Tom Bombadil is the unsung hero of the War of the Pellenor Fields. Without the hobbits having met him and been imprisoned in the Barrowdowns, thus forcing Tom to rescue them, Merry would not have received the sword he used to stab the Witch King in the knee which allowed Eowyn to then cut his head off; as Tolkien stated in the Return of the King "no blade could have hurt him as deeply"(paraphrased). There are zero unneeded characters in Tolkien's work let alone the character who provided the weapon that eventually turns the tide in the War of the Ring.
Another option, of course, is that Tolkien *is* just a writer...and was figuring it out as he went along, throwing an oddity in there that breaks genre and structure for the way we view fiction nowadays. I love 'Bombadillo' and Goldberry dearly, but it's clear to me from Tolkien's letters that he had a great deal of trouble tonally with the beginning of The Fellowship of the Ring... he was exploring whatever came to mind, and the 'final' story hadn't taken shape properly yet. He was trying to write a 'sequel' to The Hobbit, and as you pointed out, the songs alone speak for themselves. It's worth noting also that Tom Bombadil existed before The Lord of the Rings, in Tolkien's poems, which he had to rewrite in order to align them with LOTR... Bombadil really is a unique creation all to himself, perhaps even something of a private delight and inside joke to Tolkien.
At some point, I started thinking of Tom and Goldberry as Adam and Eve before the fall. Not sure where I stole that idea from, but I enjoy reading those passages much more now.
That’s so kind of you to say, Benjamin! While I can’t say quite say I wrote it for you, I will not deny that past comments of yours made me think of you a number of times during the writing, so some of it, at least, was written with you in mind!
Hey, I hear you may be a Word Guy. If you ever happen to have any clever ideas for how I might rebrand this Substack, I would love to hear them! (“A Word About…” is a great one!)
Have you considered simply merging the two elements under consideration as SDG's Grey Havens? That way you get to keep the SDG identify you've established and add something that's distinctive, familiar (to some/many), and of course memorable.
Tom Bombadil is the unsung hero of the War of the Pellenor Fields. Without the hobbits having met him and been imprisoned in the Barrowdowns, thus forcing Tom to rescue them, Merry would not have received the sword he used to stab the Witch King in the knee which allowed Eowyn to then cut his head off; as Tolkien stated in the Return of the King "no blade could have hurt him as deeply"(paraphrased). There are zero unneeded characters in Tolkien's work let alone the character who provided the weapon that eventually turns the tide in the War of the Ring.
Another option, of course, is that Tolkien *is* just a writer...and was figuring it out as he went along, throwing an oddity in there that breaks genre and structure for the way we view fiction nowadays. I love 'Bombadillo' and Goldberry dearly, but it's clear to me from Tolkien's letters that he had a great deal of trouble tonally with the beginning of The Fellowship of the Ring... he was exploring whatever came to mind, and the 'final' story hadn't taken shape properly yet. He was trying to write a 'sequel' to The Hobbit, and as you pointed out, the songs alone speak for themselves. It's worth noting also that Tom Bombadil existed before The Lord of the Rings, in Tolkien's poems, which he had to rewrite in order to align them with LOTR... Bombadil really is a unique creation all to himself, perhaps even something of a private delight and inside joke to Tolkien.
At some point, I started thinking of Tom and Goldberry as Adam and Eve before the fall. Not sure where I stole that idea from, but I enjoy reading those passages much more now.
Now I want a “Bombadil Belongs!” T-shirt.
How about "The Greydanus Havens"? That kind of pun, though, might seem irreverent to you considering how sacred the Grey Havens are in Middle-Earth.
I still just REALLY want to know WHAT Tom Bombadil is!!!
I’ve tried armadillos, Grace, and I’m all out of ideas!
This one feels as if it were written just for me, and even though/if it weren't: Well, that was just a treat. Thanks!
That’s so kind of you to say, Benjamin! While I can’t say quite say I wrote it for you, I will not deny that past comments of yours made me think of you a number of times during the writing, so some of it, at least, was written with you in mind!
I’ll take it!
Hey, I hear you may be a Word Guy. If you ever happen to have any clever ideas for how I might rebrand this Substack, I would love to hear them! (“A Word About…” is a great one!)
Have you considered simply merging the two elements under consideration as SDG's Grey Havens? That way you get to keep the SDG identify you've established and add something that's distinctive, familiar (to some/many), and of course memorable.
I have thought about that approach! Maybe I will go that route. Will keep contemplating…