Old Tom Bombadil, [a] childish figure so disliked by fans of the book that few object to his absence from all adaptations of the story. And yet, there is another way of looking at Bombadil, based only on what appears in the book itself, that paints a very different picture of this figure of fun.
[I]t is canonical in Tolkein that powerful magical beings imprint their nature on their homes. Lorien under Galadriel is a place of peace and light. Moria, after the Balrog awoke, was a place of terror to which lesser evil creatures were drawn. Likewise, when Sauron lived in Mirkwood, it became blighted with evil and a home to monsters.
The hobbits can sense the hatred within all the trees in the Old Forest. Every tree in that place is a malevolent huorn, hating humankind. Every single tree. And the barrows of the ancient kings that lie nearby are defiled and inhabited by Barrow-Wights.
Bombadil has the power to control or banish all these creatures, but he does not do so. Instead, he provides a refuge for them against men and other powers. Evil things – and only evil things – flourish in his domain. “Tom Bombadil is the master” Goldberry says. And his subjects are black huorns and barrow wights.
Okay, it’s probably fair to say this isn’t really what the author of The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien intended (like at all), but the true mark of a work of fiction is one that surpasses its generator, and this is one of those cases.
The argument deployed here is simply, utterly brilliant. Let’s summarize the argument (though only briefly, for the full thing follow the link below):
- Jolly, friendly, gregarious, helpful. Puts out a decent spread. And yet no Hobbit has ever heard of him. Ever.
- He is older than Elrond. Older than the First Age. First Age – not Third Age. We’re talking older than the Elves. Yet, Elrond says he has never heard of him.
- Liar, liar pants on fire. He implies to Frodo that he knew of their coming from Farmer Maggot…but Farmer Maggot never left his farm. Never knew they were leaving the Shire. Jolly Bombadil also implied Gildor’s elves informed him…but Elrond has never heard of him, and one would imagine an elf would mention to his liege-lord befriending, oh, I don’t know, someone almost literally older than dirt.
- Sweet, sweet Goldberry, Bombadil’s wife. A river spirit. Oh, wait, the river nearby? That’d be the proverbially evil Withywindle. She is “slender as a willow wand”, yet Tolkien notes that willows are the most powerful – and evil – trees of the Forest.
- At the Council of Rivendell, the suggestion is raised to give the Ring to Bombadil. Gandalf does not say what has been said of every other powerful entity – Gandalf himself, Galadriel, Elrond – that Bombadil would be corrupted. No, Gandalf coyly makes some comment about Bombadil “misplacing” the Ring. Uh-huh. Quick save there, Gandalf. Nicely done.
But (asks our noble reader) – if Bombadil is evil, why would he ever help Frodo and Samwise?
Consider what happens if Sauron is, once and for all, defeated. Gandalf and the other Istari leave Middle Earth. The elves leave Middle Earth. Meaning, the Oldest and Fatherless, the ancient Tom Bombadil, suddenly has no competitors, no one to keep him in check, no one to limit the spread of his power.
The evil trees will march, and the barrow-wights rise from their crypts, and no longer bound to the small sanctuary Bombadil built, they will spread without check over the whole of Middle-Earth…
Image by Greg Hildebrandt via Spiderwebart Gallery.
Via Loose Connections for the entire article.