Is Tom Bombadill someone who'd get annoying?

[Bombadillo]

Bombadil annoying???? no way, just skipping and jumping and behaving like old tom is my ultimate wish!!!!

 

[Niniel]

Oh please Bombadillo... you don't mean that I hope?
But yes, I'd say he does get annoying after a while, I'm happy he wasn't in the movie and that he doesn't occupy more space in the book than he does. Most annoying of all is that people on TTF keep opening up new threads about him, while we really have established by now that he can't be explained... so stop trying to!!!

 

[FIRELILY]

Greenwood:
Danny Devito would've been Tom in the movie.

I've imagined the actor who played Hagrid in Harry Potter in the role of Tom (who, by the way, I think would be great to hang out with) or maybe that Scottish actor Billy Connelly.

 

[Baruk Khazad!]

eventually I would tell him to sit down and shut the **** up lol

 

[JRRTFAN09]

No, I think that being around someone who is that happy all the time then some of it might rub off on you. Being happy isn't always a bad thing!!

 

[Morgul Agent]

I do like him in the book, but the way the question is phrased...yes, I think he could get annoying.

I also think they were 100% right to leave him out of the film. It's funny to still hear people complain about that, when most of us can admit that seeing Tom in the films would have been very un-movie-ish.

It IS cool that he can wear the One Ring to no effect, however! He's the only character who ever did that. And regarding 'who he really is', isn't there a thread about that question? I remember reading a thread somewhere once, and I think that in the end it's not really clear who he is. Some say he's Manwe, some say he's Tolkien, some say he's Iluvatar, but in the end I think it says he's none of the above. Also, apparently he was first based on a toy his kids had, a toy which looks exactly how Tom is described, and which lead to the book called "The Adventures of Tom Bombadil", (which is really just a few Tom songs).

 

[Thráin II]

Who is Tom Bombadil? HAH! Check the letters of Tolkien (can't remember the number) and you will read there the best answer you're ever going to get (though not good enough some would say).

And yes, he would get annoying but I think you'd endure it without much complaint since you were sleeping in his house, eating his food and being constantly rescued by him.

 

[Barliman Butterbur]

Re: POLL: Is Tom Bombadill someone who'd get anoying?

A friend of mine says Bombadill could get anoying. I'm sorry I... I just don't see it!

He's a piece of work all right. I guess it would depend on one's personality. Not everyone would cotton to him, while others — certainly Goldberry — couldn't get enough!

Barley

 

[Jotun]

Yeah, he'd get annoying, but everyone's annoying at some point or another.

 

[Starbrow]

I think Tom would be a fascinating person to be around. Just think of all the stories he could tell. And I bet the singing wouldn't be annoying if you joined in.

 

[e.Blackstar]

Well, here's my take. I think that as a normal human, Tom would get supremely annoying with all his singing and what-have-you. But, probably as an immortal whatever-the-heck, he would occupy some kind of weird place in your hindbrain where you would start to not notice/care.

 

[Master of maps]

he spontaniously breaks out in song to often....

 

[Olorgando]

... helping out with whatever it is that Tom and Goldberry do ...

Like stomping on the occasional Barrow Wight? Dunno, I'd probably prefer staying at the house and have them tell me the story later. Unless I'd be in a bad mood, and feel like watching somebody get thoroughly stomped ... but how would I get into a bad mood at Tom and Goldberry's house? 🤔

 

[Lithóniel]

Okay I HAVE to respond to this.

Tom Bombadil would probably get kind of annoying, but the good kind of annoying, you know? Me and him would be besties. We’d go galavanting around being all silly just for the fun of it! You’ve gotta love Tom Bombadil. I mean come on HE’S TOM BOMBADIL. We don’t even know where he came from, which makes it even better. He’s so random but so not.

 

[Elbereth Vala Varda]

Since this thread is getting a LOT of attention, I'll add to it.

Would he get annoying? Well, depends on who you are, who you like to hang out with, etc.

If you really enjoy singing, gallivanting about and you don't want to take life too seriously, he might be an easy pick for your new best friend. He's fun, sort of quirky, and just sort of unique. If you are more of a plan everything, take things sternly, I'm on a mission type, you may have a little more trouble getting along.

But all the same, I think there is a certain sense of mystery that makes everyone attracted to Old Tom. He is very interesting, in so many ways. And he is mysterious as ever.

 

[Amon Rudh]

I must admit that I do find the poetry annoying albeit the chapters in which he is active are great. I also found the Adventures of Tom Bombadil annoying but suspect more read throughs will enable me to enjoy it more.

 

[Vorondil]

Quite possibly.

 

[Lósendir Elsurion]

If I had to be around him ALL the time, I do think he'd get annoying. But to me him beeing so careless and goofy and doing whatever he feels like seems very delightful!

 

[Ent]

I must admit that I do find the poetry annoying albeit the chapters in which he is active are great. I also found the Adventures of Tom Bombadil annoying but suspect more read throughs will enable me to enjoy it more.

Perhaps this is the thread we can use to pick up a little chatter on Bombadil going forward. At least it's one devoted to him alone, rather than others I've found, where multiple enigmas are addressed, etc.

I AM deepening my insight into bombadil rigorously, and will write a small treatise on him myself soon.
Meanwhile, as Tolkien said, Bombadil is a "comment." A "representation". One which Tolkien would not "willingly take up to defend."

(I believe he would not do that, not because he could not... but because, having affirmed Tom is "intentionally" an enigma, he was not going to change that perspective. an understanding of who Tolkien was, and why he wrote each character as he did, is key to grasping it all.)

For now, I'll just say Tom is indeed 'more than we know'... but only because we don't step into Tolkien's shoes in deciphering what he intended Tom to represent.

(Also, sorry, there is clear indication of where Tom came from in SIL ... we just read over it without making the connection. I'll bring that forward as well, though it will not answer 'what' he is, nor 'when' exactly he arrived. Only 'how' he arrived. )

More at 11.

 

[Olorgando]

The first time JRRT wrote TB into LotR, to be found somewhere in vols. 6 to 8.5 of HoMe - most likely 6 - well, wasn't Frodo still Bingo then? JRRT was still plodding along with no clear ideas of where this story - the "New Hobbit", a term he continued using into the 1940's - was heading. Vague memories about giving the four Hobbits "another adventure" - with a character named after his children's toy doll, about which he had written the odd poem some years earlier. Perhaps the time in NH / LotR when a malevolent (giant?) named Treebeard was the reason for Gandalf not showing up in Hobbiton as promised, rather than Saruman.

(Also, sorry, there is clear indication of where Tom came from in SIL ... we just read over it without making the connection. I'll bring that forward as well, though it will not answer 'what' he is, nor 'when' exactly he arrived. Only 'how' he arrived. )

I'm really waiting for this revelation!
Unlike Galadriel (and Celeborn), JRRT never tried to squash TB back into the Sil. He was writing (sort of) the Silmarillion, not the Sillymarillion.
And I'm extremely skeptical of any attempts by later writers to interpret (much) older writings as premonitions or even prophesy of what these later writers describe ...