Tom's Bombadil's Terrifying Secret Why Even Sauron Feared Him
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- Опубликовано: 9 фев 2025
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WHY did Sauron fear him?
Because he is a merry fellow, his jacket is bright blue, and his boots are yellow.
From Sauron`s POV Tom Bombadil is a Cosmic Horror beyond comprehension.
@@toddkurzbard He's above Sauron or any Maiar in power ranking. There is a reason none of the evils that ever existed tried to disturb him. Morgoths corruption didn't reach his domain and Sauron couldn't even dare. Nothing evil will hold any power infront of Tom because he's Eru's response to the evil discord during the music.
Just like the ukrainian flag. No wonder Sauron fears him.
Sounds legit.
Because Tom is Older,Stronger & Wiser!🎉
Tom Bombadil is Eru Ilúvatar's harmony alongside the Valar's Ainulindalë. He is an enigma that no one can fully comprehend. All the things said about Tom are speculations from the little they think they know of him. The Valar, Sauron, Elrond and Gandalf don't know who or what Tom is. Even JRR Tolkien himself didn't know as he wrote in his letters, and that is the way Tolkien wanted Tom Bombadil to be - an enigma, an unsolved mystery. Tolkien understood that there are things in live that we will never fully understand or know, and that is they way it is supposed to be. Mysteries make life interesting.
Soooo... Tom is the living avatar of plot armor, the greatest power in all of fiction.
Yeah he reminded me of the important of singing in creation and among the most powerful beings in Tolkien's universe.
@@tabularasa9554 Would be close, except Tom is not part of any plot.
@@abj136 yep. He just shows up and completely dominates the power of the One Ring. Then it's "have fun storming the castle!"
I understand and agree with what you said about Tolkien. But my guess, if I have to give one, is that he had won the Valar but shows to immerse himself in Middle Earth instead of living in the West.
The last thing that Gandalf does before he leaves Middle Earth, his mission accomplished, is to speak with Tom Bombadil, such a talk as I have never had. He says that Tom will be uninterested in any of their adventures apart from the news about the Ents, so it seems like Gandalf is going for a kind of debriefing that only his change and the finishing of his business allows for. But it’s those suggestions that bristle at the edges of our understanding and are never clearly stated that make it endlessly intriguing.
I like the description of how he sorts out the barrow wight treasure after rescuing the hobbits. It is clear he recognizes many ancient treasures, and personally remembers those who used them. He also arms the hobbits with the Numenorean daggers that play such a key role in the conflict. None of these actions suggest someone who has stood apart from Middle Earth, or has no interest in its fate. That section of the book holds far more clues to his history and nature than the descriptions of Tom himself.
Okay I love this part of the book for a thing I imagine happen with Tom's play with the Ring. I like to imagine Sauron himself is haunted by echoing laughter and a bright blue eye staring at him and when Tom flips it into the air and it disappears Sauron starts having a short heart attack and the foundations of Mordor itself shakes
Tom [to Sauron, after making the ring disappear and then reappear]: "Sike!"
Sauron [clutching chest]: "Don't! Do! That!"
Tom [laughing]: "What? I thought you liked _trolling!"_
Sauron: "You suck! I'm going back to Mordor!"
Here’s a thought- Tom IS the 1 the ELUVITAR the all powerful original .
Like in supernatural chuck writes himself into story - except as Tom he does not meddle .
He is there in middle earth since beginning and yet not playing any part of any story .
He did what chuck should have .
Enjoying his creation while not affecting it or changing it .
I wondered that myself thru the years..
The real king of Arda, just a merry fellow instead of a pompous emperor.
Tom is the soul of Arda in the way that Gaia is the soul of Earth.
Gaia .... yes ... the avatar of Earth vs the Avatar of Middle Earth ..
Gaia is not the "soul of earth." 😣
@@pamelah6431these new age ponces make me laugh
IMO Bombadil is a cheeky Tolkien self-insert. Bombadil is an entity that seems not to be bound to the rules governing Arda (like the author), but nevertheless can influence anything concerning Arda itself, without any struggle (like the author). He helps the Hobbits out of two predicaments but otherwise lets the story unfold (like an author would).
The whole Old Forrest "side quest", from a modern perspective, reminds me of a computer game tutorial, where the Hobbits get some basic training on how to deal with the harsh reality of the world outside of the Shire (they also get their first "loot" items). Maybe this was Tolkien's "boot camp" for his main protagonists, and who better than the author himself to be the drill instructor. 😉
I had a similar thought about him being the author.
I agree with this and thought the same. Tom is a representative of Tolkien, a portal from a world of fiction to reality.
I prefer to believe that he is Eru's manifestation of himself to be able to enjoy/monitor the experience of being in Middle Earth
The real king of Arda, just a merry fellow instead of a pompous emperor.
Tom is the soul of Arda in the way that Gaia is the soul of Earth.
I think Tom might have been the physical manifestation of Tolkien’s commentary on the evils of greed, control, and self aggrandizement.
The best guess I've read is Tom is the incarnated spirit of the Music of the Ainur. It explains all these: the Music opposes but doesn't win over the Discord Of Melkor neither does the Discord destroy the Music. And that's why he basically stands apart from Melkor and all that belongs to him -- Sauron, the Ring. And this is why his songs have utter power over everything not directly linked to Melkor. If you search for "who Tom Bombadil is: The Incarnated Spirit of the Music of the Ainur" you will find a great somewhat long post on the topic.
Knowing that Tolkien was a devout Catholic and embedded Christian theology into his Middle-earth mythos, I am of the opinion that Tom Bombodil and Goldberry are the Middle-earth analogues to our own Adam and Eve. However, the key difference would be that where our own Adam and Eve fell to temptation and were exiled from the Garden, Tom and Goldberry did not and were not, and thus they retain their purity, immortality, and image _and likeness_ of God in their cosmos. It explains Tom's god-like command over everything, and why those commands come in the form of song (the Middle-earth cosmos was created through Eru Ilúvatar's song), as well as how his very nature is free of greed, despair, etc. even while playing with something so evil and destructive as the one ring.
Tolkien utterly detested allegory, especially Christian allegory .... if you think Tolkien wrote it then it is not a christian allegory ...
@@davidioanhedges lol Tolkien was a well educated idiot, nothing more.
@@davidioanhedges
From Tolkien's words:
"I dislike Allegory - the conscious and intentional allegory - yet any attempt to explain the purport of myth or fairytale must use allegorical language."
The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien #131
"The Lord of the Rings is of course a fundamentally religious and Catholic work, unconsciously so at first, but consciously in the revision."
The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien #142
"The only perfectly consistent allegory is a real life; and the only fully intelligible story is an allegory. And one finds, even in imperfect human 'literature', that the better and more consistent an allegory is the more easily it can be read 'just as a story'; and the better and more closely woven a story is the more easily can those so minded find allegory in it."
The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien #109
Well done! The idea that Sauron was AFRAID of Bombadil is a new idea (at least to me). Tom's utter indifference to the forces of Sauron is what scares Sauron. Tom's absolute power within his land cofuses Sauron. EVERTYHING & EVERYONE are subseptible to the forces of evil. Except for Tom and what is within the boundaries of his realm. Sauron doen't know what to do and so he ignores Tom and his land. The concet that Tom is a holdover from an older universe is intriguing.
Tom has absolute power in in his domain, and near absolute power outside it, but what is worse to Sauron is the disturbing utter irrelevance of Sauron's power in his realm
He cannot be defeated as that would need the 'defeat' of all of Middle Earth first ...
Sounds like quite a wild card.
Perhaps the strangest thing of all about Tom Bombadil is how he could be the oldest living being in Middle Earth, which is one heck of long time to be there. And yet he according to Gandalf and himself, would not leave the borders of his land. The would not, as opposed to could not, is perplexing.
If one can imagine someone being there in that relatively small wood.... century after century, walking down to the river and getting lilies as it were..... going back home for supper at the same time.....and never getting bored, never wanting to see whats out there, outside his walls?
This makes it seem as if Tom's land was something of a Bermuda Triangle, an area outside of Middle Earth, inside it...... where the regular laws don't apply. And perhaps not only that, like the old King Arthur legend he and the land were one in the same.
Once could then say along the lines of Ursula Leguin in the Tombs of Atuan, he "cannot leave this place.... because he IS this place." I guess we'll never know, and that appeared to be exactly the way Tolkien wanted to leave it.
I love the suggestion that the song Tom heard was the original, before Melkor's cacophony. Sauron didn't know that song because without the cacophony (and its resolution by Eru) he had no meaning. All it would take was a fresh chord and he might vanish into the void - which is in fact (best we can determine) is what happened.
Several times Treebeard is explicitly referred to as the oldest living being and is addressed as eldest by one of the oldest elves in Middle Earth. It implies that Bombadil is not considered a living being.
In fact Galadriel is much older than Treebeard. She was living in Valinor in the first age long before ents existed.
@@freejay-fp3wrooo. Good catch
@@timothyhennon1878Ents are mortal, Galadriel is not. Perhaps this is the difference
I mean, Tom is most likely the counterpart to Ungolient, a creature strong enough to threaten even Morgoth, who was an order of magnitude stronger than Sauron, so Sauron fearing Tom would make sense.
This would make sense, the origin of Ungoliant is really known.
What do we know of Ungoliant?
-Some believe she may have been an Ainur corrupted by Melkor.
-Others believe she came from "beyond Arda".
-Ungoliant was originally named Móru.
The fact that she was called Moru in Tolkien’s early writings could give a hint.
"Móru" is a primeval spirit of night in his mythology, which aligns with Ungoliant's nature as a dark, spider-like creature associated with the darkness and shadows; essentially, "Móru" is a more ancient name that reflects her primal connection to the night.
This name appears in Tolkien's early drafts, particularly in "Morgoth's Ring".
Due to her dark and shadowy nature, Ungoliant was sometimes referred to by this ancient name, highlighting her deep ties to the night.
She could be some creature connected to night, and Tom Bombadil a creature connected to day.
But that doesn’t make a ton of sense since Ungoliant existed before day existed, since day and night were created from parts of the two trees that were drained by Ungoliant and Melkor: so, how could she be a creature of night when she predates night?
The pondering is what I love…
It's actually quite easy I believe. People just like to confuse themselves. During the music, the there was discord by Morgoth and his evil maiars while Eru threw him a powerful cord that silenced his evil and made a mockery of it. The evil that came out of Morgoths discord was the nameless things and Ungoliath while the intervention of the almighty was Tom Bombadil. He was so powerful he was subjected to neither Valars nor Morgoth. He was definitely above the Maiars. The nameless things were of crazy power too. Read about what Gandalf said about them about how the Durin's Bane feared the nameless things they saw when they fell into the shadows. They are of different power ranking to the maiars and independent of the valar, they can pledge their allegiance or not. That's why Morgoth went to recruit ungolianth to work for him. The webs of darkness casted by ungolianth, even Tukas and Orome couldn't see through it because even though she was given a name, she's of a special rank and she embodied darkness. The powers of Tom would be above Sauron or any Maiar also. @@sagittarius_a_starr
From Sauron`s POV Tom Bombadil is a Cosmic Horror beyond comprehension.
@@sagittarius_a_starr We're all the same here, brother (or sister) in Nerdness! We love to speculate. I for one think Tom is a Nature spirit, not related to the Ainur at all, or even to Iluvatar. He was one of those things Tolkien threw in the Hobbits' path to make their journey more exciting and, IMO, Book 1 the best part of LotR.
Eru is the Creator, but Bombadil is a being from an earlier "Day of Creation" than the present; derived from earlier music.
"Nameless things" are also ancient beings, that belong to the Night of Creation between the two Days of Creation, when there is no music, which is the time of decay of earlier things.
Where Melkor created discord, the nameless things represent the ultimate death of "music". Their home is the "Void", where there is no flame eternal, only cold and dark flame without light.
Bombadil is a being who has already overcome everything by living through previous music. He is no longer just Eru's child, but he has become one of Arda's life-sustaining systems, whose human figure is an illusion. He acts as an administrator of what was born from the previous "music", and which has survived to the present. He is "born" old and has already passed through everything before, experienced.
His wife is a part of nature itself;
He is more like a collective system of nature.
Tom’s so powerful that even Peter Jackson just wanted to ignore him.
Could Tom be some elemental part of Arda (or even Ea?), created at the same “time” as the Nameless Things in the deep places of Middle Earth?
As has been suggested, a being created as part of the
Ainulindalë, a harmony or melody that bore sentience and became corporeal when the song was made real. after all, he is singing all the time.
He calls himself the Eldest, and saw the first rains, and saw even the arrival of the Valar.
His powers and the protection of his realm makes him seem as an intrinsic element of order and creation sang into the fabric of Arda.
Being older than the descent of the Ainur into Ea, is a befuddling prospect.
Tom Bombadil leaves the Tolkien enthusiast ever speculating-keeping the world alive.
From Sauron`s POV Tom Bombadil is a Cosmic Horror beyond comprehension.
PJ is definitely a thrawl of Melchor if nothing else. What's he getting at attempting to rewrite cannon?
Who is the Eldest, who saw the first rains, who saw the arrival of the Valar? Only Eru is old enough as far as I know
@@overredrover9430 I think I heard that Tolkien explicitly ruled out Tom Bombadil being an incarnation of Eru Iluvatar.
Tom is the manifestation of the music of the ainur… imo ✌️❤️
That's my interpretation. He's too powerful to be a Maia, all the Valar are known, I highly doubt he is Eru. But since he is so tied to music, including his powers manifesting as song I believe he is a living breathing piece of the song that created Arda that lives on after the main chorus ended.
@@Jes1975 exactly. The good music Eru introduced to neutralize the discord of melkor.
@@robinsteeden7466Eru is who I believe he is, a manifestation to enjoy/monitor the experience of being in Middle Earth
French babies can be distinguished from English babies by their burbles, as we're born able to mimic the rhythm and cadence of the mother-tongue heard in the womb. Whatever language we first acquire/later learn, this 'music' persists as our accent. The AI, mimicking Tom's speech [1:21] while butchering its music, has done what Sauron could only have done at the end of all things.
Tom was the equivalent of a Valar , but he came to the world before they formed their rule . His love of his forest was all he cared about until Goldberry came to being. Tom's ultimate power was the power of Preservation.
At the Council of Elrond in the Fellowship of the Ring, Gandalf and Elrond discussed sending the Ring to Tom Bombadil for safe keeping but concluded that if Sauron were to put forth his full power then "Bombadil would fall, Last as he was First" and Sauron would regain the Ring.
I think I will take Gandalf and Elrond's views on this matter as expressed in Tolkien's own writings rather than this nonsensical speculation.
That wasn't the only thing that was mentioned in the Council concerning the possibility of sending the Ring to Bombadil.
I’m not sure they know that!
They are worried Tom would just forget he was keeping it safe and them safe!
Just dropping it as it’s of no meaning to him!
@@MrSamurai137 Exactly. Tom Bombadil eludes them. They don't really comprehend him. However, it is not impossible that even Bombadil would fall in the end, but this is another open end that was left by Tolkien and we can only speculate on it.
I was just about to say the same thing. In the end he would fall
@@dinismantas7265 I think they think he could do what he’s does for a long time but maybe he would elude his mission!
A bit like oh my god you really want this just have it!
I want to dance and sing!
It is best that we never do know the answer... there's a fundamental mystery that is special, and remains that way as long as it remains unsolved.
Tom Bombadil is the Pootie Tang of the elder gods. Nothing he says makes a lick of sense but no one wants to mess with him because he's so powerful he can reflect bullets with his hair without trying.
Tom used to be an adventurer, very much like Bilbo, but then he took an arrow to the knee.
Even though Tolkien claimed to not like allegory, Sauron being afraid of Tom Bombadil, along with his portrayal of the ignorantly blissful Hobbiton, definitely was one.
From Sauron`s POV Tom Bombadil is a Cosmic Horror beyond comprehension.
He's one of those nameless entities, only he dwells in the Old Forest, not under Moria.
The Avatar of Middle Earth ....
Indeed. Tom is Sauron's Yog-Sothoth.
I think Tom is Eru Illuvitar. Of course he was a totally "stress free" dude who sang reality into being. He had already woven past, present and future in song and there were no surprises for him.
seeing as all things came from eru, you could say that all things are eru. Different aspects of the whole just like the valar.
I do like this idea.
It’s reminiscent of In Norse mythology, when Odin, the Allfather, often wanders the world in disguise as an old man. Though Odin is not at all as powerful as Eru-Odin is not a Creator God, he’s more like a Maiar.
Odin does this in search of wisdom, and to share his knowledge with others.
Odin is depicted as an old man with a gray beard and one eye.
He wears a long gray cloak and a wide-brimmed hat to hide his identity.
He is sometimes called Grimnir, which means "the Masked One"
Of course, I don’t think Tom is Odin, but the idea of Tom being Eru acting like Odin.
Maybe Eru doesn’t get the full experience watching from above.
He's not Eru. He's the embodiment of the goodness of Eru. Just like the nameless thing and Ungolianth were the embodiment of the evil discord of Morgoth. That's why no evil can have any power in his presence. Also why he's always singing and making music. Just like Eru whose creative power mostly comes through his musics. The Valars were older than Tom but not necessarily more powerful and he's above the Maiars who were assistants to Valars. He's the embodiment of Eru's goodness, to show to Melkor that his evil discord is just within the plan of Eru himself.
From Sauron`s POV Tom Bombadil is a Cosmic Horror beyond comprehension.
@@israeldare3825 That’s a good perspective! Unless I missed a Tolkien letter, the “nameless things” were all evil and no mention of any other beings is anywhere. Still, Tolkien purposefully left vagueness throughout all the stories. It’s all the singing Tom likes to do which reminded me of how creation was woven together, i.e. Eru’s music. I also see a similarity to Christianity, i.e. the father/son part of the Trinity, and it’s well known Tolkien was a Christian.
Tom Bombadil, to me, is the representation of an uncorrupted Adam who has dominion over everything within the Garden of Eden. He knows nothing about the knowledge of good and evil that is why no corruption can take hold of him.
Lore is not accurate. At 0:54 the ring removes Tom's thumb and adds 3 new fingers.
OH, my goodness... maybe he had that ptedactyl genetic disorder. I don't know it's spelled but that's close. Lol good eye. You must be Elfish.
I caught that too... got the seeing eye..
...Much to Goldberry's delight.
Sauron did not have a Palantir when he came nearest to the Old Forest. He did not get the Ithil Stone until 2500 years later.
From Sauron`s POV Tom Bombadil is a Cosmic Horror beyond comprehension.
Sauron didnt' even get a smart phone until 2019. And it's an android.
A palantir is a device you can control where it points, if you can. You don’t have to go to the Forest to look at the Forest.
What a timely post. I've been thinking on Tom a bit, & how he was not native to middle earth.
Tom is the personification of the Earth and nature.He's higher than the Valar.Sauron & Morgoth and Wizards are inconsequential to him.He's literally a force of nature.
Strong agree! Additionally, as the Ring has no effect on him he will not be a good steward of it. It will mindlessly slip through his grasp, men's surfing will continue but Nature will go on in some form w/ Tom at the helm. . .
Nope. Tolkien explicitly says so, both in the Lord of the Rings, where at the council of Elrond it is said that if Sauron is not defeated, Bombadil will go last as he was first, but he will succumb, and in his letters.
Tom is just a sidequest, like every RPG
Sauron is all about control; Tom Bombadil is about independence.
Tom Bombadil is the Jar Jar Binks of middle earth.
Ahhh the great and feared Sow-RON himself .... 3:55 ..... God I hate AI so much .... at least it sounds like the script was written by a human, but the AI voice has work to do.
Agreed. If the writer doesn't speak English as a first language then I understand, but if they do then I *'implore'* them to be brave and narrate it themselves. 'Anything' other than Tom Bombadil, and I'd have skipped this. The way it 'angrily' read Tom's lyrics was pretty bad.
I don't mind it. This was in interesting reminder of Tom Bombadil, Middle Earth's first rapper.
Finrod almost defeated Sauron in a singing battle.
I think Bombadil would have beaten Sauron in that kind of fight. Especially if Bombadil had home field advantage in the Old Forest.
I think Glorfindel was making a guess about the outcome of a fight between Sauron and Bombadil when he declared at the Council of Elrond that in the end, Sauron would win.
I think it was simply Glorfindels' opinion, and I think he was wrong. Bombadil would have whipped Saurons butt.
Maybe that was Gandolfs opinion. Nevertheless, even Gandolf admits that there were limitations to his ability to forsee future events and outcomes.
One of Gandalf's concerns was that Bombadil's greatest strength was also his greatest weakness. The irrelevance with which Bombadil treated the one ring's power would be equally applied to the struggles of middle earth against Sauron.
@@crankyeldergod709 I mostly don't believe that.
Bombadil was a man of action when trouble was at hand. He may not care where he left the ring lying around. This makes him a bad guardian, but not a bad opponent. If it came to a confrontation, my boy Bombadil could take him. This is a hypothetical celebrity match.
All I'm saying is that Bombadil could sing the pants off of Sauron. Sauron would be put into a deep sleep before he could get one lyric out. If Huan and Luthien could take Sauron, then Bombadil certainly could.
I do agree with Gandalf that Bombadil would be a poor choice to guard the ring mostly because if his unconcern with it, (like you mentioned) but that does not mean he couldn't beat Sauron in a straight up fight. Remember most of Saurons power was tied up within the ruling ring, and yet it had no power over Bombadil.
@ In the end, Sauron's greatest power was his ability to intimidate, manipulate and dominate others. But those were not his only powers. Bombadil's power, that we are shown, is his utter indifference to these concepts. In pure celebrity-cage-match confrontation, I'd put smart money on Bombadil. But, to Glorfindel's warning, I don't think Bombadil would "defeat" Sauron because Bombadil simply didn't think in terms of victory or dominion.
@@crankyeldergod709 He utterly destroyed the barrowrite.
@@jlc2 Not to nerd out -- meaning, definitely to nerd out -- Bombadil didn't destroy the wights, he banished them. But I see your point.
Much of this seems to me to be pure supposition. Do you have evidence from Tolkien's writings for your opinions about Tom Bombadil?
Totally Terrific Job! I enjoyed this explain lore wholeheartedly the perfect presentation and the al artwork was phenomenally well done as well just eye-catching feel good fun thank you!:)
Bro is chatgpts spawn
This video is shit. Litterally EVERYTHING is AI. This is not a job. It is no feat at all.
I've never seen Tom as a grim old man. Of course everybody can have their own vision, but somehow I don't believe Tolkien intended that either.
Tom Bombadil, a question without an answer and an answer without a question
Tom Bombadil is surely Iluvatar on Earth; he won't meddle in the affairs of Elves & men - he already knew the outcome.
He is the Avatar of Middle Earth - he cannot create, but embodies all of the world ...
I had always assumed that Tom was more than a Maia, that he was, in fact, Manwe himself, and Goldberry was Varda...I am now intrigued by your idea. Possibly even more likely!
I'll be a maverick and say that Tom was simply a plot device that got out of hand, that Tolkien was "pantsing" the early parts of LOTR and needed a way of rescuing the hobbits from the barrow wight and the tree (which he had also pantsed -- just winging one encounter after another). These dangers were written at the "local" (relatively small-scale) level of a tale meant for youngsters, as he had done with The Hobbit. But then he realized he had a much bigger, much more encompassing story, one that involved large nation-states and deep histories. He retconned his revision to fit this but never fully solved the plot-busting potential of an impervious, godlike entity such as Tom. He had to make Tom superpotent to deal with the perils but at the same time curiously uninterested in fighting a world-threatening malevolence. Glorfindel, hanging out in Rivendell, is another mysteriously sidelined hero.
All of these psycho wizard images, some wuth rabbit sized pointy elven ears are totally inapprpriate to the concept JRRT had for Tom Bombadil. And they are virtually the opposite of every other human made picture I've ever seen of Tom Bombadil.
And the only thing worse than bad AI images is a video producer who either didn't check them or just doesn't care enough to fix them.
There are also all sort of things attributed to Tom Bombadil in this video that JRRT never wrote, but they're presented as if they're canon.
And all of that is a pity because there are some good ideas put forth by the author in this video.
I can see why some people might think Tom is God himself manifesting in the world.
Terrible AI slop taking tracting from real creators
I know right? I've always said, art can't exist without profit! Creativity and the desire for self-expression requires the possibility of financial gain!
that's all very well, but at the council of elrond, it is stated that tom presents no threat at all to sauron.
... You have my sword... and my bow... and my axe... (Tom Bombadil skips in) and my bag of weed and paper to roll it).
Gandalf, "Who let Tom in ?!!"
Because Tom hasn’t the slightest inclination to aggression.
Why does Sauron fear Bombadil?
It’s because Bombadil’s Power level is over NINE THOOOUUUSSAAAAAANNNNDDDD!!!1!1!!!!!1!!!11!!1!
Hmm…a lot of content I’m unfamiliar with here. As far as I recall, Tom’s is an interlude that is barely mentioned again, and there is no interaction at all between Sauron, Sauron’s forces, and Tom Bombadil?
Tom is a whimsical intrusion into the narrative and likely represents the author himself.
Tom's power is that he is not a Middle Earth character at all. He is from a poem that Tolkien wrote that had nothing to do with Lord of the Rings. This means nothing in the story can have an effect on him.
Tom is the avatar of middle earth ... the ring is a trinket, and Sauron is an irrelevant minion of a banished god ...
Tom was the first, and despite Sauron would always be the very last thing in Middle Earth outliving everything both good and evil ...
I would like to think that Tom is part of the Ainulindalë.
That he is not an Avatar or part of Eru Ilúvatar. But maybe part of or a representation of the music of the Ainur.
Tom loves to sing. Music is his power. He can do a many a great things through music.
.
And let's not forget what he said about himself:
""Eldest, that’s what I am. Mark my words, my friends: Tom was here before the river and the trees; 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. When the Elves passed westward, Tom was here already, before the seas were bent. He knew the dark under the stars when it was fearless - before the Dark Lord came from Outside."
He was there before the world was created. The same world that was created by the Ainulindalë.
Artwork ong!! 😍😍😍
It's AI :(
0:54 6 fingers AI
18:30
*six fingers and a thumb, so seven total.
Not the only thing that’s AI I bet.
😂 stupid Ai
There was a fan theory that Tom Bombadil was in fact Morgoth, or better to say it, what remained of Morgoth/Melkor in Arda, and could not be expelled. Reasons : 1. "He knew the dark under the stars when it was fearless - before the Dark Lord came from Outside" . I.e. , he could be that Dark Lord, and Melkor before creation of Arda was going into void and darkness to find secret of Secret Fire 2. One Ring has no effect of him, and he even sees Frodo with ring on (in wraith - world) . This is of course because Morgoth already had whole Arda as his ring, and wraith-world was his domain, so to speak. 3. Tom appears well-mannered and even silly at the times. However, he with his lady lives in one of the most dangerous places in Middle-Earth. Dare to say, it is even more dangerous than Mordor to hobbits . and in Tolkien's works, place where being reside usually reflect their nature (good beings at fair places, evil beings at evil places). 4. Everyone gives a Tom a wide berth : Sauron, elves, humans, dragons ... and Gandalf plans to have a long chat with him only after Sauron is defeated . 5. His wife Goldberry, apparently a river-spirit, actually tried to drown Bombadil when she first encountered him, but then he commanded her to stop. Obviously, she is one of those evil and immortal river beings (Maiar perhaps) that do drown people, but she obeyed greater power, and went to marry him.
So the Old Forest is pretty much the Switzerland of Middle-earth.
😅
The tempting of sam is telling. There was nothing in Sam's heart to be corrupted. Tom needed nothing that sauron could offer. Irrelevance.
Most of this is not from the book and Tolkein himself said that he deliberately left Bombadil as a mystery. AI slop
Tom Bombadil has been explained in the most satisfying way (for me), as the umbilical cord through which the power flowed that created Arda. Like a belly button he can’t be relocated. Like a vestigial organ he stays apart from the rest of creation and predates it. He has a direct line to the supreme being in the LOTR universe.
Tom Bombadil made the ring disappear and made it reappear. Could he have willed the ring out of existence entirely? That would have been a really bad day for Sauron. Nobody thought to ask Tom Bombadil if he could do such a thing.
Great. Deepest analysis of Tom I have ever found.
Terrifying? That's the last word that should be used to describe Tom Bombadil. He's ancient, powerful, merry, and wholly good.
he might have great power but it's balanced by his neutrality/disinclination to use it to any great earth changing effect
No doubt about it...I used to think that Tom was one of the Valar, perhaps Manwe himself, and his wife Goldberry was Varda. No more. I believe that Tom is either Iluvatar himself or some manifestation of Iluvatar created to represent himself in Middle-earth. He is far too much a part of Arda itself to be anything else but.
Tom Bombadil is the manifestation of the spirit of the Song of Creation. He cannot be affected by anything that was created after the Song of Creation.
And everyone who claims to be an LOTR fan, but has only seen the films and not actually read the book are saying, Who? His omission from the films was incredible.
Tom Bombadil is basically an essence of Eru. He exists because he exists and was not made. He technically has the same level of power if not more than the Ainur (which includes Morgoth). He is similar to Ungoliant. Existing in the void before Arda, and coalesing into a physical entity when Eru created Arda.
Ok. Now I need to see Elrond and/or Galadriel meet Bombadil in ROP. How do we know they didn’t?
My understanding of Tom & the One Ring was that the Ring gave in to the wearer's desires. Bilbo wanted to hide when he found it so it made him invisible, etc. With Tom, he had all he wanted and desired. The ring had nothing to offer him.
Yes the Ring cannot give Tom anything, it is an irrelevance ... he already has everything he always wanted
reminds me of Alfred. capable of turning himself into a dragon who's very shadow had Dark Dragons fleeing in terror "He reached deep down inside himself..."
Power used as a casual thing, is a true power.
He is something from outside of that reality.
Hey, dol! Merry dol! 😜
I wonder if Tom Bombadil was Tolkien's reference to Melchizedek in the Bible.
There is only one possibility as to who he actually is. Only one power exists above yet contained in all Maiar and stronger residents of the Undying Lands (the Valar)
My take away is that Tom Bombadil is a jolly, happy-go-lucky, distant relative of the Blair Witch.
No.
Tolkien deliberately leaves Bombadil as a mystery. Iarwain ben-adar - oldest and fatherless - the elves called him, for he was old before they awoke. Bombadil appears to have existed in Arda before the Ainur entered it to finish its creation. Some say he is the very spirit of Arda; others that he is an avatar of Eru Iluvatar. We will never know, because nothing that Tolkien wrote gives us a definite answer.
Sauron is not afraid of Bombadil because Bombadil is irrelevant. At the Council of Elrond, whose participants included Elrond, Glorfindel and Gandalf, it is concluded that even Bombadil could not resist the power of Sauron forever.
It is unlikely that Sauron even knew of Bombadil's existence. Or, rather, if he **did** know, he would consider Bombadil no more than a lesser woodland spirit. Sauron had no way of knowing that Bombadil was completely unaffected by the One.
Sauron did not come into possession of a Palantir until fairly late in the Third Age, once the Witch-King had taken Minas Ithil.
There is no canon to support Sauron fearing Bombadil. Bombadil being immune to the passive powers of the Ring do not mean he is more powerful than Sauron, sans Ring or with. Further, I doubt Sauron, the Nazghul and an army of orcs would be stood off by Bombadil. Lastly, it is inferred at the Council of Elrond that Bombadil has no interest in anything away from his home. So, Sauron could just conquer Middle Earth excepting Bombadil's lands and call, "Jenga!!"
I don't understand this recent love affair with Bombadil and declarations of his great might. There is nothing to support this.
Listening to this made me think that maybe Tom might have made the Shire safe.
Liked the video, only one point I'd question in the content:
I don't think it's reasonable to consider Old Man Willow as being "evil", setting aside Tom's influence on EVERYTHING in his 'area of influence' (Tom neither has nor wants a 'realm') hence keeping out 'evil'... Old Man Willow is simply being an ancient tree ( curmudgeon/grumpy old man ) perhaps more like the Huron's in nature (I may have miss spelt that) that Treebeard knows, but in his case fixed in location himself, while spreading his influence over other local trees and paths (perhaps ) as such not hating mobile creatures for their mobility but perhaps for their past actions (removing woods for farming etc) down the years. I'm sure the trees attacking the High Hedge may have been acting under Willow's influence as an ancient being his memory would remember that the Hobbit of that time cut down and burnt trees (in defence of land they had cleared & settled)
Tom could be Eru in flesh in Middle Earth
He is Melkor, or rather Melkor's good side that split from the evil Melkor when his music tried to bring chaos to the music of the Valar. How Melkor should've been. Would explain why Tom is the oldest thing on ME, he was alrdy there before everything else existed.
He's a merry fellow, not an angry fella.
Thought provoking! Thank you.
I like the theory that Tom and Goldberry were the Simarils personified and living on in plain view.
Tom is the song of creation. More akin to the “holy spirt”
Tom Bombadil isn't a threat to Sauron. It's literally explained in the book by Glorfindel who says "Some other power, even than that of the Elves, must have bewitched them. What power can that be? That is the question. And how can Tom Bombadil, master of the Old Forest, have any power to resist the will of Sauron, unless such power is in itself a valour of the same kind, but differing in kind, as the Valar themselves? And that indeed is a thing to ponder, for it raises questions about the nature of power and the will, and the distinction between the two. But if we speak of power, then we speak of the power of the Elves, and that is not to be underestimated. Yet even that power has its limits. Could that power last? Could it be sustained? I think not. I think that in the end, if all else is conquered, Bombadil will fall, Last as he was First; and then Night will come."
In fact, Glorfindel himself was perhaps the elf with the most hardcore backstory, He actually had slain a balrog. Died shortly after and returned to Middle Earth.
I t seems to me that invisibility is not a fundamental power of the ring. The ring amplifies and distorts the wearer’s natural qualities. With Frodo, his natural inclination is to be unseen and to slip through Sauron’s grasp. With Sam, his inclination was to protect, so he was seen by the orcs as a mighty warrior, etc.
With Sauron, it amplified his already considerable magical power, but also his will to dominate.
This is why Sauron might have feared Bombadil. Tom was a creature older than the physical world and, therefore, immune to its desires and needs. While Sauron was certainly powerful in the ways of force, his most powerful weapon was manipulation.
Without greed and desire, Tom could not be manipulated.
0:50 I wonder if Sauron sensed when Tom put it on - and was in a super bad mood and just had a really bad day after that
Just as Aslan represented the allegorical Jesus Christ of Narnia, is it possible that Tom Bombadil was also an avatar of the Creator of Middle Earth in the flesh?
It would certainly explain why no corruption, powers or physical laws were totally irrelevant to him.
My theory is that Bombadill has a role similar to that of the Watcher in the Marvel Universe: he cannot get involved unless the fabric or fate of universe is at risk. I theorize that Tom Bombadill is the most powerful Valar(much more that Morgoth on its prime) but remains hidden to watch over Middle Earth fate.
What text to voice program do you use? I love this voice and the pace.
Tom's Bombadil's! Great narrative. Thanks!
Tom makes the ring disappear. It has no power over him
We know that, but Tom's power are bound to the Forest he lives in.
Nothing is more powerful or rightly feared than a character that panders to its audience's childish ideology.
Hippies make me want to root for Sauron.
Tom was a breather for the reader (and hobbits) after the horror of the Nazgûl in the Shire.
Art of song so powerful curses lay still and the malice of a Maiar is rendered naught........
Mandos in fair form?
Maiar who does not heed the Valar?
The singing son of Faenor?
Sorry all but this vid is not lore accurate. So many bizarre theories here and in the chat when Tolkien says Tom is not improved as a character when analyzed. - (Letter 153) Tolkien says he is simply an embodiment of real natural science.
During the council of Elrond, Gandalf says Sauron would have eventually destroyed the Old Forest if his ring wasn’t destroyed. Gandalf says “Bombadil will fall. Last as he was the First; and then night will come.” …
Tom songs aren’t deep. He just wants to get home to his beautiful wife…
Where does it say the palantir show “confusion” when looking toward the old forest? That’s not how palantir work.
As a real life artist who loves drawing anything in Arda, AI LOTR art is boring inaccurate and silly.
Send me a message if you ever want help with researching the Legendarium or original Tolkien art . I’ve got a good drawing of Tom & Goldberry!
Tom is unknowable, Tom is a mystery, as JRR Tolkien wished him to be.
Tom is certainly Eru Eluvtitar..
He did not fear him. He did not care for him.
He wields the power of plot armor
Tom is Like Guru Rinpoche, the great Tantric Yogi who brought Buddhism to Tibet.
“Pure BEING”. There you go.