How do you perceive Tom Bombadil?

[Faramir Jones]

I was looking again at The Lord of the Rings, particularly the episode 'A Conspiracy Unmasked' and at The Adventures of Tom Bombadil, particularly the Preface and the first poem.

In that chapter of LotR, Merry called Farmer Maggot 'a shrewd fellow', saying, 'I've heard that he used to go into the Old Forest at one time'. (From later remarks by Tom Bombadil about Maggot this information appears to be correct.)

When Frodo decided to go through the Old Forest, Merry said, 'It sounds very desperate, but I believe Frodo is right. It is the only way of getting off without being followed at once. With luck we might get a considerable start'. (My italics)

In talking about the Old Forest, Merry said,

The Brandybucks go in - occasionally when the fit takes them. We have a private entrance. Frodo went in once, long ago. I have been in several times; Usually in daylight, of course, when the trees are sleepy and fairly quiet.

He then called the Forest 'queer'. Everything there is 'much more alive, more aware of what is going on' than in the Shire. The trees 'do not like strangers. They watch you'.

Usually this is all that happens in daylight. At night, 'things can be most alarming, or so I am told'. (My italics) He has, once or twice, been there after dark and near the hedge.

Merry finished by saying that there were 'various queer things' in the forest, or so he was told. But 'I have never seen any of them'. He admitted that 'something makes paths' there.

In terms of the title poem in The Adventures of Tom Bombadil, Tolkien in the Preface says that it and the second poem in the collection, 'Bombadil Goes Boating', 'evidently come from the Buckland'. Both 'show that the Bucklanders knew Bombadil'. That name, added on to all his other ones, was 'Bucklandish in form'; but they had 'as little understanding of his powers', as the Shire-folk had of Gandalf's. The first poem is 'made up of various hobbit-versions of legends concerning Bombadil'.

From what we are given here, while some hobbits have gone into the Forest, it's usually been during the daytime, keeping an eye on the trees. However, most haven't gone in that far, owing to the lack of information about a willow tree and about what William called a 'singing nutbar'. While something is known about Bombadil, there's not enough information to coherently say who he is, otherwise Merry would have said more.

Any hobbits who knew more as a result of going far into the Forest, such as Maggot, weren't telling; so more information, and the second poem, had to wait for the account of the four hobbits' stay with Bombadil being known in the Red Book.

[William Cloud Hicklin]

It's also worth observing that the hobbits' planned route wouldn't have taken them through the heart of the Forest; their intention was to cut across its northwest corner and come out on the Road some miles from the Bridge..... not down to the Withywindle and then out on the eastern, Barrow-downs side.

[Ivriniel]

Personally, I never found Bombadil moving or compelling as I found the famous Noldor such as Celebrimbor. Strangely distancing of the core mythology is how he leaves a footprint upon me.

An interpretation we've seen about him is Deus Ex Machina, which cheapens the magic when getting as mechanical and concrete about it as that.

[Faramir Jones]

Originally Posted by William Cloud Hicklin

It's also worth observing that the hobbits' planned route wouldn't have taken them through the heart of the Forest; their intention was to cut across its northwest corner and come out on the Road some miles from the Bridge..... not down to the Withywindle and then out on the eastern, Barrow-downs side.

I'd agree with you here, William. Once Frodo spoke about his plan, Merry, who had a lot of local knowledge, supported it as worth the risk.

[skip spence]

I just reread this chapter and I perceive Tom like a formidable rural Irishman. Very self-assured but he doesn't take much too seriously. If there were pubs around I'd suspect he'd be there quite a lot, telling tales, singing and joking with the locals. He'd avoid political discussions and drink quite a lot but would never lose that sharpness of mind or body even after plenty of pints. Certainly a good fellow who'd help out friend at any time but not one to save the world, he'd be content to stay in his little country pub and the little world that surrounds it.

Edit. Btw the Old Forest chapter, though quite unattached and different to the rest of the novel, is probably where the best writing in LotR is found. Tolkien does a great job in describing the scenes, building up the atmosphere and conveying the emotional roller-coaster the hobbits are experiencing.

[Aaron]

Originally Posted by Faramir Jones

He then called the Forest 'queer'. Everything there is 'much more alive, more aware of what is going on' than in the Shire. The trees 'do not like strangers. They watch you'.

That right there is a big part of why I am so skeptical of Tom's nature. I mean, isn't the Old Forest his land? He has some degree of mastery over it, enough so that his incantations can lull the trees to sleep.
But as master of the Forest, why are the trees so bitter and angry, when Tom is so happy and carefree? I think that really helped shape my own perceptions of the character, as those chapters in the Forest and the Barrow Downs held an overwhelming sense of unease, and Tom only exacerbated that feeling because of how disarmingly jovial he was.

[Inziladun]

Originally Posted by Aaron

I mean, isn't the Old Forest his land? He has some degree of mastery over it, enough so that his incantations can lull the trees to sleep.

Well, the Forest doesn't 'belong' to Bombadil. Goldberry seems distressed at the notion.
He is 'master', but of himself. And as he tells the hobbits, explaining his saving them from the Willow, he had an 'errand that [the Willow] dared not hinder.' The ability to affect the trees did not have to equal any possession of the Forest. As a matter of fact, we don't have any evidence he ever did exercise any power over the trees, apart from saving Frodo. Tom told Frodo that event was even 'no plan of his'. He saw himself as being in the right place at the right time, serving some other purpose.

Originally Posted by Aaron

But as master of the Forest, why are the trees so bitter and angry, when Tom is so happy and carefree?

Gandalf explained to the Council of Elrond that Bombadil was 'withdrawn into a little land, within bounds that he has set (my emphasis)". It wasn't that Tom had laid any claim on the Forest; just that he had chosen it as his dwelling place. The sentient trees apparently recognized his true nature, and responded appropriately.