New words about Bombadil

[Inziladun]

Originally Posted by PrinceOfTheHalflings

It seems that Bombadil is immune to the effects of the Ring, but not because of any special Power he possesses. Rather, he is just not interested in the Ring and thus not able to be influenced by it. No doubt some may point to the additional fact that the Ring does not make Bombadil invisible as evidence of some kind of "Power", but then we have to consider why the Ring makes people invisible. Frodo is more visible to the Nazgul when he puts on the Ring - and he can also see them clearly. That is because he is now in the spirit, or wraith, world.

I would say the Ring affects the wearer because it is infused with a large part of Sauron's essence; his spirit, will, and preternatural 'magical' abilities. Sauron, as a divine Maia, lives in the spirit world naturally. The 'real' world of Middle-earth would therefore be alien to him, had he not taken on an earthbound form, Thus, the wearer of the One becomes Sauron in some manner. And, unless he is fundamentally greater in spiritual power than Sauron, the wearer in the end is overcome by the piece of Sauron he has allowed into his own soul.
I've always thought Bombadil's holding the Ring to his (blue) eye and looking through it at Frodo to be a striking image. Is he saying he's the anti-Sauron, not simply in opposition to him, like Gandalf, but an opposite? That is what I take from it, and that seems to be what Tolkien says in this latest quote also. Tom has no ambitions: he is an Observer, as Gandalf said, a 'moss-gatherer'.

I no longer think Bombadil to be a Maia, as they were servants of greater spirits, and he served no one. The next most likely seems to be an 'undeclared' Ainu (like Ungoliant) who came into Arda with a different purpose than the Valar. I've always been intrigued by Gandalf's desire to have a talk with him before leaving Middle-earth forever. It was a talk like Gandalf had not had with anyone else in Middle-earth, and that is significant.

Originally Posted by PrinceOfTheHalflings

Whatever he is, he's not like anyone else. When Tolkien says Bombadil is outside the story, I think he just means the story of the Ring, not the story of Middle Earth.

Again though, to be in the story I can't let go of the idea that he must in some way fit in the story's universe, even if his place is forever up for conjecture.