Lol. This might not be popular BUT there’s a reason he doesn’t make the cut in the movies or extended cut releases. Tom Bambodil is basically middle earth’s “MyStErIoUs WaYs.” This is a hot take but I would almost go so far as to say his existence in the world ruins the book, his songs/poetry are terrible and he’s just kind of there. He is meant to be a mysterious figure that lends to the overarching mystery of the world, one who has always been around and is so powerful he is basically a god, but doesn’t actually give a shit about the world outside of himself or the suffering of others. I see him as a vestige of JRRT’s catholicism seeping through, this ultimate force that could end the war but didn’t because reasons.
Edit: grammar is hard after wine
Tom couldn’t save the world. They talk about giving the ring to him at the council. He can’t leave his lands so the most he could do is to keep it and hide the ring. But tom is literally incapable of being tempted by power, that sounds like it would make him the perfect person to keep the ring but actually it would mean he would just forget about it almost immediately. Giving him the ring would be more dangerous than yeeting it into the ocean which they also discussed and deemed not a good solution because it would only delay things. The ring is magical after all and WANTS to be found, trying to hide it away in those sorts of ways will never work.
Tom is meant to represent untamed nature of middle earth. He isn’t meant to be mysterious or even particularly powerful. He is just Tom.
I can appreciate this take, I know he’s a popular character and I read somewhere that Jack Black would be the only actor capable of pulling off the role which absolutely makes sense to me (and honestly does make re-reading more entertaining.) I get it, I just don’t like him. The world around him is falling to darkness and he just doesn’t care. No one really knows what he’s capable of outside of his realm because he likes his life with Goldberry and again just doesn’t care about anything else. I always saw him as representative of those apolitical people who didn’t care enough to stop fascist regimes take over their own country because they only cared about their own day to day life and couldn’t be bothered to vote or fight for anything. I’m glad they took him out of the movies, it flows better and fits the tone of everyone coming together in a fellowship to defeat evil. 🤷♀️
Brian Blessed would’ve made the best Tom Bombadil IMO. He’s got the perfect voice, appearance, mannerisms, and weird whimsical childish aloofness that Bombadil has.
He’s too old now, though, I’m thinking of 20+ years ago when they were doing the PJ trilogy, so JB would probably be a sound bet in any new adaptation.
his songs/poetry are terrible
To be fair, Tolkien’s songs/poetry are terrible. He was a great writer, an amazing storyteller, and an unparalleled world-builder. But he was not a lyricist or poet by a long shot.
The songs and poems do convey a lot of information and help build the world. But that doesn’t mean they’re good.
