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{{short description|Middle-earth character}}
{{good article}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2022}}
{{Infobox character
<!--please do not insert fan art here, thanks-->
| name = Tom Bombadil
| series = [[Tolkien's legendarium]]
| image = Tom Bombadil frees the Hobbits from Old Man Willow.jpg
| caption = Tom Bombadil frees the Hobbits from [[Old Man Willow]].<br/>[[Scraperboard]] illustration by [[Alexander Korotich]], 1981
| first_major = [[The Oxford Magazine]]
| first_date = 1934
| aliases = Iarwain Ben-adar, Forn, Orald
| species = Undefined
| spouse = [[Goldberry]]
| lbl24 = Book(s)
| data24 = ''[[The Fellowship of the Ring]]'' (1954)<br/>''[[The Adventures of Tom Bombadil]]'' (1962)<br/>''[[Tales from the Perilous Realm]]'' (1997)
}}
'''Tom Bombadil''' is a character in [[J. R. R. Tolkien]]'s [[Tolkien's legendarium|legendarium]]. He first appeared in print in a 1934 poem called "[[The Adventures of Tom Bombadil]]", which included ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'' characters [[Goldberry]] (his wife), [[Old Man Willow]] (an evil tree in [[Old Forest|his forest]]) and the [[barrow-wight]], from whom he rescues the [[hobbit]]s.<ref>''[[The Oxford Magazine]]'', 1934, cited in ''[[The History of Middle-earth]]'', volume 6, page 116</ref> They were not then explicitly part of the older legends that became ''[[The Silmarillion]]'', and are not mentioned in ''[[The Hobbit]]''.
Bombadil is best known from his appearance as a [[supporting character]] in Tolkien's novel ''The Lord of the Rings'', published in 1954 and 1955. In the first volume, ''[[The Fellowship of the Ring]]'', [[Frodo Baggins]] and company meet Bombadil in the [[Old Forest]]. The idea for this meeting and the appearances of Old Man Willow and the barrow-wight can be found in some of Tolkien's earliest notes for a sequel to ''The Hobbit''.<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1988|p=43}}</ref> Bombadil is mentioned, but not seen, near the end of ''[[The Return of the King]]'', where [[Gandalf]] plans to pay him a long visit.
Tom Bombadil has been omitted in [[The Lord of the Rings#Radio|radio adaptations]] of ''The Lord of the Rings'', the [[The Lord of the Rings (1978 film)|1978 animated film]], and [[The Lord of the Rings film trilogy|Peter Jackson's film trilogy]], as nonessential to the story.
Commentators have debated Bombadil's role and origins. A likely source is the demigod [[Väinämöinen]] in the Finnish epic poem ''[[Kalevala]]'', with many points of resemblance. Scholars have stated that he is the spirit of a place, a ''[[genius loci]]''.
==Appearances==
==="The Adventures of Tom Bombadil"===
{{Quote box
|width=27em
|align=right
|quote=<poem>Old Tom Bombadil was a merry fellow;
bright blue his jacket was and his boots were yellow,
green were his girdle and his breeches all of leather;
he wore in his tall hat a swan-wing feather.
He lived up under Hill, where the Withywindle
ran from a grassy well down into the dingle.</poem>
— "[[The Adventures of Tom Bombadil]]"
}}
The original version of Tolkien's poem "The Adventures of Tom Bombadil" was published in 1934 in ''[[The Oxford Magazine]]''.<ref>{{harvnb|Tolkien|2014|p=123}}. They were later included in ''[[Tales from the Perilous Realm]]''.</ref> The poem depicts Bombadil as a "merry fellow" living in a small valley close to the [[Withywindle]] river, where he wanders and explores nature at his leisure. Several of the valley's mysterious residents, including the "River-woman's daughter" [[Goldberry]], the malevolent tree-spirit [[Old Man Willow]], the [[European badger|Badger]]-folk and a [[barrow-wight]], attempt to capture Bombadil for their own ends. However, they quail at the power of his voice, which defeats their enchantments and commands them to return to their natural existence. At the end of the poem, Bombadil captures and marries Goldberry. Throughout the poem, he is unconcerned by the attempts to capture him and brushes them off with the power in his words.<ref>{{cite book |last=Carpenter |first=Humphrey |author-link=Humphrey Carpenter |title=J. R. R. Tolkien: A Biography |title-link=J. R. R. Tolkien: A Biography |publisher=[[HarperCollins]] |date=2002 |isbn=978-0007132843 |pages=216–217}}</ref><ref name="Shippey 2001 pp60-62">{{cite book |last=Shippey |first=Thomas |author-link=Thomas Shippey |title=[[J. R. R. Tolkien: Author of the Century]] |date=2001 |publisher=[[HarperCollins]] |___location=New York City|isbn=978-0261-10401-3 |pages=60–62}}</ref>
Bombadil makes it clear that he found Goldberry in the Withywindle river, calling her "River-woman's daughter".<ref name="Shippey 2001 pp60-62"/> The Tolkien scholar [[John D. Rateliff]] suggests that, at least in terms of Tolkien's early mythology, she should be seen as one of the [[Fairy|fays]], spirits, and elementals (including the [[Maia (Middle-earth)|Maia]]): "Thus [[Melian (Middle-earth)|Melian]] is a 'fay', (as, in all probability, are Goldberry and Bombadil; the one a nymph, the other a ''[[genius loci]]'')".<ref>{{cite book |last=Rateliff |first=John D. |author-link=John D. Rateliff |title=Mr Baggins |date=2007 |publisher=[[HarperCollins]] |___location=New York City |isbn=978-0-0072-3555-1 |pages=50, 59}}</ref>
The later poem "Bombadil Goes Boating" anchors Bombadil in [[Middle-earth]], featuring a journey down the Withywindle to the [[Baranduin|Brandywine]] river, where [[Hobbit]]s ("Little Folk I know there") live at Hays-end. Bombadil is challenged by various river residents on his journey, including [[bird]]s, [[Eurasian otter|otters]], and Hobbits, but charms them all with his voice, ending his journey at the farm of [[Farmer Maggot]], where he drinks ale and dances with the family. At the end of the poem, the charmed birds and otters work together to bring Bombadil's boat home. The poem includes a reference to the Norse [[Lai (poetic form)|lay]] of [[Ótr]], when Bombadil threatens to give the hide of a disrespectful otter to the barrow-wights, who he says will cover it with gold apart from a single whisker. The poem mentions Middle-earth locations including Hays-end, [[Bree (Middle-earth)|Bree]], and the [[Tower Hills]] and speaks of "Tall Watchers by the Ford, Shadows on the Marches".<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|2014|loc=1. "The Adventures of Tom Bombadil"}}</ref><ref name="Hargrove 2013">{{cite book |last=Hargrove |first=Gene |editor=Michael D. C. Drout |editor-link=Michael D. C. Drout |chapter=Adventures of Tom Bombadil |title=[[The J. R. R. Tolkien Encyclopedia]] |date=2013 |orig-year=2007 |publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]] |___location=London, England |isbn=978-0-415-86511-1 |pages=2–3}}</ref>
=== ''The Lord of the Rings'' ===
{{further|Poetry in The Lord of the Rings#Tom Bombadil}}
{{Quote box
|width=33em
|align=right
|quote=<poem>There was another burst of song, and then suddenly, hopping and dancing along the path, there appeared above the reeds an old battered hat with a tall crown and a long blue feather stuck in the band. With another hop and a bound there came into view a man, or so it seemed. At any rate he was too large and heavy for a hobbit, if not quite tall enough for one of the Big People, though he made noise enough for one, stumping along with great yellow boots on his thick legs, and charging through grass and rushes like a cow going down to drink. He had a blue coat and a long brown beard; his eyes were blue and bright, and his face was red as a ripe apple, but creased into a hundred wrinkles of laughter. In his hand he carried on a large leaf as on a tray a small pile of white water-lilies.</poem>
— ''[[The Fellowship of the Ring]]'', book 1, ch. 6, "The Old Forest"
}}
In ''[[The Fellowship of the Ring]]'', Tom Bombadil helps [[Frodo Baggins]] and his Hobbit companions on their journey to destroy the Ring.<ref name="The Old Forest" group=T/><ref name="In the House of Tom Bombadil" group=T/><ref name="Fog on the Barrow-Downs" group=T/> Tom and his wife, Goldberry, the "Daughter of the River", still live in their house by the source of the Withywindle, and some of the characters and situations from the original poem reappear.<ref name="Hargrove 2013"/>
Tom first appears when [[Merry Brandybuck|Merry]] and [[Pippin Took|Pippin]] are trapped in the [[Old Forest]] by Old Man Willow, and Frodo and [[Sam Gamgee|Sam]] cry for help. Tom commands Old Man Willow to release them, singing him to sleep.<ref name="The Old Forest" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1954a|loc=book 1, ch. 6, "The Old Forest"}}</ref>
The Hobbits spend two nights in Tom Bombadil's house,<ref name="In the House of Tom Bombadil" group=T/> which serves as one of [[Frodo's five Homely Houses]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Shippey |first=Tom |author-link=Tom Shippey |title=[[J. R. R. Tolkien: Author of the Century]] |date=2001 |publisher=[[HarperCollins]] |isbn=978-0261-10401-3 |page=65}}</ref> Here it is seen that the One Ring has no power over Bombadil; he can see Frodo when the Ring makes him invisible to others and can wear it himself with no effect. He even tosses the Ring in the air and makes it disappear but then produces it from his other hand and returns it to Frodo. The idea of giving him the Ring for safekeeping is rejected in Book Two's second chapter, "The Council of Elrond". Gandalf says that it is unwise to consider Tom as having power over the Ring and that rather, "the Ring has no power over him...". He suggests that Tom would not find the Ring to be very important and so might simply misplace it.<ref name="In the House of Tom Bombadil" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1954a|loc=book 1, ch. 7, "In the House of Tom Bombadil"}}</ref>
Before sending the Hobbits on their way, Tom teaches them a rhyme to summon him if they fall into danger again within his borders. This proves fortunate, as the four are trapped by a [[barrow-wight]]. After rescuing them, Tom gives each Hobbit a long dagger taken from the treasure in the [[tumulus|barrow]]. He refuses to pass the borders of his own land, but he directs them to the [[The Prancing Pony|Prancing Pony]] Inn at [[Bree (Middle-earth)|Bree]].<ref name="Fog on the Barrow-Downs" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1954a|loc=book 1, ch. 8, "Fog on the Barrow-Downs"}}</ref>
Towards the end of ''[[The Return of the King]]'', when Gandalf leaves the Hobbits, he mentions that he wants to have a long talk with Bombadil, calling him a "moss-gatherer". Gandalf says, in response to Frodo's query of how well Bombadil is getting along, that Bombadil is "as well as ever", "quite untroubled" and "not much interested in anything that we have done and seen", save their visits to the [[Ent]]s. At the very end of ''The Lord of the Rings'', as Frodo sails into the West and leaves Middle-earth forever, he has what seems to him the very experience that appeared to him in the house of Bombadil [[Dreams and visions in The Lord of the Rings|in his dream]] of the second night.<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1955|loc=book 6, ch. 7 "Homeward Bound" and ch. 9 "The Grey Havens"}}</ref>
== Concept and creation ==
[[File:Gliederpuppe.jpg|thumb|upright=0.6|A [[Dutch doll]], a wooden peg construction giving a stiff doll with hinged joints, illustrates the type of toy that inspired the name Tom Bombadil. The one owned by the Tolkien family had a hat with a feather.<ref name="Carpenter 1987 p165"/> ]]
Tolkien stated that he invented Tom Bombadil in memory of his children's [[Peg wooden doll|Dutch doll]].<ref name="Beal 2018">{{cite journal |last=Beal |first=Jane |title=Who is Tom Bombadil?: Interpreting the Light in Frodo Baggins and Tom Bombadil's Role in the Healing of Traumatic Memory in J.R.R. Tolkien's 'Lord of the Rings' |journal=[[Journal of Tolkien Research]] |publisher=[[Valparaiso University]] |___location=Valparaiso, Indiana |date=2018 |volume=6 |issue=1 |at=article 1 |url=https://scholar.valpo.edu/journaloftolkienresearch/vol6/iss1/1 |quote=Tolkien's inspiration for this character was a brightly-dressed, peg-wood, Dutch doll (with a feather in his hat!) that belonged to his second son, Michael.}}</ref>{{efn|Tolkien wrote: "The doll looked very splendid with the feather in its hat, but John did not like it and one day stuffed it down the lavatory. Tom was rescued, and survived to become the hero of a poem..."<ref name="Carpenter 1987 p165">{{cite book |last=Carpenter |first=Humphrey |author-link=Humphrey Carpenter |title=[[J. R. R. Tolkien: A Biography]] |publisher=[[Allen & Unwin]] |___location=London, England |date=1987 |page=165 |isbn=978-0-04-928037-3}}</ref>}}<ref>{{cite journal |last=Poveda |first=Jaume Alberdo |year=2003–2004 |title=Narrative Models in Tolkien's Stories of Middle Earth |journal=Journal of English Studies |volume=4 |pages=7–22 |url=http://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/fichero_articulo?codigo=1975822&orden=74928|doi=10.18172/jes.84|doi-access=free}}</ref> His Bombadil poems far pre-date the writing of ''The Lord of the Rings'', into which Tolkien introduced Tom Bombadil from the earliest drafts.<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1988|pp=42, 115 ff.}}</ref> In response to a letter, Tolkien described Tom in ''The Lord of the Rings'' as "just an invention" and "not an important person – to the narrative", even if "he represents something that I feel important, though I would not be prepared to analyse the feeling precisely. I would not, however, have left him in, if he did not have some kind of function." Specifically, Tolkien connected Tom in the letter to a renunciation of control, "a delight in things for themselves without reference to yourself," "Botany and Zoology (as sciences) and Poetry".<ref name="To Naomi Mitchison" group=T>{{harvnb|Carpenter|2023|loc=#144, letter to [[Naomi Mitchison]], 25 April 1954 }}</ref> In another letter, Tolkien writes that he does not think Tom is improved by philosophizing; he included the character "because I had already 'invented' him independently" (in ''[[The Oxford Magazine]]'') "and wanted an 'adventure' on the way".<ref name="To Peter Hastings" group=T>{{harvnb|Carpenter|2023|loc=#153, draft of letter to Peter Hastings, September 1954 }}</ref>
Tolkien commented further that "even in a mythical Age there must be some enigmas, as there always are. Tom Bombadil is one (intentionally)".<ref name="To Naomi Mitchison" group=T/> In a letter to [[Stanley Unwin (publisher)|Stanley Unwin]], Tolkien called Tom Bombadil the spirit of the vanishing landscapes of [[Oxfordshire]] and [[Berkshire]]. However, this 1937 letter was in reference to works which pre-dated the writing of ''The Lord of the Rings''.<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Carpenter|2023|loc=#19, letter to [[Stanley Unwin (publisher)|Stanley Unwin]], 16 December 1937 }}
</ref>
Tolkien said little of Tom Bombadil's origins, and the character does not fit neatly into the categories of beings Tolkien created. Bombadil calls himself the "Eldest" and the "Master". He claims to remember "the first raindrop and the first acorn", and that he "knew the dark under the stars when it was fearless—before the Dark Lord came from Outside". When Frodo asks Goldberry just who Tom Bombadil is, she responds simply by saying "He is". Some critics have taken this dialogue as a reference to God's statement "[[I Am that I Am]]" in the [[Book of Exodus]], an idea which Tolkien denied as an influence.<ref name="To Peter Hastings" group=T/>
== Analysis ==
=== Väinämöinen ===
[[File:Sammon puolustus.jpg|thumb|Tom Bombadil's antecedents may include the [[demigod]] [[Väinämöinen]] from the Finnish epic poem ''[[Kalevala]]''.<ref name="Gay 2004"/> Painting ''[[The Defense of the Sampo]]'' by [[Akseli Gallen-Kallela]], 1896]]
The scholar of folklore David Elton Gay writes that Tolkien was inspired by the poetry of the ''[[Kalevala]]'', [[Elias Lönnrot]]'s 1849 collection of Finland's oral tradition. Gay suggests with a detailed comparison that Tom Bombadil was directly modelled on the ''Kalevala''{{'s}} central character, the [[demigod]] [[Väinämöinen]].<ref name="Gay 2004">{{cite book |last=Gay |first=David Elton |editor-last=Chance |editor-first=Jane |editor-link=Jane Chance |chapter=J.R.R. Tolkien and the Kalevala |title=Tolkien and the Invention of Myth: a Reader |title-link=Tolkien and the Invention of Myth |publisher=[[University Press of Kentucky]] |___location=Lexington, Kentucky |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-8131-2301-1 |pages=295–304}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; border: none;"
|+ David Elton Gay's comparison of Tom Bombadil with the demigod [[Väinämöinen]] in the 1849 ''[[Kalevala]]''<ref name="Gay 2004"/>
|-
! [[Väinämöinen]] !! Tom Bombadil
|-
| colspan=2; style="text-align: center;" | Oldest, immortal
|-
| colspan=2; style="text-align: center;" | Lives in a small forested country that he controls but does not own
|-
| colspan=2; style="text-align: center;" | Extremely close to his world, exemplifying "naturalness"<ref name="Gay 2004"/>
|-
| colspan=2; style="text-align: center;" | Fearless, because powerful
|-
| colspan=2; style="text-align: center;" | Power through song and knowledge
|-
| colspan=2; style="text-align: center;" | Sings for the pleasure of singing
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | "Day by day he sang unwearied"
| style="text-align: center;" | [[Sound and language in Middle-earth#True names|Mostly speaks through song]]
|-
| As oldest living being, he saw creation,<br/>heard names of all beings,<br/>knows songs of their origins,<br/>helped shape the land
| "I am old, Eldest, that's what I am ...<br/>Tom was here before the river and the trees"<br/>"Tom remembers the first raindrop<br/>and the first acorn"<ref name="In the House of Tom Bombadil" group=T/>
|}
=== Sauron's opposite ===
The Tolkien scholar [[Verlyn Flieger]] writes that if there was an opposite to [[Sauron]] in ''The Lord of the Rings'', it would not be [[Aragorn]], his battlefield opponent, nor Gandalf, his spiritual enemy, but Tom Bombadil, the earthly Master who is entirely free of the desire to dominate, and hence cannot be dominated.<ref name="Flieger 2011">{{cite book |last=Flieger |first=Verlyn |author-link=Verlyn Flieger |chapter=Sometimes One Word is Worth a Thousand Pictures |editor1-last=Bogstad |editor1-first=Janice M. |editor2-last=Kaveny |editor2-first=Philip E. |title=[[Picturing Tolkien]] |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jNjKrXRP0G8C&pg=PA50 |year=2011 |publisher=[[McFarland (publisher)|McFarland]] |___location=Jefferson, North Carolina|isbn=978-0-7864-8473-7 |pages=50–51}}</ref> The Christian scholar<!--Houghton University, Templeton Trust--> W. Christopher Stewart sees Bombadil as embodying the pursuit of knowledge purely for its own sake, driven only by his sense of wonder. In his view, this goes some way to explaining Bombadil's indifference to the [[One Ring]], whose only purpose is power and domination.<ref>{{cite book |last=Stewart |first=W. Christopher |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/hobbitphilosophy0000unse/page/155 |chapter=The Lord of Magic and Machines |title=The Hobbit and Philosophy: For When You've Lost Your Dwarves, Your Wizard, and Your Way |publisher=[[Wiley (publisher)|Wiley]] |___location=Hoboken, New Jersey |year=2012 |page=155 |editor-first=Gregory |editor-last=Bassham |isbn=978-0470405147}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; border: none;"
|+ Sauron's opposite, as analysed by [[Verlyn Flieger]]<ref name="Flieger 2011"/>
|-
!
! style="width: 225px;" | [[Sauron]]
! style="width: 350px;" | Tom Bombadil
|-
| '''Role''' || Antagonist || Earthly counterpart
|-
| '''Title''' || Dark Lord || "Master"
|-
| '''Purpose''' || Domination of whole of Middle-earth|| Care for [[The Old Forest]]<br/>"No hidden agenda, no covert desire or plan of operation"
|-
| '''Effect of the<br/>[[One Ring]]''' || "Power over other wills" || No effect on him "as he is not human", nor does it prevent him seeing someone who is wearing the Ring
|-
| '''How he sees<br/>the Ring''' || The Eye of Sauron desires to dominate through the Ring || Looks right through it, his "blue eye peering through the circle of the Ring"
|}
=== Multiple levels of meaning ===
Jane Beal, in the ''[[Journal of Tolkien Research]]'', writes that Bombadil can be considered using "the four levels of meaning found in medieval [[scriptural exegesis]] and literary interpretation". These are different ways of understanding a text, rather than necessarily contradicting each other.<ref name="Beal 2018"/>
{| class="wikitable" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; border: none;"
|+ Jane Beal's analysis of Bombadil's multiple levels of meaning<ref name="Beal 2018"/>
|-
! Level !! Meaning
|-
| '''Literal''' || Real world: a wooden doll that belonged to Michael Tolkien.<br/>[[Sub-creation|Sub-created world]]: "Eldest".
|-
| '''[[Allegory|Allegorical]]''' || Real world: the spirit of the vanishing English countryside.<br/>Sub-created world: a figure of the study of [[Zoology]], [[Botany]], and [[Poetry]],<br/>parallel to the first, [[prelapsarian]] Adam.{{efn|The Tolkien scholar [[Brian Rosebury]] writes that Bombadil's relation to the land of which he is the Master is "like that of an unfallen Adam to the Garden of Eden".<ref>{{cite book |last=Rosebury |first=Brian |author-link=Brian Rosebury |title=Tolkien: A Cultural Phenomenon |publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan]] |year=2003 |page=40 |isbn=978-1-4039-1597-9 |url=https://archive.org/details/tolkienculturalp00rose/page/40}}</ref> }}
|-
| '''Moral''' || A storyteller, representative of Tolkien himself.
|-
| '''[[Anagogical]]''' || A figure of the second Adam, [[Jesus]].
|}
=== Jungian interpretation ===
{{see also|Psychological journeys of Middle-earth}}
The psychologist [[Timothy O'Neill (camoufleur)|Timothy R. O'Neill]] interpreted Bombadil from a [[Jungian]] perspective in ''[[The Individuated Hobbit|The Individuated Hobbit: Jung, Tolkien, and the Archetypes of Middle-Earth]]'' (1979).<ref>{{cite book |last=Honegger |first=Thomas |author-link=Thomas Honegger |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bGCzDwAAQBAJ&dq=jung+tolkien++Bombadil&pg=PT133 |chapter=More Light Than Shadow? Jungian Approaches to Tolkien and the Archetypal Image of the Shadow |editor-last=Agnoloni |editor-first=Giovanni |title=Tolkien: Light and Shadow |publisher=Kipple Officina Libraria |___location=Torriglia, Italy |year=2019 |isbn=9788832179071 }}</ref> O'Neill finds Bombadil to be the manifestation of the [[Jungian archetypes|<!-- cap on purpose-->Self archetype]] and a vision of man's beginning and destiny:<ref name="O'Neill 1979"/>
{{blockquote|A common and potent archetype is Original Man, which Jung often calls [[Adam_Kadmon#Gnosticism|Anthropos]], emerging as a conscious representative of the Self. Bombadil, despite his apparently humble digs in the Old Forest, is the prototype of the [[People of God|Children of God]], that Original Man and the template which will influence the final form of Man... he is the cosmic seed from which Man develops."<ref name="O'Neill 1979">{{cite book |last=O'Neill |first=Timothy R. |author-link=Timothy O'Neill (camoufleur) |title=The Individuated Hobbit: Jung, Tolkien, and the Archetypes of Middle-Earth |publisher=[[Houghton Mifflin Harcourt|Houghton Mifflin]] |___location=Boston, Massachusetts |year=1979 |pages=120–125 |isbn=978-0-395-28208-3 |url=https://archive.org/details/individuatedhobb00onei/page/120/mode/2up?q=bombadil}}</ref>}}
The Tolkien scholar Patrick Grant notes that "Jung also talks of a common figure, the 'vegetation numen,' king of the forest, who is associated with wood and water in a manner that recalls Tom Bombadil."<ref>{{cite book |first=Patrick |last=Grant |chapter=[[Understanding The Lord of the Rings|Tolkien: Archetype and Word]] |editor-last=Zimbardo |editor-first=Rose A. |editor-link=Rose A. Zimbardo |title=Understanding The Lord of the Rings: The Best of Tolkien Criticism |publisher=[[Houghton Mifflin]] |___location=Boston, Massachusetts |year=2004 |page=162 |isbn=978-0-618-42251-7 |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780618422517/page/162 }}</ref>
=== Early interpretations ===
[[Robert Foster (author)|Robert Foster]], author of an early guide to Middle-earth, suggested in 1978 that Bombadil is one of the [[Maiar]], angelic beings sent from [[Valinor]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Foster |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Foster (author) |title=The Complete Guide to Middle Earth |date=1978 |publisher=[[Ballantine Books|Ballentine]] |___location=New York City |isbn=978-0739432976 |page=492}}</ref>
The Tolkien scholar and philosopher Gene Hargrove argued in ''[[Mythlore]]'' in 1986 that Tolkien understood who Bombadil is, but purposefully made him enigmatic. Hargrove suggested that Tolkien left clues that Bombadil is one of the [[Vala (Middle-earth)|Valar]], a god of Middle-Earth, specifically [[Aulë]], the archangelic demigod who created the [[Dwarf (Middle-earth)|dwarves]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Hargrove |first=Gene |title=Who Is Tom Bombadil? |journal=[[Mythlore]] |date=1986 |volume=13 |number=1 |url=https://dc.swosu.edu/mythlore/vol13/iss1/3/ }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Hargrove |first=Gene |title=Who Is Tom Bombadil? (updated) |journal=Beyond Bree |date=August 1987 |url=https://itservices.cas.unt.edu/~hargrove/tombomb.html }}</ref>
== Adaptations ==
[[File:Khraniteli_In_the_House_of_Tom_Bombadil.jpg|thumb|Bombadil and [[Goldberry]] with the four [[hobbit]]s made to look much smaller using a crude [[green-screen]] technique in the 1991 Russian [[television play]] ''[[Khraniteli]]''<ref name="Davis 2021"/>]]
Along with the adventures in Crickhollow, the Old Forest, and the Barrow-downs, Bombadil is omitted from [[Peter Jackson's interpretation of The Lord of the Rings|Peter Jackson's interpretation of ''The Lord of the Rings'']].<ref name="Rateliff 2011">{{cite book |last=Rateliff |first=John D. |author-link=John D. Rateliff |chapter=Two Kinds of Absence: Elision & Exclusion in Peter Jackson's ''The Lord of the Rings'' |editor1-last=Bogstad |editor1-first=Janice M. |editor2-last=Kaveny |editor2-first=Philip E. |title=Picturing Tolkien: Essays on Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings Film Trilogy |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jNjKrXRP0G8C&pg=PA54 |year=2011 |publisher=[[McFarland & Company]] |isbn=978-0-7864-8473-7 |pages=54–69 |access-date=2020-08-25 |archive-date=2021-04-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210416095950/https://books.google.com/books?id=jNjKrXRP0G8C&pg=PA54 |url-status=live }}</ref> Jackson explained that this was because he and his co-writers felt that the character does little to advance the story, and including him would make the film unnecessarily long. [[Christopher Lee]] concurred, stating the scenes were left out to make time for showing [[Saruman]]'s capture of Gandalf.<ref>{{cite video |last=Jackson |first=Peter |author-link=Peter Jackson |title=The Lord of the Rings - The Fellowship of the Ring - Extended Edition Appendices |medium=DVD |date=2004 }}</ref>{{efn|Some of Bombadil's dialogue, as well as the scene in which the hobbits meet [[Old Man Willow]], are transferred into scenes which Merry and Pippin share with [[Treebeard]] in Jackson's adaptation, included in the extended edition DVD.}}
Bombadil has appeared in other radio and film adaptations. He was played by [[Norman Shelley]] in the 1955–1956 [[The Lord of the Rings (1955 radio series)|BBC radio adaptation]] of ''The Lord of the Rings'', a performance that Tolkien thought "dreadful"; in his view even worse was that Goldberry was announced as his daughter and [[Old Man Willow|Willowman]] "an ally of {{nowrap|[[Mordor]] (!!)}}" (his emphasis).<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Carpenter|2023|loc=#175 to Mrs Molly Waldron, 30 November 1955 }}</ref> He was portrayed by Esko Hukkanen in the 1993 Finnish [[miniseries]] ''[[Hobitit]]''.<ref>{{cite web |last=Mansikka |first=Ossi |title=Tiesitkö, että ysärillä tehtiin suomalainen tv-sarja Sormusten herrasta, ja tätä kulttuurin merkkipaalua on nyt mahdotonta enää nähdä |date=22 January 2020 |url=https://www.hs.fi/nyt/art-2000006380486.html |publisher=Nyt.fi |access-date=24 March 2020 |quote=Kirjafaneja riemastuttanee tieto, että Torikan versiossa nähdään myös Jacksonin hylkäämä Tom Bombadil Esko Hukkanen esittämänä. |language=fi}}</ref> He appeared, too, in the 1979 [[The Lord of the Rings (1979 radio series)|Mind's Eye recordings]], where he was played by [[Bernard Mayes]], who also voiced Gandalf.<ref>{{cite web |title=Mind's Eye The Lord of the Rings (1979) |date=31 August 2014 |url=https://www.sf-worlds.com/lotr/minds-eye-1979/ |publisher=SF Worlds |access-date=6 April 2020}}</ref>
He was included, along with Goldberry and the Barrow-wight, in the 1991 Russian adaptation of ''The Fellowship of the Ring'', ''[[Khraniteli]]''.<ref name="Davis 2021">{{cite web |last1=Davis |first1=Rebecca |title=Inside the Soviet 'Lord of the Rings': Cast Details Their Epic TV Movie, Uncovered After 30 Years |url=https://variety.com/2021/film/actors/russian-lord-of-the-rings-khraniteli-1234968603/ |website=Variety |access-date=26 October 2023 |date=2021}}</ref><ref name="Roth 2021">{{cite news |last=Roth |first=Andrew |title=Soviet TV version of The Lord of the Rings rediscovered after 30 years |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/apr/05/soviet-tv-version-lord-of-the-rings-rediscovered-after-30-years |access-date=5 April 2021 |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=5 April 2021}}</ref> <!--Bombadil, along with the Old Forest, Old Man Willow, and the Barrow Downs, is missing from the BBC's 1981 [[The Lord of the Rings (1981 radio series)|radio adaptation]].--- Citation Needed if we're to use this-->
Tom Bombadil is portrayed by [[Rory Kinnear]] in the second season of ''[[The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power]]''.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Breznican |first=Anthony |date=2024-05-29 |title=Tom Bombadil Finally Steps Forth in 'The Rings of Power'—An Exclusive First Look |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/story/tom-bombadil-the-rings-of-power-first-look |access-date=2024-05-29 |magazine=Vanity Fair}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Yin-Poole |first=Wesley |date=2024-05-29 |title=First Look at Mysterious The Lord of the Rings Character Tom Bombadil in The Rings of Power |url=https://www.ign.com/articles/first-look-at-mysterious-the-lord-of-the-rings-character-tom-bombadil-in-the-rings-of-power |access-date=2024-05-29 |website=IGN}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Parkel |first=Inga |date=2024-05-29 |title=The cult Lord of the Rings character finally getting their moment in the sun |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/lord-of-the-rings-of-power-season-2-tom-bombadil-b2553255.html |access-date=2024-05-29 |work=The Independent}}</ref><!--The account "Character X appeared in Season N of production P and was played by actor A" is about the dullest imaginable thing to put in a Middle-earth article. Please find a critic or scholar who discusses the character's role in the production and say something a *teeny-tiny* bit more informative ... please ...-->
[[File:Tom Bombadil.jpg|thumb|Bombadil as depicted in ''[[The Lord of the Rings Trading Card Game]]'' ]]
Although Bombadil was not portrayed in [[The Lord of the Rings (1978 film)|Ralph Bakshi's]]<ref name="Korkis">{{cite web |last=Korkis |first=Jim<!--published author, expert on fantasy film--> |title=If at first you don't succeed ... call Peter Jackson |publisher=Jim Hill Media |url=http://jimhillmedia.com/blogs/jim_korkis/archive/2003/06/24/1087.aspx |date=24 June 2004 |access-date=15 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071013220805/http://jimhillmedia.com/blogs/jim_korkis/archive/2003/06/24/1087.aspx |archive-date=13 October 2007}}</ref> or Jackson's films,<ref name="Bogstad Kaveny 2011">{{cite book |chapter=Introduction |editor1-last=Bogstad |editor1-first=Janice M. |editor2-last=Kaveny |editor2-first=Philip E. |title=Picturing Tolkien: Essays on Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings Film Trilogy |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jNjKrXRP0G8C&pg=PA7 |year=2011 |publisher=[[McFarland (publisher)|McFarland]] |___location=Jefferson, North Carolina|isbn=978-0-7864-8473-7 |page=7}}</ref> a Tom Bombadil card exists in ''[[The Lord of the Rings Trading Card Game]]'' by [[Decipher, Inc.]] (part of the trilogy's merchandise). The model portraying Bombadil on this card is Harry Wellerchew.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.decipher.com/content/2004/07/072204lotrwetacasting.html |title=The Making of the Weta "Book Cards": Casting and Costuming |last=McCracken |first=Kathy |date=22 July 2004 |access-date=July 3, 2006 |publisher=Decipher Inc |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070319195311/http://www.decipher.com/content/2004/07/072204lotrwetacasting.html |archive-date=2007-03-19}}</ref> Bombadil is a [[non-player character]] in the [[MMORPG]] game ''[[The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar|The Lord of the Rings Online]]'', serving as a main character in Book 1 of the epic quests.<ref>{{cite web |title=Tom Bombadil |url=https://lotro.gamepressure.com/___location.asp?ID=1030 |publisher=[[Lotro]] |access-date=24 March 2020}}</ref>
Bombadil appears as a playable character in the [[LEGO]] ''[[Lego The Lord of the Rings (video game)|The Lord of the Rings]]'' and ''[[Lego The Hobbit (video game)|The Hobbit]]'' video games. He has no impact in the main story for either game, as the games are direct adaptations of the Peter Jackson films rather than the original novels, but he later appears as an unlockable character in the Middle Earth hub world and can be used in free-play mode.<ref>{{cite web |title=Tom Bombadil |url=https://www.ign.com/wikis/lego-the-hobbit/Tom_Bombadil |website=[[IGN]] |date=18 May 2014 |access-date=5 February 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Characters |url=https://www.ign.com/wikis/lego-lord-of-the-rings/Characters |website=[[IGN]] |date=24 November 2012 |access-date=5 February 2022}}</ref> He appears, too, on a "God" type card in the ''[[Magic: The Gathering]]'' expansion ''The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Jarvis |first=Matt |date=30 May 2023 |title=Magic: The Gathering answers one of Lord of the Rings' biggest mysteries in Tales of Middle-earth |url=https://www.dicebreaker.com/games/magic-the-gathering-game/news/mtg-answers-lord-of-the-rings-mystery-tom-bombadil |access-date=26 October 2023 |website=Dicebreaker}}</ref><!-- Please do not add primary materials from manufacturers here, thanks-->
The 1969 ''[[Harvard Lampoon]]'' novel ''[[Bored of the Rings]]'' parodies To<!--forename needed here for the parallel-->m Bombadil as "[[Timothy Leary|Tim]] [[Benzedrine]]", a stereotypical [[hippie]] married to "[[Hashish|Hash]]-[[Haight-Ashbury|berry]]".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2011/feb/08/tolkien-bored-of-the-rings |title=After Tolkien, get Bored of the Rings |work=[[The Guardian]] Books Blog |first=David |last=Barnett |author-link=David Barnett (writer) |date=8 February 2011 |access-date=14 September 2014}}</ref> One of his songs is rewritten as:
{{blockquote|<poem>[[wikt:toke|Toke]]-a-lid! Smoke-a-lid! Pop the [[Mescaline|mescalino]]!
[[wikt:stash|Stash]] the hash! Gonna [[wikt:crash|crash]]! Make mine [[Methamphetamine|methedrino]]!
Hop a hill! Pop a pill! For Old Tim Benzedrino!<ref>{{cite book |last=Beard |first=Henry |author-link=Henry Beard |title=Bored of the Rings: a Parody of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings |publisher=Signet (New American Library) |publication-place=New York |year=1969 |isbn=978-0-451-13730-2 |page=41 }}</ref></poem>}}
== Notes ==
{{notelist}}
==
=== Primary ===
{{reflist|group=T|28em}}
=== Secondary ===
{{reflist|28em}}
=== Sources ===
{{sfn whitelist|CITEREFTolkien2014}} <!-- for TB (Tom Bombadil) -->
* {{ME-ref|Letters}}
* {{ME-ref|FOTR}}
* {{ME-ref|ROTK}}
* {{ME-ref|TB}}
* {{ME-ref|ROTS}}
{{Lord of the Rings}}
{{Middle-earth}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2017}}
[[Category:The Lord of the Rings characters]]
[[Category:Literary characters introduced in 1934]]
[[Category:Fictional pacifists]]
[[Category:Middle-earth deities and spirits]]
[[de:Figuren in Tolkiens Welt#Tom Bombadil]]
[[pl:Lista postaci Śródziemia#Tom Bombadil]]
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