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CuriousG
Half-elven
Jan 23 2013, 5:53pm
Views: 2260
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Thanks for posting this, Ranger. I was nodding in agreement with Lost Istari's points about Ungoliant and Goldberry--extending your reasoning to include them makes the case all the more convincing. Plus it's esthetically appealing to think that there is an embodiment of the Great Music that walks in Middle-earth.
The only hiccup I have with any theory is that I believe Tolkien entertained his children with Tom Bombadil stories based on a doll with that colored clothing, and he seems to have liked the character enough to insert him in his epic. I think it would be similar if I liked some character, maybe Darth Vader, and I invented a non-Star Wars world, let's say the Smurfs, and just because I like Vader so much, I put him in that world despite him not belonging. He would forever be unaccounted for, but if I'm the author, I can do what I want.
I think Goldberry might not quite fit into the world either. How can she be River Woman's daughter if the Valar/Maiar don't have children? (Aside from Melian and Thingol.) My memory is bad, but isn't there a song in The Road Goes Ever On where Bombadil woos Goldberry away from her mother with the deal that Goldberry can go back to visit? Who is River Woman? I could explain Old Man Willow as a Huorn, but River Woman doesn't seem to fit any scheme herself. If she's the spirit of the Brandywine, do other rivers have a spirit too? Maybe they do, and we never hear about them. And maybe they are in some way under the umbrella of the Valar's rule.
But if we go back to my Darth Vader idea of a clumsy, inconsistent insertion for the sake of author amusement, then Goldberry and River Woman could be like adding Yoda and Obi Wan to the Smurf world too.
Just thoughts. Since Tolkien never said anything definitive himself, I'm not sure that we can decide ourselves. But I really like the idea of Bombadil as the incarnation of the Great Music, and Ungoliant as the Discord, and Goldberry as the spirit of the Music that's retained in water, and hence Tom's attraction/infatuation with her.
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Subject
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User
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Time
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Tom Bombadil As the Spirit of the Music of the Ainur
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rangerfromthenorth
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Jan 17 2013, 4:27pm
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Thanks for this!
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Radagast-Aiwendil
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Jan 17 2013, 8:57pm
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Great Theory
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Lost_istari
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Jan 18 2013, 7:56pm
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Thank you much
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rangerfromthenorth
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Jan 22 2013, 2:07pm
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Agreed
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CuriousG
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Jan 23 2013, 5:53pm
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A quick thought on children of Ainur
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Lost_istari
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Jan 24 2013, 6:46am
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Excellent theory!
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FlyingSerkis
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Jan 23 2013, 9:13pm
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Thank You
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rangerfromthenorth
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Jan 23 2013, 9:33pm
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Regarding Bombadil's boundedness
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Plurmo
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Jan 28 2013, 5:59am
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I Know
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Tolkien Forever
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Jan 30 2013, 8:38pm
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"None has yet defined him, for Tom is an enigma"
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squire
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Jan 31 2013, 1:27am
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Great poem/
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CuriousG
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Jan 31 2013, 1:34am
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Great Poem Indeed
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rangerfromthenorth
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Jan 31 2013, 2:29am
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It is certainly a great topic to debate
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squire
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Feb 1 2013, 3:14am
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a "most" dangerous discussion
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rangerfromthenorth
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Feb 1 2013, 3:32pm
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ATB was published after LOTR.
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N.E. Brigand
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Feb 1 2013, 5:55pm
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yes yes it was
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rangerfromthenorth
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Feb 1 2013, 6:14pm
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thats where the confusion came from
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rangerfromthenorth
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Feb 1 2013, 6:22pm
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Tolkien did alter the poem for its 1962 re-publication.
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N.E. Brigand
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Feb 1 2013, 7:51pm
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Very nicely stated
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squire
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Feb 1 2013, 8:38pm
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This may interest you.
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N.E. Brigand
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Feb 1 2013, 5:46am
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