Question about Tom Bombadil

[Andromadus the Invictus]

Is Tom Bombadil the point where Tolkien stopped understanding his own works? Did one of his creations confuse him? I'm wondering because there is never any indication about what Tom actually was, or how he fit into Middle Earth.

 

[Squint-eyed Southerner]

Well, that's one good way to open a big can of worms! 😄

Tom's been the subject of wrangling for decades, including here, in more threads than can count. Here one to chew on:

The Bombadil Enigma

Greetings. I'm new to this forum, but a long time fan of Tolkien's works. One of my pastimes for the last several years has been looking at the various Bombadil theories. I've always found him fascinating. I finally put all of my thoughts together and expressed a tentative conclusion in a blog...

thetolkien.forum

But there are many more, believe me! 😁

I'll just say here that old Tom predates the writing of both The Hobbit and LOTR.

 

[Ent]

I believe Tolkien, in his "Letters," speaks to Tom and who he is, leaving it a total enigma there as well.
Tolkien knew well who Bombadil was... just like he knew why the Eagles didn't just fly the ring to Mordor for destruction.
But... he "intentionally left things unanswered" to provide for people's engagement and imagination. (Also found in his Letters.)

(p.s. - we used to house this and many other questions in The Great Halls of Speculation - however, the Halls burned down after a time and the questions were released back into the world at large.)

 

[Erestor Arcamen]

Just for reference/help, here's all of the posts on Tom Bombadil on TTF (not that yours isn't welcome!). Feel free to look at them, and if they're old feel free to add comments/wake them up, to put it Entishly .

site:thetolkienforum.com "Tom Bombadil" - Google Search

 

[Ent]

feel free to add comments/wake them up

Indeed. There are a bunch of really good thoughts shared throughout those threads - none of them "the final answer."
Great food for thought.