He is not a hobbit, neither a man, but what is he? Is he a dwarf? A wizard? A god? Something else entirely?
I believe he is considered the spirit of that world, not necessarily a god, but a physical incarnation of the world. It would explain why he holds an insane amount of power and even Sauron’s ring only tickled him. It also makes sense when Gandalf says if Mordor conquers the rest of the world then maybe bombadil would fall because the world would be irreparably harmed
I never thought of him being immune to Sauron as him being powerful. He is just like the the hobbits but to its fullest. Bombadil is perfectly content with his own existence and there is nothing for the ring to tempt him with.
I would argue power of will is also power in its own.
So why didn’t the eagles take him…
Just kidding! Don’t want to open that can of worms.
Here is an alternative Piped link(s): https://piped.video/watch?v=1-Uz0LMbWpI
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I’m open-source, check me out at GitHub.
Lol
I can’t answer what Bombadil is in the lore of LOTR, he seems to be unique in terms of entities we are shown. But I can tell you what he is at a meta level. You see, LOTR was first told as stories to Tolkiens kids, which you probably already knew, which you may not have known, is that Bombadil was a recurring character in previous stories he had told his children. So at a meta level, Bombadil is just a fun callback to a previous character for his kids to have enjoyed.
So, Hoid of a sort
Except Hoid has/will have a story of his own.
A Proto-Hoid for children
Thank you for indirectly leading me to discover the book title “The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook for Surviving Medieval England”. Even if I never work my way to finding out anything further about this corner of literature, that title certainly tickled me.
It’s a really fun read. Sanderson gets some hate from literary snobs for his simple writing style but sometimes that’s the style of story you need.
Title is great, but I didn’t read that one yet because there’s no Hoid in there. I want to complete the Cosmere reread first.
He’s Q but it’s TLOTR
That’s blasphemy, but funny
Blasphemy is always funny
Do we know for sure that Star Trek and LOTR don’t play in the same universe?
In Star Trek Enterprise, there’s an episode where the crew finds a planet being ravaged by disease. Bizarrely, the planet has two humanoid species: one dominant (intelligent, technologically advanced) and one less dominant (less evolved brains). The captain mentions that in every planet they’ve encountered, only one humanoid species survives the process of evolution.
Well, it turns out that the disease is genetic, it only affects the currently-dominant species, and they will go extinct in a few centuries because of it. The same evolutionary phenomenon that explorers encountered countless times before on other planets was happening right before their eyes.
Middle Earth has like at least 3 humanoid species (Man, Elf, Dwarf), more if you count Hobbits and Orcs. That’s totally incompatible with Star Trek lore!
Well when we see the story of LotR, the elves and dwarves are disappearing - maybe it’s the Trek rule happening in front of us again! Orcs certainly don’t seem to fare well during it either. Hobbit are disappearing too, if they’re to be counted as separate to humans at all. It’s very much becoming a world of humans when the plot of LotR happens
As far as I know Tom is left as an enigmatic character and never explained. Just a strange encounter to make the world seem larger and more mysterious.
I don’t think that was the intention.
Some had suggested he was the spirit of “JRR Tolkien” placed into his own book
Bilbo is sort of covering for the professor too
Yes, certainly, as the writer of “There and back again”
He is a character who is not connected to the main conflict in the story in any way, and is meant to show that the world of middle earth is much larger and more mysterious than what the hobbits/men/elves/orcs are fighting over. His back story was left as a mystery on purpose. The simplest explanation to accept is that you’re just not supposed to know.
There is a whole lot of fan theory and actual letters from Tolkien himself explaining (or rather not explaining) the character.
Old Tom Bombadil is a merry fellow, Bright blue his jacket is, and his boots are yellow. None has ever caught him yet, for Tom, he is the master: His songs are the stronger songs, and his feet are faster.
a nature spirit, yeah?
Old primordial nature spirit that is a physical manifestation of the worlds untamed wilderness and magical possibility
@TomBombadil@hexbear.net , A statement please.
Hey Derry doll I’m just a merry fellow! In nature I dwell with the trees and green things. With my Goldberry I wonder the old wood and tend to the Withywindle! Come now little folk sing my songs! Derry werry old Tom is singgginggg now. Down the river and over the hill he wonders! Herry ho merry fellow!
Where did you get the snazzy bright blue jacket and yellow boots?
You got some great answers already here. I’ll just say that according to Wizards of the Coast he is a God.
Here is an alternative Piped link(s): https://piped.video/jDqYInyet3I
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I’m open-source, check me out at GitHub.
I like the theory that he is Eru Iluvatar.
the Navajo had a tradition of weaving a single, intentional imperfection into the patterns on their blankets and rugs… they said it was so that their spirit didn’t get trapped inside the weave…
TIL - I thought of this as a Persian tradition. Apparently the idea of a deliberate flaw in a woven work features in both cultures.
A merry fellow, of course, he says so right in his song
Old Tom Bombadil is a merry fellow, Bright blue his jacket is, and his boots are yellow. None has ever caught him yet, for Tom, he is the Master: His songs are stronger songs, and his feet are faster.
What is there not to get?
