#hey dol

[eagle-longing-for-rostau]

[father-of-the-void]

"Fair lady!" said Frodo again after a while. "Tell me, if my asking does not seem foolish, who is Tom Bombadil?" "He is," said Goldberry, staying her swift movements and smiling. Frodo looked at her questioningly. "He is, as you have seen him," she said in answer to his look. "He is the Master of wood, water, and hill." "Then all this strange land belongs to him?" "No indeed!" she answered, and her smile faded. "That would indeed be a burden," she added in a low voice, as if to herself. "The trees and the grasses and all things growing or living in the land belong each to themselves. Tom Bombadil is the Master. No one has ever caught old Tom walking in the forest, wading in the water, leaping on the hill-tops under light and shadow. He has no fear. Tom Bombadil is master."

— J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

[overthinkinglotr]

I’m about to watch episode 3 of Hobitit and

does this mean........

does this mean..........we will meet........Him??????????????????

[father-of-the-void]

"Who are you, Master?" he asked. "Eh, what?" said Tom sitting up, and his eyes glinting in the gloom. "Don’t you know my name yet? That’s the only answer. Tell me, who are you, alone, yourself and nameless? But you are young and I am old. Eldest, that’s what I am. Mark my words, my friends: Tom was here before the river and the trees; Tom remembers the first raindrop and the first acorn. He made paths before the Big People, and saw the Little People arriving. He was here before the Kings and the graves and the Barrow-wights. When the Elves passed westward, Tom was here already, before the seas were bent. He knew the dark under the stars when it was fearless - before the Dark Lord came from Outside."

— J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

[nobodysuspectsthebutterfly]

I am going to mentally hold hands with you the next time I have to watch the extended editions with a Tom Bombadil fanboy. Also is it sad that I may be every fan on that list?

Goodness, Tom Bombadil fanboys exist? I don’t dislike him, I actually find him slightly interesting in an understanding-Tolkien and thematic sense, but I would not consider myself a fangirl or him important at all. He’s totally a leftover of when Tolkien still thought LOTR was going to be The Hobbit Part 2. The only thing important to the actual plot is the Barrow-Downs and the daggers the hobbits pick up there, otherwise Tom just comes on stage to mysteriously sing and mysteriously dance and mysteriously grin and mysteriously do stuff that has to be lampshaded later and then never be of relevance again. His chapters are easily cut from most adaptations for a good reason.

And my brother (#1 brother, as opposed to #3 brother the ASOIAF fan… wait, #1’s a fan too… but #3 read ASOIAF first and got the rest of us to read it, anyway), who decided to read LOTR before the movies came out, nearly gave up within a few days because of Tom and his songs. I had to tell him he could skip the chapters and it really wouldn’t matter, and yes the book will pick up soon. He did not miss him.

And it’s only sad for you if it’s sad for me, because they all mostly apply to me too. :)