#iarwain

Confession: When I was younger I was one of those people who thought the Tom Bombadil break in the book was overly long and was grateful PJ didn't include the character in the movie. (In fact PJ I appreciate all his choices re: giving lines and scenes to other characters to streamline)

NOW I need a spinoff that is just Tom and his f***king adorable lamb!

More Tolkien Trivia:  Recently reblogged Oldest and Fatherless: The Terrible Secret of Tom Bombadil.  And now recommend Tom Bombadil - Master and Mystery.  The next-level macabre fun of the first article notwithstanding, the arguments presented in the other are well thought out.

Bombadil is probably best understood as existing in relation to the land and its beauty in a manner similar to how the Ents exist in relation to the forest.  Meaning he is the living spirit, the force promoting growth, life and beauty dwelling in the landscape itself.  Goldberry is the spirit of the river, Bombadil the spirit of the land.  The beauty of these things was inherent in Arda itself from the moment of its creation, a part of Middle Earth from the very beginning, prior even to the arrival of the Valar and the Maiar.

But there is certainly more than one theory about this, and both articles can be entertaining diversions for folk intrigued by the mythos Tolkien created.