Who do you think Tom Bombadil really was

[alatar]

Originally Posted by Morsul the Dark

really? that's kind of an obnoxious approach

Agreed; in hindsight that wasn't very proper or friendly. Apologies; that the Tylenol and coffee hadn't taken effect will be my excuse. What I meant to say was:

"To show my theory valid, I will next show, politely, how other theories are less likely, given the evidence."

and also entirely false I say the world is a cube, to support it I'll destroy the image of a flat world. Doesn't make me right

Don't know what you mean.

Let me Destroy yours

I was hoping for some feedback, and deserve the bolded verb.

Eru wouldn't last against Sauron?

Stated by whom? How do we know if the person making such a statement actually knows what he/she/it is talking about? For example, Rohan was thought to pay tribute to Sauron. And do we 'really' know if Gollum ate human infants?

Also, my argument has an analogy in Jesus the Christ. Christians believe Him to be 100% God yet 100% man. Though at any time He could have called forth angels to defend him - nay, to keep him from merely stubbing His toe - Jesus veiled His divinity, and so lived as as one of us. This meant that He could be scourged, stabbed, bleed, suffer thirst, and eventually die via crucifixion. Tolkien knew all of this. I posit that when he kept Tom in the text, he may have wanted the same kind of God-man around, self-limiting, though much more than your average citizen (especially as Eru was Goldberry and Fatty Lumpkin as well).

Didn't Gandalf limit his power? So we have precedent.

It is said his power is limited beyond the forest.

By Tom's own choice. Think that Elrond or Gandalf states that Tom has set boundaries for his own pleasure, and awaits some *thing* to go beyond them.

...Though, as Tom seems to be only within in the Old Forest, not sure how he has talks with Farmer Maggot.

Eru's power would be limitless.

Agreed. Why then do you limit Eru's power to *not* be able to live as a triune being in Middle Earth with a veiled powers?

Obviously Tom isn't Eru NEXT

To some.

[Hakon]

Originally Posted by Morsul the Dark

It is said his power is limited beyond the forest.

Originally Posted by alatar

By Tom's own choice. Think that Elrond or Gandalf states that Tom has set boundaries for his own pleasure, and awaits some *thing* to go beyond them.

Maybe Tom's power is limited because of the fact that he does not in a way belong. This goes back to the letter that talked about different planes of existence. It could just be because the plane of existence that Tom is from only overlaps with the forest and that makes his power limited to the forest. It could also be as Alatar stated and he set his own boundaries or it could be both.

[Morsul the Dark]

I believe Elrond says something to the effect of "If Sauron came with all his mihgt not even Tom Bombadil could outlast him.

and the cube bit what I was saying was disproving one theory doesn't make another more valid.
Hey, do the rings give their bearer power to bestow some sort of power to others?
Bombadil almost seem to the Old Forest what Galadriel is to Lorien.

and I think I'll delete my last post, mostly out of ander the tone is unbecoming of the downs

[alatar]

Originally Posted by Morsul the Dark

I believe Elrond says something to the effect of "If Sauron came with all his mihgt not even Tom Bombadil could outlast him.

That might have said in the context of Bombadil actually accepting guardianship of the Ring. What if the Free and Wise, thinking desperately, threw the Ring into the Old Forest. Tom may not have stopped the Nine from coming in and claiming it, as he wasn't really concerned about the whole issue (Eru, as Tom, knows how the song ends, and so what if Sauron gets the Ring?).

and the cube bit what I was saying was disproving one theory doesn't make another more valid.

Understood, though I was a bit intrigued about the cubic earth.

Bombadil almost seem to the Old Forest what Galadriel is to Lorien.

Another, to me, piece of evidence that somehow Tom effects things more than naturally.

and I think I'll delete my last post, mostly out of ander the tone is unbecoming of the downs

But you were perfectly right in calling my tone "obnoxious," as, though I didn't intend it as such (meaning it to be more playfully challenging), it could have and was taken as that. So I apologize, and also thank you for pointing that out to me.