LOTR Essay
Thesis: Tom Bombadil is presented as a contradiction to the negative association between power
and control. He is an example of how power and control can be mutually exclusive.
Power of language
- Can communicate with all living things: inclusionary not exclusionary.
o He is known by many other races of Middle-earth by other names which unify
him with the inhabitants of the land.
 Iarwain Ben-adar (oldest and fatherless): Elves, Forn: Dwarves, Orald:
Northern Men and many others, pg 345.
 i.e. Lord Elrond is known everywhere as Lord Elrond because is solely
identified as an Elf. Tom is known by all these different names because his
power of language allows him to identify with each of the different races
like one of their own; he “transcends” language?
 Such as when Frodo is referred to as “Elf-friend” by Gildor, pg 105-106
o Gave the ponies their actual names which they had never been called before but
answered to for the rest of their lives, pg 188.
- This provides him with a method of understanding for all living things, specifically with
nature and consequently providing him a means of power, but not control. The Old Forest
has a language of its own that Tom can understand and speak.
o Talks to the trees of the Old Forest and learns their history, what they hated and
how to keep them content.
o Old Man Willow is an example of negative control: “His grey thirsty spirit drew
power out of the earth,” “a master of winds, and his song and thought ran through
the woods on both sides of the river,” “had under its dominion nearly all the trees
of the Forest.” pg 170
 The hobbits fall under the control of Old Man Willow: “then it seemed
that they could hear words, cool words, saying something about water and
sleep. They gave themselves up to the spell and fell fast asleep…” pg 153
o Tom does not fall under the “spell” of the forest because he knows the language
and has a deep connection and appreciation for nature in its raw essence.
- Theme contribution: language is a large part of the novel, Elvish and the Black Speech
(Mordor)
Power of knowledge
- Connected to the power of language.
- Because he understands, there is no need to impose himself and try to control the things
around him; can work with something rather than against it
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Hobbits try to tame nature for their own exploitation (regardless the fact that this
symbiosis is harmonious)
o Out of ignorance, the hobbits only see the Old Forest from their perspective and
threaten to break and burn branches in the forest, pg 155
 Tom helps the hobbits expand their view of the world, that there is more
outside the Shire
 Ironic because Tom won’t leave the boundaries of “his” land
Tom was First (pg 346) to Middle-earth and knew the world before the Dark Lord and the
Elves, Big and Little People etc. came (pg 172) Wisdom and knowledge comes with
those years.
o He told the hobbits stories of the Old Forest, fortresses on the heights (war
stories), the Barrow-wights, Elf-sires; a time when the world was wider, pg 170171
o Knew much about their families and the history of the Shire, pg 173
Extremely long life (connected to him being First) and great knowledge gives Tom
almost a air of omnipotence; knows so much about the past that he’s much more
connected to the future
o “Just chance brought me then, if chance you call it. It was no plan of mine, though
I was waiting for you. We heard news of you, and learned you were wandering,”
pg 165
 Guest room was already made up for them (4 beds, 4 hobbits)
o “… cried Tom, glancing towards him with a most seeing look in his shining
eyes… ‘Take off your golden ring! Your hand’s more fair without it’…” pg 174175
 Is very aware of what the Ring is, as well as its past and what it does but
does not understand the point of its temptation, for he knows that everyone
is at their best when they are themselves, as he is.
 Therefore he laughs at it, and mocks Sauron who knows nothing, nor
understands anything else other than the conceited spoils of control.
 Sauron also does not bother to learn anything about the Shire or
“insignificant” beings of Middle-earth  ignorance
Knowledge provides one with a means of subtle persuasion = acquiring more knowledge
o “Indeed so much did Tom know, and so cunning was his questioning, that Frodo
found himself telling him more about Bilbo and his own hopes and fears than he
had told before even to Gandalf.” pg 173-174
Theme contribution:
Power of wonder
- Child-like awareness keeps Tom in a state of chosen innocence that keeps from him
becoming jaded like everyone else.
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o Is very aware of the negative things in the world but chooses to see the “silver
lining” as it were.
 Completely unaffected by the frightening demeanor of the Barrow-wights
and the trouble the hobbits were in with Old Man Willow
A powerful way to view the world; becomes de-familiarized from how the world is
normally perceived and able to view it from a new perspective
o Pieces the parts of the world he knows back together into a world that he would
want to be a part of  gives him a kind of blissful ignorance
Enchants the hobbits with his stories of Middle-earth to the point of when they lose all
track of time, under his “spell”
o Just like how Tom casts the “spell” on Old Man Willow and the Barrow-wights
Simplistic rhyme scheme resembles a nursery rhyme, emphasizes the child-like
innocence of Tom
Theme contribution:
Indifference
- Indifference is not a power in itself, but the quality leads to a certain kind of power
- Takes pleasure in things for themselves for the sake of themselves, and therefore has no
need for control
o Relieves the temptation of the Ring
o The Ring has no power over him, he doesn’t have power over the Ring
- He is the Master of Himself
- Would never be a good keeper of the Ring even though it has no effect on him because he
would not see the need of hiding it. It would get lost or be misplaced.
- Could be his major downfall:
o Chooses to stay out of the wars and politics of Middle-earth, but this doesn’t
mean he will stay out of it forever, the darkness from the East will spread to the
West
 Pacifist view
o Staying within the boundaries of his own world has consequences: doesn’t see
danger coming
 No one has anything to fear in Tom’s house, but he can’t protect the
hobbits or anyone for that matter, from everything
- Even if Tom could withstand the evil rising in the East he would not be able to live in a
world like that. His powerful connection to nature would be shattered and the foundation
of his character and ideals would fall apart