Tom Bombadil
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Gardens in The Lord of the Rings
Gardens are frequently mentioned in The Lord of the Rings, and their virtues in the tale are many. Tolkien himself loved gardening, although he was not the most diligent gardener by his own admission. In this post I want to review most of the references to gardens in The Lord of the Rings and to… Continue reading
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Tom Bombadil the Kingfisher
In my last post, I wrote that Tom Bombadil can be said to represent Arda Unmarred. In this post, I want to talk about what kind of person Tom is and one of the ways Tolkien subtly communicates this to us. When we first meet Tom in The Lord of the Rings, he has a… Continue reading
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What is Tom Bombadil?
“Frodo has asked not ‘what is Tom Bombadil’ but ‘Who is he’. We and he no doubt often laxly confuse the questions.” – J.R.R. Tolkien, Letter 153 Perhaps the most intriguing and mysterious character in The Lord of the Rings is Tom Bombadil. Tom represents many different themes in Tolkien’s writing, so many that one… Continue reading
About Me
Thinking and writing about Tolkien’s life and works.