Now that the dust has finally settled, who or what do you think Tom Bombadil was?In a meta-sense he is the embodiment of Christianity but lore-wise?
>>25308498There are several "opposites" of Sauron throughout the book. You have the good to oppose his evil, the noble ruler to oppose his tyranny, the small to oppose his big, and so onBombadil is the most pure, metaphorical opposite of Sauron, which is why I think he's placed at the very start and the very end. Sauron is the way he is because he wants to change things, he thinks the world has flaws and he's the only one that can fix them. Even the good guys think change is necessary. Bombadil wants nothing. He accepts it all - good, bad, none of it matters to him, he doesn't want anything.
>>25308498>who or what do you think Tom Bombadil was? Aulë
>>25308498A hobbit folklore character inserted into a later iteration of Red Book of Westmarch to explain why the hobbits robbed some graves.In meta-sense he's just some wacky dude from Tolkien's stories he told to his children inserted haphazardly into the narrative.
He's Tom Bombadil, he occupies a novel and likely singular niche in literature.
>>25308498I mainly interpret him as a merry fellow
>>25308498I think Tom Bombadil is Morgoth laying low and pretending to be just some guy who is goofy and harmless and totally not the Dark Lord so that he doesn't get ganged on by the Valar again. He uses his magical, mind-affecting song, capable of putting the formidable Great Willow to sleep without any hint of difficulty, to alter the thought processes of the listeners. Unfortunately that magic also somehow seems to extend to most readers for some reason. The narrative itself demonstrates that Tom Bombadil isn't a total pacifist with how he pummels the Barrow-wight, and there are also hints of deep plans and awareness.By the way, Tom Bombadil is supposed to have red skin, as in actually red. For some reason I have never seen that portrayed in illustrations. Maybe all the illustrators thought that adhering to the text as written would have made Tom Bombadil look too much like a classic portrayal of a red devil and make the viewer suspect that horns might be hiding under the hat, but the illustrators assumed that Tolkien couldn't possibly have been intending to go for such a mental image.
>>25309826Hot take lol
A british OSS agent
>>25308498an insert of whimsy and mystery because this is an anglo saxon saga and it needs to have somethings that are beyond the readers knowledge and some things that will surprise you because that's what all good myths do
>>25308498He's Adam before he ate the fruit of good and evil. He is eldest. He knows no evil.He puts the ring up to his eye which is to show he is the opposite of Sauron. An imitation of Sauron's black and red eye ringed in flames is his blue eye ringed in gold.
>>25310354Picrel
>>25310357
