The Lord of the Rings: Tom Bombadil – the mysterious creature is the Stan Lee of Middle-earth!

• Who is Tom Bombadil and where does he come from? Not even book experts on “The Lord of the Rings” can answer these questions clearly.
• The fact that film fans don’t even know the mysterious creature with the feathered hat and yellow boots doesn’t help put Bombadil into words.
• To explain this iconic character, we would go so far as to compare him to Marvel’s Stan Lee. Let’s execute!

Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings legendarium is full of mythical and mystical creatures. Quite a few are tied into the overarching story of the War of the Ring or the stories from the First or Second Ages, but one character stands out a little: Tom Bombadil.

While book fans know this character and how he sings and jumps to help the four hobbits in “The Fellowship of the Ring”, most film fans only know Tom Bombadil from hearsay. One thing that unites both types of fans, however, is the question of where Tom Bombadil actually comes from and how does he fit into the story?

Tom Bombadil was actually a cameo for the target readers

To rhyme with Tom Bombadil – you know, because he skips through life mostly rhyming? – we should first clarify who he is. Both in the Middle-earth universe and outside of it!

In Tolkien’s world, Tom Bombadil is a creature larger than hobbits, but not large enough to be human. He has yellow boots, a blue coat and a hat with a feather. He sings, rhymes, has a cheerful nature and his wife is Goldberry.

They are both probably immortal and as old as time itself. Tolkien himself never clearly defined Bombadil. He also remains untouched by the power of the ring and does not care about the fate of the world. Tom Bombadil doesn’t take things too seriously.

Bombadil also has powers and can talk to animals and plants, and in the book he saves Frodo and the hobbits from a grave monster simply by giving him orders. Tolkien himself leaves Bombadil’s powers a little vague.

Where does Tom Bombadil come from?

He never clarified where Tom Bombadil comes from in Tolkien’s legendarium. Aside from the stories, Tom Bombadil has its origins in the fact that JRR Tolkien, in addition to creating his world, also liked to tell stories and recite poems to his children.

This is also why “The Hobbit” is a children’s book and Tom Bombadil actually comes from a poem that Tolkien wrote for his children. Together with another poem about Bombadil and 14 others that no longer have much to do with Tom Bombadil, these were published in “The Adventures of Tom Bombadil” in 1962.

Tom Bombadil is based on a doll that was almost drowned in a toilet. To cheer up his son, Tolkien then wrote a poem about Tom Bombadil and how he met Goldenberry and escaped the Old Wicker Man.

“The Hobbit” was intended to be very similar. Each chapter had a self-contained stage of the adventure. Things were rarely connected, because Tolkien told the story to his children and every evening Bilbo’s journey with the dwarves continued and he met new creatures and went on new adventures.

“The Lord of the Rings” as a children’s book

When Tolkien set out to write The Lord of the Rings in the 1930s, it was initially intended as a children’s book sequel to The Hobbit. Bilbo’s nephew Frodo was still called “Bingo” and in the current version of “The Fellowship of the Ring” you can feel in the first chapters that the events take place episodically.

Tom Bombadil also appears in this context, as one of the creatures the four hobbits encounter on their journey. By the time Frodo and Co. get to Rivendell, the story unfolds similarly to the Hobbit. It begins with Gandalf’s arrival and Bilbo’s party. Finally Frodo sets off on his adventure.

They meet elves, black riders, and Striders and finally reach Rivendell. Only then does the overarching plot really begin. And only then did Tolkien consider not writing a children’s book sequel, but instead expanding his fantasy world and telling an epic story.

Of course, Tolkien adapted many things and retroactively created connections in the story in the chapters that had already been written. Only Tom Bombadil was somehow left out…

This is how Stan Lee and Tom Bombadil come together

To best understand Tom Bombadil in the overall context, a comparison to Stan Lee in the Marvel universe is a good idea. Stan Lee is one of the most important comic book authors at Marvel and as a thank you for his contribution to the success of the comic giant, he has been given numerous cameo appearances in various Marvel films.

Stan Lee’s roles are very different and are on earth, in space or elsewhere. There is no coherence to his performances and the only logic behind it is that fans know who Stan Lee is and are happy to find him somewhere in the film.

It’s similar with Tom Bombadil, who is a kind of fan favorite of his children and the target group of “The Hobbit”. Although The Lord of the Rings is a serious story, Tom Bombadil is a kind of cameo from Tolkien’s children’s stories, which even carries a certain logic for those who know and love Bombadil.

However, Tom Bombadil’s origins are now so unclear that there is simply no one left who could understand Tom Bombadil’s cameo in The Lord of the Rings. The question therefore arises as to why it is there and why it is not connected to the rest of the story.

That’s probably why Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens didn’t include Tom Bombadil in the film. The role only contributes little to the overall story and is more of a little wink for fans.

According to the latest leaks and rumors, Goldberry and Tom Bombadil will appear in “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” Season 2. A start date in Amazon Prime Video’s new product range has not yet been set. We will keep you up to date!