Tom Bombadil: A Baffling Character
Word Count: 3,837
Copyright Annika Laughlin December 9, 2008
Tom Bombadil is a very confusing character in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. He has many odd characteristics that are not always explained. Tom has power over elements of nature, is always singing, can move very swiftly, claims to have seen the creation of Middle Earth, and is not affected by the Ring. These bizarre traits add to Tom’s obscurity. Tolkien wrote that “even in a mythological age there must be some enigmas, as there always are. Tom Bombadil is one” (Hargrove 20). Tolkien created Tom in an intentionally baffling manner. His character is not supposed to be easily identifiable. Studying Tom’s peculiarities provides greater insight into his character. He sustains multiple interpretations within the text because he has no clear definition of his own.
Many of Tom’s characteristics make him stand out from other characters in Middle Earth. Tom’s clothing is an example. He describes his own clothing when he sings “Old Tom Bombadil is a merry fellow; Bright blue his jacket is, and his boots are yellow” (LOTR I/7). Tom’s colorful clothing wouldn’t make sense in any other area of Middle Earth, but it does in the Old Forest. He later changes his clothing to an outfit that “was all in clean blue, blue as rain-washed forget-me-nots, and he had green stockings” (LOTR I/7). Tom’s clothing is naturally colored and compared to the environment. Herbert suggests that “His coat, like the water and the sky above, is blue, symbolic perhaps of nature itself and of the fact that Tom wears the colors of no country or cause” (154). This interpretation is particularly relevant because Tom doesn’t involve himself with the politics of Middle Earth. He is concerned primarily with his life in the Old Forest. Tom’s outfits aren’t just a strange compilation of clothing; they provide information about his character.
One of Tom’s less noticeable oddities that differentiates him from other characters is that he frequently starts to fall asleep while talking. During a conversation with the hobbits “Tom nodded as if sleep was taking him again; but he went on in a soft singing voice” (TLOR I/7). During the next evening while Tom is again talking with the hobbits “he nodded as if he was falling asleep… and it seemed as if, under the spell of his words, the wind had gone, and the clouds had dried up, and the day had been withdrawn” (TLOR I/7). The hobbits perceive that night arrives because Tom is talking. Both of these examples occur at night, so Tom may simply be tired. However, it seems as if Tom’s words soothe himself in the same manner that they do the elements of nature. Tom lulls himself to sleep by talking aloud.
Tom’s gift of extraordinary speed is another of his distinguishing factors. He moves faster than a normal man or hobbit is able to move, yet there is no explanation given by the text for his swiftness. Tom leads the hobbits back to his house and “the hobbits followed after him as fast as they could. But that was not fast enough. Tom soon disappeared in front of them, and the noise of his singing got fainter and further away” (LOTR I/6). The hobbits can’t keep up with the pace of Tom’s dancing. He acknowledges his speed in a song when he comes to the hobbits aid at the Barrow-downs. Tom sings that “None has ever caught him yet, for Tom, he is the master: His songs are stronger songs, and his feet are faster” (LOTR I/8). Tom knows he is faster than most other beings. He is able to arrive at the Barrow-downs in a “long slow moment” (LOTR I/8), when it took the hobbits all day to reach the Barrow-downs. Tom’s character becomes more confusing because there is no explanation given for his quickness of speed.
Tom’s continual singing is another unique characteristic. Tom chants “Hey dol! merry dol! ring a dong dillo! ring a dong! hop Along! fal lal the willow! Tom Bom, jolly Tom, Tom Bombadillo!” (LOTR I/6). Tom frequently sings rhymes such as this one. The word “dol” is significant because “The first Tom Bombadil was a wooden doll owned by Michael Tolkien” (Reynolds 85). One of his children’s toys provided Tolkien with inspiration for Tom Bombadil. Tom’s repetition of “dol” is a pun on the word “doll”, and by continually using it, Tom is “calling attention to who he is” (Reynolds 87). Tom’s songs acknowledge one of his origins.
Another interesting characteristic of Tom’s singing is that it spreads to other characters. While eating with Tom and Goldberry the hobbits notice that “The drink in their drinking-bowls seemed to be clear cold water, yet it went to their hearts like wine and set their voices free. The guests became suddenly aware that they were singing merrily, as if it was easier and more natural than talking” (LOTR I/7). The hobbits begin to sing without restraint as Tom does. Frodo’s speech also becomes less inhibited in Tom’s house. While talking to Tom “Frodo found himself telling him more about Bilbo and his own hopes and fears than he had told before even to Gandalf” (LOTR I/7). While with Tom the hobbits are freer with language. The hobbits attribute this change in behavior to what they are drinking, but there is no further explanation. This unexplained peculiarity adds to Tom’s baffling nature.
Tom’s songs are frequently described as being devoid of meaning. Frodo’s first impression of Tom’s singing is that “some one was singing a song; a deep glad voice was singing carelessly and happily, but it was singing nonsense” (LOTR I/6). This description is used again when Tom leads the hobbits to his home and “went hopping and dancing along the path eastward, still singing loudly and nonsensically” (LOTR I/6). Tom’s songs, like himself, are often times inexplicable. Characters, and perhaps the readers, don’t see any meaning in the words he uses. Yet, it becomes clear through other examples of his speech that Tom derives his power through words.
Tom’s demonstrations of strength always occur through his seemingly pointless songs. Tom rescues Merry and Pippin when they are swallowed in the ground by Old Man Willow. He doesn’t need to use physical force, Tom just “put his mouth to the crack and began singing into it in a low voice” (LOTR I/6), and Old Man Willow releases the hobbits. He saves the hobbits through song again when they are trapped in the barrow-downs. Tom sings to banish the Wight from the barrow, and “At these words there was a cry and part of the inner end of the chamber fell in with a crash. Then there was a long trailing shriek, fading away into an unguessable distance; after that silence” (LOTR I/8). The description points out that what Tom said, not what he did, forced the Wight to leave. Tom’s power comes through songs, not physical strength.
Tom’s recurrent songs set him apart from other characters. His habit of speaking in verse “make[s] him seem, not an artist, but someone from an age before art and nature were distinguished, when magic needed no wizard’s staff but came from words alone. Tolkien may have got the idea from the singing wizards of the Finnish epic the Kalevala, which he so admired” (Shippey 64). Tom’s power is a different form of supremacy than any of the staff bearing characters, such as Gandalf and Saruman. He only needs to speak, whereas they need to bear their staff as well. There are, as Shippey hints at, interesting connections between a character from the Kalevala, Vainamoinen, and Tom Bombadil. Vainamoinen and Tom’s “power comes from their command of song and lore” (Gay 298). Due to his power of song, “Bombadil’s strength is among the greatest is Middle Earth, as Vainamoinen’s is in Kaleva” (Gay 298). Both Tom and Vainamoinen derive their strength from songs. Tom’s command of language is not an isolated characteristic; it is an allusion to the Kalevala.
Another distinctive characteristic of Tom is that he does not leave the boundaries of his land. Tom is not prevented from leaving his land by some form of barrier, physical or otherwise, he chooses to remain in his realm. This information is discussed at Elrond’s council when Gandalf relates that Tom ‘“is withdrawn into a little land, within bounds that he has set, though none can see them, waiting perhaps for a change of days, and he will not step beyond them’”(LOTR II/2). Tom chooses to seclude himself from the rest of Middle Earth. His isolation is a self imposed exile and he tries not to meddle in the current affairs. Tom is more concerned with his own activities. He tells the hobbits when they ask him to continue further with them that “Tom’s country ends here: he will not pass the borders. Tom has his house to mind, and Goldberry is waiting” (LOTR I/8). Tom is preoccupied with his own life, and wants to return to his house and his wife. He refuses to offer more aid even though the hobbits could use his continued assistance.
Tom and Shelob share a disinterest in the affairs of Middle Earth. Shelob does not “[care] for towers, or rings, or anything devised by mind or hand” (LOTR IV/9). She is an antagonistic character by her nature, not because she wishes to have the Ring. Both characters have no personal investment in the war for the Ring and are secluded in a limited physical space. Tom and Shelob “are placed in The Lord of the Rings for a purpose and that purpose is precisely to show that there are, whether for good and evil, creatures in this world that are above and beyond the struggles of mortals” (Jeffs 26). Neither Shelob nor Tom is desirous of the Ring. Their actions are not dictated by concern for the Ring’s effect on Middle Earth. Tom and Shelob are paralleled in the text because they do not align themselves on either side of the war.
Tom’s most confusing and distinctive characteristic is that he is not affected by the Ring. After Frodo gives Tom the Ring he “put the Ring round the end of his little finger and held it up to the candlelight. For a moment the hobbits noticed nothing strange about this. Then they gasped. There was no sign of Tom disappearing” (LOTR I/7). Every other character that wears the ring becomes invisible. Frodo puts on the Ring and disappears from the sight of the other hobbits, but Tom exclaims ‘“Where be you a-going? Old Tom Bombadil’s not as blind as that yet. Take off your golden ring! Your hand’s more fair without it”’ (LOTR I/7). Tom sees Frodo even though Frodo should be invisible to him. The Ring is powerless over Tom. No other character has these traits. Slethaug suggests that “He is not affected, because he plays no significant part in the affairs of men …this ring is the source and symbol of a conflict over the ordering of society and with the results, positive or destructive, of that conflict” (349). This interpretation is interesting because it implies part of the Ring’s power is derived from characters believing it is powerful. Tom’s isolation from society is what enables him not to be controlled by the Ring.
Tom plays with the Ring in an amusing way. After taking the Ring from Frodo “he put it to his eye and laughed. For a second the hobbits had a vision, both comical and alarming, of his bright blue eyes gleaming through a circle of gold” (LOTR I/7). The description of Tom’s eye in the ring parallels the description of the Eye of Sauron. When Frodo looks into Galadriel’s mirror he sees that “The Eye was rimmed with fire, but was itself glazed, yellow as a cat’s, watchful and intent, and the black slit of its pupil opened on a pit, a window into nothing” (LOTR II/9). In both examples the eye is encircled in a golden hue. Tom’s display is a sarcastic representation of Sauron’s power. The readers only “grasp the extent of the mockery when [they] realize that Bombadil is imitating Sauron no less; putting himself in Sauron’s place and performing his darkest tricks with the real Ring” (Jenson 42). Tom makes fun of what every other character fears.
Gandalf is the character, outside of the Old Forest, who knows the most about Tom Bombadil. At Elrond’s council he is able to explain some of Tom’s peculiarities. Gandalf relates that he would only take the Ring “if all the free folk of the world begged him, but he would not understand the need. And if he were given the Ring, he would soon forget it, or most likely throw it away. Such things have no hold on his mind” (LOTR II/2). Gandalf understands more about Tom Bombadil that most others. Gandalf’s mind turns to Tom after victory is achieved. He tells the hobbits “‘I am going to have a long talk with Bombadil: such a talk as I have not had in all my time. He is a moss-gatherer, and I have been a stone doomed to rolling. But my rolling days are ending, and now we shall have much to say to one another’” (LOTR VI/7). Gandalf chooses, among all of the possible options he is now free to pursue, to visit Tom. This topic is not expanded on in The Lord of the Rings, but suggests that there is a relationship between Gandalf and Tom. There are more elements to Tom than those that are developed fully in the story.
Characters in Middle Earth, who do not understand Tom as well as Gandalf does, are also baffled by Tom’s distinctive characteristics. Frodo questions his nature twice. He first consults Goldberry by asking ‘“Who is Tom Bombadil?’” (LOTR I/7). Goldberry answers that ‘“He is…He is, as you have seen him…He is the Master of wood, water, and hill’” (LOTR I/7). Goldberry’s response implies that Tom is a state a being that is defined by his appearance and abilities. There is not a solitary term that provides a definition for Tom Bombadil. The language Goldberry uses in her answer provides for another interpretation. Pirson relates that “It really is remarkable for Goldberry to refer to Tom by means of the verb ‘to be’ without adding a predicate, because in the biblical text God uses the same construction” (15). When Moses “asks what might be God’s name God answers: ‘I am that I am’” (Pirson 15). Goldberry’s reply implies that Tom Bombadil is God. This classification is very interesting because the characters of Middle Earth have no organized religion.
Frodo later questions Tom about his identity. He asks Tom ‘“Who are you, Master?’” (LOTR I/7). Tom answers by asking Frodo “‘Don’t you know my name yet? That’s the only answer. Tell me, who are you, alone, yourself and nameless?”’ (LOTR I/7). Tom’s reply suggests that he defines himself, and that there is no other classification. Tom’s name is the only useful definition because there is no other being like him in Middle Earth. This conversation also parallels a biblical story. Pirson directs the reader to “Saul’s exclamation ‘who are you, Lord?’, to which Frodo’s question to Tom ‘Who are you, Master? is an obvious allusion” (17). Tom’s character is now paralleled with Jesus. Both interpretations are supported by the similarities in language between the biblical text and The Lord of the Rings. The answers Tom and Goldberry give are not concrete. There most likely isn’t a substantial definition for Tom if neither he nor his wife can provide one.
Tom has no set classification, so he is identified by his unusual traits. Tom’s age is brought up multiple times. A precise number of years is never given, but most characters agree that he is very aged. Tom relates this idea to Frodo when he says “‘Eldest, that’s what I am… Tom was here before the river and the tree; Tom remembers the first raindrop and the first acorn. He made paths before the Big People, and saw the little People arriving. He was here before the Kings and the graves and the Barrow-wights” (LOTR I/7). Tom was present before the creation of Middle Earth and witnessed its development. He has watched both nature and civilization grow. During Elrond’s council Glorfindel predicts that “if all else is conquered Bombadil will fall, Last as he was First” (TLOR II/2). The capitalization of “Last” and “First” is important because it makes those words appear as names. Tom is partially identified by his timeline.
Tom’s characterization as the oldest creature allows him to sustain another interpretation. Using Tom’s own words “quite literally that he ‘was here before the river and the trees…the first raindrop and the first acorn’, he is saying either that he was in Middle-earth when the Valar arrived or that he arrived as one of the Valar…Since the world was incomplete at that time and nothing lived on the earth except the Valar, it is hard to believe that Tom is anything but a Vala” (Hargrove 22). Tom is given an actual definition through this reasoning. For the readers who know more history than what is presented in The Lord of the Rings, Tom can be viewed as a Vala.
Another term used frequently to identify Tom is Master. Goldberry introduces this idea to the hobbits when she says ‘“Tom Bombadil is the Master. No one has ever caught old Tom walking in the forest, wading in the water, leaping on the hill-tops under light and shadow. He has no fear. Tom Bombadil is master” (LOTR I/7). Master is also capitalized as a name would be because Tom is recognized by this characteristic. The word “master” relates that Tom has authority over another element. He is able to influence the actions of his natural surroundings, but only does so when it is necessary. Tom’s power of “mastery is obviously not through possession or enslavement. He is ‘the master’ in the sense of the magister, the teacher” (Treschow 187). Tom does not dictate every action of the forest, but he does instruct it how to behave properly. Tom chastises Old Man Willow by saying ‘“What be you a-thinking of? You should not be waking”’ (LOTR I/6). Old Man Willow is not acting appropriately when he swallows Merry and Pippin into the earth, so Tom directs the tree to release them. Tom is selective in the use of his power over nature.
Tom is also acknowledged to be closely identified with nature. He lives safely in the dangerous Old Forest and has power over the environment. When Frodo and Sam first see Tom “The wind puffed out. The leaves hung silently again on stiff branches. There was another burst of song, and then suddenly, hopping and dancing along the path, there appeared above the reeds an old battered hat” (TLOR I/6). Tom’s influence over the elements of nature is seen in how his song calms the unfriendly surroundings. He appears to the hobbits unexpectedly and his arrival is not anticipated. There is no sign of anyone else being in the forest, until they hear Tom’s song. He seems to come from the earth itself. Tom is “a kind of exhalation of the earth, a nature-spirit and once again a highly English one” (Shippey 64). Tom’s character is created from the earth, and is an embodiment of nature.
Tom’s wife Goldberry is also representative of nature. When the hobbits first enter Tom’s house they are mesmerized by Goldberry, whose “long yellow hair rippled down her shoulders; her gown was green, green as young reeds, shot with silver beads of dew; and her belt was gold, shaped like a chain of flag-lilies set with the pale-blue eyes of forget-me-nots” (LOTR I/7). Goldberry’s appearance, like Tom’s, is compared to different environmental aspects. Her hair is described in a way that a body of water would be portrayed, and her clothing is associated with different plants. Goldberry is “almost certainly herself a personification of nature, she portrays that element with which man must unite in order to make life wholesome” (Slethaug 345). This quotation reflects the belief that nature shouldn’t be completely controlled. Tom’s relationship with Goldberry is significant because “he does not dominate her, but she responds to him as her rightful lord” (Slethaug 345). Goldberry reacts to Tom in the same manner the elements of nature react to him. Tom is not controlling of Goldberry. His interaction with his wife is very similar to how he interacts with the environment. Tom has the power to control, but only does so when it is necessary.
Tom is identified through his oddities, but other characters also give him names. Tom introduces himself as Tom Bombadil, but Elrond comments that Tom “‘was not then his name. Iarwain Ben-adar we called him, oldest and fatherless. But many another name he has since been given by other folk: Forn by the Dwarves, Orald by the Northern Men, and other names beside” (LOTR II/2). The different races of characters have different names for Tom because there is no general agreement in Middle Earth about his name. He is better recognized through his characteristics.
Jones offers an interesting interpretation for the name the elves give Tom. The Middle Welsh translation of Iarwain Ben-adar is “hen-seed head-of-bird” and also “chicken-child” (Jones 48). Jones connects this peculiar translation to the story of the poet Taliesin who turned himself into a seed, was eaten by a hen, and is then birthed from that hen nine months later (Jones 48–49). Tom was not eaten or mothered by a hen, but Taliesin, like Tom, was believed to be able to “proclaim his universal knowledge based on having existed from the dawn of time” (Jones 49). Both Tom and Taliesin were present at the creation of their respective worlds. This similarity is an intentional allusion because Taliesin’s story is one of the “Middle Welsh narratives that Tolkien studied as an undergraduate and taught at Leeds” (Jones 48). Tom’s elvish name has a hidden meaning through translation that hints at one of his literary predecessors.
Tom Bombadil’s character can be expanded on, but he can’t be completely explained. His mannerisms are very perplexing and cause him to stand out from the other characters of The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien wrote that “many have found him an odd and indeed discordant ingredient. In historical fact I put him in because I had already invented him independently and wanted an ‘adventure’ on the way. But I kept him in, and as he was, because he represents certain things otherwise left out” (Tolkien 192). Tolkien acknowledges that Tom is a source of confusion to the reader. Even so, Tom is presented in the manner Tolkien wished him to be portrayed. He is intentionally bewildering. Tom Bombadil can’t be completely defined or explained because he is not meant to be known.
Works Cited
—. The Lord of the Rings. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1966.
Annika Laughlin? December 09, 2008, at 05:40 PM
