Who is Tom Bombadil?
Explore the best of fantasy and sci-fi in depth, with analysis of the worlds of Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, The Witcher and more.
For more Lord of the Rings content: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suB7Sw6YB48&list=PLVTclEEyY1SKFumpT86h-y6jikkEUKIAH
Join me on Patreon – http://patreon.com/indeepgeek
My channel for live content, including interviews and weekly livestreams – youtube.com/@IDGlive
My audiobook channel: The Well Told Tale – youtube.com/thewelltoldtale
Follow me on:
Twitter – @indeepgeek
Instagram – indeepgeekofficial
Facebook – https://facebook.com/indeepgeek
TikTok – @indeepgeek
For merch, audiobooks, and all things In Deep Geek, explore my website – www.indeepgeek.com
Thank you to the talented artists who allowed their work to be featured in this video. You can find them and buy your own prints by following the links below:
Kip Rasmussen – https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/kip-rasmussen
Jerry Vanderstelt – https://store.vandersteltstudio.com/main.sc
Anna Kulisz – https://www.kuliszu.art
Heraldo Mussolini – instagram.com/heraldo.mussolini/
Matthew Stewart – https://www.matthew-stewart.com/
Bohemian Weasel – https://www.redbubble.com/people/BohemianWeasel
Aegeri/Lida Holubova – https://www.instagram.com/gnome_z_lesa/
Ralph Damiani – https://www.artstation.com/ralphdamiani
This video was brought to you with support from my amazing Patreon community – special thanks to
Stephanie Frederick, Maura Lee, Rabbi Rob Thomas, Brooke Geer Person, Josh Bielemeier, Jane, Vance, Ivie Hilburn, Jimmy, Vercingetorix, John-Paul DeLuca, Filbert, Frank Glad, lemmy101, The Lady Gordon, Rick Mendez, Max Kingdom, Karen Armstrong, BradBraddersBradley, Edward Ryan, Stephanie B, Coleen, Ben Androvich, Nana L, Brennan Barnes, Ivanka Hainzl, Howland’s Little Sister, Charis Messalina de Valence, Donna Daley, Cade Norman, Murray D, NOscar, Rick Hoppe, Leathery Wings, James Pisano, Bridget Boyle, TheStarkInWinterfell, Ellemcee, Alannah Prestayn of Braavos, Raymond Joy, Jonathan Harrison, Petyr Pebble, Jason Mauleon Rosario, Milton Christopher Appling, Edward Ennett, Katy Smith, 26Artgirl, Karen Thomas, Rickon, Cathrine Furseth, James Fitzpatrick, Doug Hughes, lawnduck20, Perseffanie, Emily Mole, Lady Dane, The Late Escapist, Natalie Donald, J. Gregory Henderson, whalawitsa, Luna Cascade, Dan MacKay, Johnny Targs, Kevin Warner, Julie Bernard, Bear, Susan Lonergan, Bo Riley, Lyle Hammac, Alex Butter, Pam Peterson, Bettina Charlotte Nielsen, T boz, Angela Marie Young, Sarah Awesomesauce, Stephanie Erickson, KaliKo_Jack, SeaGreenMango, GeorgeRRTolkien, Antihero Association, Richard Woodard, Caiden Timmons, ThatVBGuy, Tyler Barnhart, John H. Austin, Jr, NikFromNJ, Ty Farnsworth, Beesman, EJ, Willow Button, Julia Kendall, Jonny Ceriani, Mary Frances Angelini, Emma Sheiman, Joseph Jones, Christine Denny, Julien Dubois, Leland, Tricia Brady, LiK, Simen Dalstein, Scott Maraldo, Shelley J, Karen Wennerlind, Martin Sjöstrand, Kristen H, King of Imps, Minerva Gale, Eric Nelson, Michiel Venema, Kate, Brandie Roberts, Kendra Summers, reed m, Commander Ray, Mayra Lawson, Lola Roebuck, Mark P, Nicole Stewart, Norse Sultan, Rasler, Steven Spauldingt, Patrick Ward, Amy vh Hines, Slippery1989, Una Haller, Almo71, Ravi Kakarala, Jacob Culp, Janet Lyn, NikFromNJ, Magepie, Ms. Fox, Jon Greenwood, Jahan, Justice, Biscuit Jones, Biscuit Jones, Cookie Tywyn, Ranabir Mitra, CRChesnutt, Kip Ingram, Savannah Smith, Tadeo D’Oria, Mario Murray, Leland, AaronM127, Denis Warner, Callie Summers, Gena Z, Joseph Barresi, Karen, KGO, Martin Maleček, Karamy CG, Alvino V, DickCrabb’sSquire, Haley Harstad, Ian Landsman, Lord Medici, Mathew Pauley, Aidan Butler, Phelan Walker, Andrew Roberts, Bill Boxall, Caleb Wiers, InquisitorXarius, Marcelo Zanetti, A Son of Ice and Fire, Madeline Tyrell-Dayne, Dave Nite, Johanna Ayers, Fool of a Took, Brandie Roberts and Evanne Elizabeth Stoll
Affiliate Links – (buying books from our Bookshop.org shop supports this channel and local bookshops at no extra cost to you.)
Books for fans of Lord of the Rings:
https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/lord-of-the-rings
Other books we love:
https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/indeepgeek
Thanks for watching!
(All pictures used are in the public domain, or used under fair use copyright laws or with the express permission of the artist).
37 Comments
This is a revised and updated version of a video first published in March 2020
I personally think tom is either melkor reborn without any shred of memories outside of nature. Or his very own sense of enjoyment when in the place he loves. Also i think if we look at Goldberry and where she comes from and what she does all day we kinda have an answer for where the ENT wives or the remaining ones are.
With nothing to say so no one cares🤷🏼♂️🙄😡
So – in this explanation- Bombadil is something like a fully enlightened Buddha. Beyond desire, simply enjoying existence in a sort of benign compassion.
I am Tom Bombadil's complete lack of surprise.
Jolly Tom abides.
Why the re-uploads lately?
The R. o. P directors will never be creative enough to understand Tolkien's world and what he thought when he included Tom in his works.
I didn't pay much heed to Tom Bombadil when I first read the books. As you say, he comes across like the odd man out, like a foreign object, not even really a deus ex macchina. Knowing what I know now, I'd say he is the quintessential indifferent, insouciant overwhelming force. Unstoppable force were he aroused, yet also the immovable object in a whirling maelstrom of war and power struggle. The pillar of the hope that there is one small bit of the world unfazed by the overwhelming power of the enemy, that would remain when all else fails. In that sense, Tom Bombadil represents the hope for salvation, for the greater good that lives deep inside all of us. Maybe those who speculate he could be an incarnation of Manwe aren't far off.
I will ALWAYS click a video about Tim Bombadil.
“Why do we leave the ring with Tom Bombadil?”
“I mean, sure, he seems immune to the Ring, but can you really expect him to keep track of it?”
Notice everthing that crosses your path. If they have need, help them to the best of your ability. And never forget to enjoy your path as often as you can.
Robin Williams would have played a perfect Tom Bombadil. Change my mind…😊
Tom was invented to allow Peter Jackson to have another cameo.
I know tolkein denied it but I still think Tom is just an avatar of eru illuvatar
It’s going to be painful to see Amazon butcher him
I still feel the films suffer for the lack of Bombadil. The old forest, Bombadil, and the Barrow Downs show us the lack of understanding of the hobbits of the world immediately outside their bounds, the dangers therein, the unknown saviors (which later we learn include the Dunedain), the rich history of the surrounding lands, yet another escape from Sauron’s minions, and the discovery of the blade of Westerness that will end the life of Armor’s greatest foe – the Witch King of Angmar. None of it detracts from the story or violates the Disney rule of serving the greater story. I find speculation of him being Eru Illuvatar the most disturbing as it feels contrived and doesn’t match with Gandalfs ascendancy to the White after his downfall in Moria after which he presumably meets with Eru and is sent back with his power upgraded.
Ok but who is Goldberry?
Before he created Dragon Ball, Akira Toriyama was most famous for a manga called Dr. Slump which featured a little robotic girl named Arale. Arale makes a cameo and participates in the story of Dragon Ball. She is just a fun nod to the author's previous work.
I see Bombadil as the same. He's a nod to Tolkiens early poems and stories he told his family. If I wrote my kids some stories about their stuffed animals and then went on to become a famous author, and I included their animals in one of my stories for fun, I'd find it ironic if my fans wrote lengthy essays about how these stuffed animals represented God or were angels or something. I don't think this is any more complex than that.
Thank you for enriching my experience of this world of Tolkien Robert. Been a pleasure reacquainting myself with Middle Earth after many years away, helped along by your thoughtful commentary
Personally, I think Tolkien could've come up with a better name for the farmer than Maggot.
Hobo with a shotgun
He is a merry fellow
Bright blue his jacket is
And his boots are yellow
Tom's just vibing
what about farmer maggot?
The films, in my opinion, did not work perfectly well without Tom's presence. He's a kind of 5th dimensional, mystical character, an antithesis of the ring itself, who hopefully will play a powerful role in future versions of TLOTRs .. stellar work Robert, thanks!
Bombadil is a vibe.
I prefer this thumbnail image 0:01 of Tom better than the more common klicking heels one 0:59. While still happy and carefree he looks like he has a brain and is self aware; not a cardboard cutout marionette being jerked about on strings.
That said, I 1,000% did not miss his appearance in the movies. Leaving out Tolkien's prideful attempt at getting this publisher to take another look was probably one of the best things Peter Jackson could have done. Publisher didn't want Tom. Peter didn't want Tom. I don't want Tom.
If someone held a gun to my head and forced me to remove one character from the Legendarium I am afraid I would have to choose Tom Bombadil. I struggle to see the point of this character in the stories, and find that him being so far removed from and/or immune to everything else that is at stake makes for – at least for me – one of the least inspiring parts of Tolkien's writings. My loss, I guess, but still.
Having said that, I find the explanation that Tom is somehow closely connected to Eru and/or the music of the Ainur makes the most sense.
Normally I love your videos but feel this has been done to death now.
He's a merry fellow.
Tom Bombadil, just seems like 'Brother Nature' to me. The Green Man of the Woods is maybe the inspiration for this character. 😊
I feel like Tom Bombadil can't really be understood with the mind but with the heart.
I always imagined Tom Bombadil as an incarnation of Eru Ilúvatar. If I remember correctly: in the Silmarillion, he told Morgoth, (Melkor) that he knew all in his creation and the changes Melkor had made would come to pass against him in the end. I think he was doing as God does and subtly guiding his children on the right path. Tolkien has often contradicted himself in his letters, so who is to say who Tom Bombadil is. We all have our theories and without Tolkien, since he has passed away, completely expressing whom he is, we'll only have speculation.
My own theory is that Tom Bombadil is the brother of Santa Claus. Magic, clothing, attitude – it all fits.
Ive thought for quite some time now that Tom Bombadil seems like a Buddhist monk or like the Buddha. He has this removed quality about him and at the same time silly and profoundly wise.
He is a Christopher's toy
My bet is that it is the spirit of Arda itself