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06-07-2009, 05:26 PM | #1 |
Ghost Prince of Cardolan
Join Date: May 2009
Location: The Twilight Zone
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Tom Bombadil
I could not find a thread already about him so I just made this one. I have always wondered who he is. I know what inspired Tolkien to create Tom but I do not know who Tom is. None of us do since nothing is really explained about him in the books. Some of the theories I have heard about him are that he is Eru or he is in fact the land itself in the form of a person. I doubt that second one. I do not think that he could be Eru. He is not serious enough. I think wikipedia offers some insight into who he could be, but it is not a lot. What do you all of you think about Tom?
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06-07-2009, 10:53 PM | #2 | ||
Shade of Carn Dûm
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Washington, D. C., USA
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From "In the House of Tom Bombadil:"
Quote:
Quote:
Tom IS. The rest of the explanation is meant to come from inside you, yourself, I think. Tolkien is deliberately, even stubbornly, silent.
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But all the while I sit and think of times there were before, I listen for returning feet and voices at the door. |
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06-08-2009, 05:13 AM | #3 |
Ghost Prince of Cardolan
Join Date: May 2004
Posts: 3,448
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I have said many times in the countless threads of Bombadil, He is an Ent... you see most Ents slow down become treeish, he saw Goldberry and fell in love thereby becoming "faster" his spirit ripping from his tree body Bombadil is the spirit, and the body? Well haven't you ever wondered why Od Man Willow is so angry? you'd be angry too without your soul.
actually side thought... is Old Man Willow a "Hanar"(is that what the moving trees are called? Been a while)
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Morsul the Resurrected |
06-08-2009, 05:35 AM | #4 |
Auspicious Wraith
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You didn't look very hard. Search function + Bombadil brings up loads of threads. Literally hours of reading.
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Los Ingobernables de Harlond |
06-08-2009, 10:55 AM | #5 |
Wight
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Hudson Valley, NY
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Why so serious? Seriously, I would like to think that Eru, who fabricated Middle-earth in song and music, and created such whimsical things as ents, Hobbits, Oliphants and inquisitive foxes would have much room for lightheartedness and fun...
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www.scottchristiancarr.com They passed slowly, and the hobbits could see the starlight glimmering on their hair and in their eyes. |
06-08-2009, 12:44 PM | #6 | ||
Illustrious Ulair
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: In the home of lost causes, and forsaken beliefs, and unpopular names,and impossible loyalties
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Over on another forum (LotR Plaza) there's a long discussion on TB (currently 12 pages long). The recently auctioned letter which contains the following
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Quote:
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06-08-2009, 02:02 PM | #7 | |
Ghost Prince of Cardolan
Join Date: May 2009
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Quote:
I did search him. 20 pages came up and I went through about 8 of them and found no thread specifically about Bombadil.
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Medicine for the soul. ~Inscription over the door of the Library at Thebes |
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06-08-2009, 02:09 PM | #8 | |
Ghost Prince of Cardolan
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Quote:
Radagastly the second quote you put there, helps back up what I said. He has been there since the start of Arda is what it sounds like. To have the power to enter Arda, must mean he is something like Eru's equal in another world or he is some extremely powerful being that has only a fraction of his power in Middle Earth.
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Medicine for the soul. ~Inscription over the door of the Library at Thebes |
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06-08-2009, 03:22 PM | #9 | |
Illustrious Ulair
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Location: In the home of lost causes, and forsaken beliefs, and unpopular names,and impossible loyalties
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Quote:
Of course, 'Tom's world' existed long before LotR was written & its usually assumed that he & Goldberry, Old Man Willow & the Barrow Wight were introduced into LotR to provide an 'adventure'. But given Tolkien's words in the letter -about 'chinks in the scenery which give glimpses of another different world outside' & 'something left over that demands a different or longer construction to "explain" it' it seems that Tolkien is experimenting with concepts of multiple realities & interconnected & separate but interdependent dimensions. In some sense 'Tom's Country' is not Middle-earth, & different rules apply there. Tom 'is' - within the world of Middle-earth he cannot be explained - Tolkien deliberately chose not to fit him in. In that sense all those critics who claim he doesn't 'belong', that he is out of place, are absolutely correct. It could be argued from what Tolkien writes in that letter that not only does he not 'fit', he was not meant to fit. In some way the Hobbits cross into a different time/place, another 'reality', & do not re-enter Middle-earth till they step onto the road near Bree. It is very much a dream world in a sense, & dreams play a prominent part in the whole episode for that reason. In Tom's Country it is the Hobbits who are out of place. |
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06-08-2009, 04:06 PM | #11 |
Ghost Prince of Cardolan
Join Date: May 2009
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Wow. A lot more thread than I thought and they go back a while. The oldest one I saw was from 2001.
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Medicine for the soul. ~Inscription over the door of the Library at Thebes |
06-08-2009, 07:11 PM | #12 |
Ghost Prince of Cardolan
Join Date: May 2004
Posts: 3,448
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trust me when I say everything that CAN be discussed about LOTR HAS been discussed from Tom Bombadil to the most obscure things like whether nor not ents lay eggs.... or seeds or birth...
but there are really some good bombadil threads out there. obviously you'll never find the True answer...probably... but you will certainly find a theory you like!
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Morsul the Resurrected |
06-08-2009, 09:53 PM | #13 |
Wight
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At least we now all know that ents lay eggs.
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God created night, but man created darkness.... |
06-08-2009, 10:07 PM | #14 |
Ghost Prince of Cardolan
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fine laugh if you will but here it is:
http://forum.barrowdowns.com/showthread.php?t=13206 so there!
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Morsul the Resurrected |
06-09-2009, 08:25 AM | #16 | |
Doubting Dwimmerlaik
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Quote:
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There is naught that you can do, other than to resist, with hope or without it.
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06-09-2009, 08:48 AM | #17 |
Loremaster of Annúminas
Join Date: Oct 2006
Posts: 2,300
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No, silly! Everyone knows Tom is actually Martin Bormann.
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06-09-2009, 03:04 PM | #18 | |
Ghost Prince of Cardolan
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Quote:
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Medicine for the soul. ~Inscription over the door of the Library at Thebes |
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06-10-2009, 11:37 AM | #19 |
Flame Imperishable
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Well, on a more topic-related note, the CbC thread on his chapter is very interesting. I think I should have searched for one of the many Tom Bombadil threads before posting this there.
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