GoKawiilEven in a mythical age there must be some enigmas, as there always are. Tom Bombadil is one (intentionally). -J.R.R. Tolkien
Tom Bombadil is one of the greatest characters in the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy. He is the oldest being in Middle-earth, completely immune to the Ring’s power, and — unfortunately — overlooked by a huge swathe of readers.
“Readers” is indeed the right word to use here, since Tom Bombadil is so confounding that Peter Jackson cut him out of the films entirely: if you’ve never read the books, you’ve likely never heard of him. But despite the enigma that he is, Bombadil plays an incredibly important role in deciphering the world of Tolkien’s Middle-earth.
Today, we explore what the mysterious character of Tom Bombadil reveals not only about the world Tolkien created, but about the author’s own worldview as well. For in the words of Tolkien himself, Bombadil “represents something that I feel [is] important” — which is an understatement if there ever were one.
So what does Bombadil represent about the underlying ethics of Middle-earth and the key to overcoming evil? Keep reading to find out…
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