YALOTRT

[Anubis]

But this isnt about teh movies in any way.

That said can someone answer me who and or WTF is Tom Bombadil (sp) hes in teh first book and frodo and sam meet him on their journy out of teh shire. I ask cause ive read teh books and teh Silmrinion (sp) and cant remember. all i remember is that he puts on the ring and is totally unaffected by it. and he says something like he is above the ring but still affected by it.

can someone explain this to me. Kami you come to mind cause you seem to know more of this stuff then me and my fam which is just plain scary

 

[StinkyMeat]

I'm reading that chapter right now, I wish I could help. Gimme a day or so

 

[A5]

The real answer is that we don't really know what he is. Some people think that he's some kind of lesser Maia (like Gandalf but less), but I personally think he just is.

 

[Anubis]

well that wouldent make scense cause if he was lesser then gandalf he Should be affected by teh ring cause gandalf is.

and its Miar IIRC

 

he is the spirit of the forest. Basically, the lord of all things natural. Things man made really do not have an effect on him. Treebeard bows down to him.

 

[Wallydraigle]

He's not really anything. Tolkien described him as an "enigma". He used him as a device to show that not everything in his world could be categorized and quantified. Actually the idea for his character came from a silly dutch doll one of his boys had. One of the reasons he put him in the story was to make the doll more special for his son, and to add a little magic and fantasy to his life while he could still enjoy it.

Fans have speculated that he might be anything from a powerful Maia, to Aule the Vala, or even Eru himself. Arguments can be made for each of these, but the truth will never be known since Tolkien said that he intentionally left his origins vague.

 

[tk149]

In simple non-fanboy terms:

Tom Bombadil is an ancient creature. He existed before the Rings were created, and possibly before Sauron, the Elves, and Men came to Middle Earth. He has no real interest in the current War. He is not so much "above the Ring" as "outside" it. The Ring simply has no effect on him. Tom, on the other hand, has certain powers over the evil creatures of Middle Earth. He saved Frodo & friends from the Barrow Wights and the evil old Tree, IIRC.

In the book, at Elrond's council where they formed the Fellowship of the Ring, someone asked why not just give the Ring to Tom? The answer was that Tom would likely just lose the darn thing, because he wouldn't really care about it.