A Discussion on Tom Bombadil

As an ardent fan of the Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Hobbit, I'm always excited to read anything more I can find by Tolkien. The Silmarillion is on my reading list (you will undoubtedly read a post about this book eventually), but being in the middle of Gaskell's Mary Barton, I decided to pick up a work by Tolkien that is not as lengthy. Thus, today's focus is The Adventures of Tom Bombadil.

The Adventures of Tom Bombadil is a series of seventeen poems, all legends compiled by hobbits. These poems, all rich in detail and beautiful in language in the true Tolkien style, tell fun, imaginative stories and fables. While all of the poems have great merit and are, quite simply, a lot fun to read, I'm going to limit the focus of this post to the two poems specifically about Tom Bombadil.

As Tom Bombadil is one of my favorite characters in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, I was excited to read more about him in the poems. However, the poems do not tell anything about Tom Bombadil's history or lineage, so the reader should not expect to really learn too much more who Tom is and where he comes from. The first poem tells of his meeting with other inhabitants of the forest. Each character he encounters takes something from him or tries to trap him in some way. Tom, of course, demands that each make right their errors, and they all leave him alone without a fight. Two familiar characters from the poem are Goldberry, the River-Daughter, and Old Man Willow, who both make appearances in The Fellowship of the Ring. The poem explains how Bombadil took Goldberry as his wife. He literally caught her and "held her fast," then said to her:

'...Here's my pretty maiden!
You shall come home with me! The table is all laden:
yellow cream, honeycomb, white bread and butter;
roses at the window-sill and peeping round the shutter.
You shall come under Hill! Never mind your mother
in her deep weedy pool: there you'll find no lover!'

While Tom can tell the inhabitants of the forest what to do and his requests are always met without question, he is not a tyrant of the forest. He does indeed have a charge over the forest, but he is not a king nor is he really a leader of those living in the forest. He seems to just keep the inhabitants of the forest from harming him or anyone else, namely certain hobbits who get stuck in Old Man Willow's roots in The Fellowship of the Ring. He seems to be there to keep everyone in line, except Goldberry, to whom he is obviously attached. Indeed, the interaction between them in the beginning of the poem is a flirtation rather than Tom keeping up some kind of rule of the forest.

The second poem in the series about Tom Bombadil is "Bombadil Goes Boating" and describes his journey down the forest river, all because he caught a leaf:

Tom caught a beechen leaf in the Forest falling.
'I've caught a happy day blown me by the breezes!
Why wait till morrow-year? I'll take it when me pleases.
This day I'll mend my boat and journey as it chances west down withy-stream, following my fancies.'


I especially like the comparsion of a day to a leaf in this text. Falling leaves all seem to be same. Except if you catch one and really look at it, the leaf may have little details or certain coloration that makes it stand out from the others. When we see a leaf that could be different, we should grab it and take a look because it might be something extraordinary. And so it's the same with our days: all could be one just like the other, but we have the potential to make our days good and to take a chance, take a journey perhaps, and follow our own "fancies."

Tom indeed takes his journey down the river in the poem, and he meets animals who try to trick him or lead him to harm. Tom outsmarts the animals, and again, they leave him alone after their attempts. His journey eventually leads him to hobbit territory, specifically The Shire. After a few dismissals from other hobbits, Tom eventually finds Farmer Maggot, whom readers of the trilogy remember as the farmer whom Frodo stole mushrooms from as a young hobbit. Tom and Farmer Maggot have some drinks and laughs while swapping stories. Maggot eventually falls asleep, and when he awakes Tom is gone, adding to the otherwordly, mysterious identity Tolkien has given him.


Tom Bombadil is indeed one of Tolkien's most quizzical and interesting characters. His inherent link to the forest, his wisdom in spite of his whimsy, and his disinterest of worldly affairs lead the reader to believe that he is a sort of deity or spirit. Tom was the only character in The Lord of the Rings trilogy to touch the ring and not be bothered by any of its effects. Gandalf even says at the Council of Elrond that the ring "has no power over him." Later, in Return of the King, Gandalf also tells Frodo that Tom has not been "much interested" in all the events revolving around the ring. Tom seems to be one of the few characters of Tolkiens' that has no fault. He is not on any journey to make correct any wrongs. He is not fighting with anyone. He is completely content with living in and taking care of the forest.

Given Tom Bombadil's otherworldly traits, could we consider him a model for an ideal style of living? Maybe it's a bit pretentious to assume that the tales of the carefree, "merry fellow" Tom have resonance in real life. However, Tom lives a life of simplicity, which is far from the type of life that any of us can claim to live. Nature is his source of life and his prime joy, and while he knows of the events and people outside of his world, he chooses to stay in the forest and keep his home, his livelihood there. His life is peaceful, joyful and fulfilling in its own way. Given the state of Middle-Earth in the novel, I don't think I'd mind living in the forest with Tom and Goldberry while the war between good and evil rages.

Perhaps the reader would think that he simply turns a blind eye to evil, making him selfish rather than helpful or likable. However, like the elves, Tom Bombadil wishes to stay out of the affairs of mankind, whose hearts are greedy and selfish, as Tolkien repeatedly points out in the trilogy. Unlike the elves, though, Tom succeeds in keeping himself separate from their troubles. He is a perfect manager of the forest. He keeps nature running smoothly and even houses Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin on their way to Rivendale without letting this interrupt the general flow of nature.

Tom's cheerfulness and optimism provide some relief from the heavier topics at hand in The Fellowship of the Ring. Overall, he represents unfailing, unflinching goodness. His being in the trilogy and part of the collection of hobbit legends shows that in spite of wars, evil deeds and sorrow, good does always exist in Middle-Earth because Tom Bombadil always maintains it. Sure, not everyone is effected by this goodness, as Tom Bombadil is relatively hidden away from most of the inhabitants of Middle-Earth, save the hobbits, who are, after all, a people of pure hearts and innocence. But those with hardened or despairing hearts do not likely believe that such a constant goodness exists, and if one does not believe something exists, why would one put any energy or effort toward finding it? I think that Tom knows this, and I think that he would even have simple, wise solutions to stopping the evil in Middle-Earth, similar to his straightforward reprimands to the living things in the forest when they are being mischievous. But the men, the dwarves, the elves all do not live their lives so simply, and so with complex issues comes complex solutions. Complexity is not a trait embodied by Tom Bombadil, which only adds to his spirit-like characteristics.

For further reading on Tom Bombadil, you could check out various Tolkien websites. If you're a fan of Tolkien, you know that the information about him and Middle-Earth is abundant, and rightly so. This is a Wikipedia page dedicated solely to the spritely Tom Bombadil, where you'll find info about his role in the trilogy and more about the poems discussed in this post. Also, here is a wonderful site for all things Tolkien, including analysis and description of his works and even news related to the great scholar and author.