Tom Bombadil

[Manwe Sulimo]

My personal theory is that him and his wife are the reincarnations of Beren and Luthien. But that's a bit far fetched, however he could be their son.

Beren and Lúthien's son was Dior, who (if I'm not mistaken) was killed by the sons of Fëanor when they tried to take the Nauglimir/Silmaril from him. And remember, when Elves are reincarnated, they come back with the same name. Tom was not the son of Beren and Lúthien.

In another thread (in the Books section), it was clearly stated (with quotes) that Tom wasn't a Maia. No one is sure quite what he was (except the great JRRT, of course), but I'm inclined to believe the "enigma" theory, like Ungoliant.

And since Tom couldn't be a Maia, he couldn't be a "retired wizard", along with the fact that Tolkien wrote how only 5 Istari came to the north-west of Middle-earth, and we're pretty sure Tom isn't Alatar or Pallando.

[ September 03, 2002: Message edited by: Manwe Sulimo ]