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What is Tom Bombadil? | An Asklemmy discussion (lemm.ee)

submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/tolkien

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cross-posted from: https://lemm.ee/post/4172937

He is not a hobbit, neither a man, but what is he? Is he a dwarf? A wizard? A god? Something else entirely?

“Eldest, that’s what I am… Tom remembers the first raindrop and the first acorn… He knew the dark under the stars when it was fearless - before the Dark Lord came from Outside.”

https://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Tom_Bombadil u/[email protected]

He’s a merry fellow, bright blue his jacket is and his boots are yellow. u/[email protected]

Tom represents the incomplete knowledge of mankind and our pre-modern inability to firmly grasp the natural world we live in (and to some extent our continued struggle).

The fantasy world of Middle-Earth is in most ways supernatural to our own. So how much more incomplete would our understanding and knowledge of it been?

Tolkien was a professor of language and mythology and steeped in the ancient epics of the Anglo-saxons and Norse cultures. His career was putting together what these people knew and how they saw the world, but also what they couldn’t understand and how they explained their ignorance.

Others here are hinting at what Tom is, but not why he is. He’s a manifestation of ignorance. That’s why pinning him down is so tricky. It’s like pointing at a shadow with a flashlight. u/[email protected]

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[–] Chickenstalker 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

My theory is that he is an artefact of the creation of the universe. The Tolkien universe was "sung" into existence. The song or "sound waves" have peaks and throughs. When the peaks harmonized, you get Bombadil. When the troughs harmonized, you get Ungoliant etc.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

I saw a great video on this recently. I really like the idea, and the connection to Ungoliant. Very cool!

Maybe a minor criticism of your description with sound waves: when peaks of sound waves are aligned with one another then troughs are automatically aligned as well. In Physics that produces "constructive interference" & using your metaphor that would produce Bombadil. Conversely, when peaks of some waves are aligned with troughs of others this creates "destructive interference" in Physics, & I think this would be the more natural comparison to Ungoliant in your metaphor.