01-12-2002, 01:45 PM | #1 | |||
Hobbit in the Music
Join Date: Nov 1999
Location: Westmarch
Posts: 1,111
|
My new theory on Tom Bombadil
I was recently rereading the Fellowship of the Ring, and during the Tom Bombadil part I thought deeply about what he might be. I know that JRR Tolkien mostly leaves it a mystery but I also think he wants us to speculate (feel free to argue after you've read it), so here's one you probably haven't heard before. Tom Bombadil is simply part of the Music. Here's what I mean:
Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
"He is the Master of water, wood, and hill"--he he has complete power over that little area in the North of Arda--but "Tom's country ends here: he will not pass the borders." The clue that mostly gave me this idea, though, is the way Tom talks. He sings almost constantly, and makes it up as he goes along, unlike the other songs in LotR which are completely made up before they're spoken. Even when he's not singing, almost everything he says fits a specific rhythm. Try reading his dialogue out loud sometime and if you have a good sense of rhythm you'll catch it. Sometimes it's more obvious than other times, especially when he's happy. It's as if one little melody of Iluvatar got stuck in a specific place in Middle-Earth and just kept on singing. So is he the oldest of anyone? He's older than Treebeard, who was made by Yavanna after she came to Ea. But he's younger than all the Ainur, who sang him into being. |
|||
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Tom Bombadil | Panther2112 | Lord of the Rings Books | 73 | 04-21-2005 11:53 AM |
A few questions about the Maiar | Captain Stern | The Silmarillion | 68 | 04-14-2005 07:28 AM |
The Anti-theist Thread | afro-elf | General Messages | 1123 | 05-09-2002 03:46 PM |
A BIG problem with leaving out Bombadil... | IronParrot | Lord of the Rings Movies | 36 | 06-14-2001 02:07 AM |
Tom Bombadil | Rumble | Lord of the Rings Books | 27 | 04-29-2000 06:48 PM |