tolkien writing himself into the story. Talked about in the "Old Forest discussion" in the "Chapter-by-Chapter" threads, it appears the whole "Old Forest" is itself "magical" something totally different from the "magic" of the elves or the "magic" from the rest of Middle-Earth. It's just a mysterious, magical place. Tom Bombadil isn't that important of a character, sure he helps Frodo and the others out of some sticky situations, but the ring has no effect on him. He is the only person, that we know of, who wasn't "tempted" by the ring. Again which is why I think it is Tolkien. However, as I've stated Bombadil is an unanswerable question, we can only come up with conjectures, and conjectures are not facts. This is my opinion.