Warning! This piece contains spoilers for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 2.
Four episodes in and The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is in a high speed chase across Middle-earth as it speeds towards the halfway point of Season 2. In an episode that features barrow-wights, ents, multiple action setpieces, and a new breed of Hobbits, the introduction of a fan-favorite character who makes his live-action debut manages to stand out. Tom Bombadil (played here by Rory Kinnear), the musical maestro from the books of J.R.R. Tolkien, has long been one of the most anticipated arrivals in any Tolkien project, including Rings of Power. His arrival halfway through the season not only builds on the importance of music and song in Middle-earth and in the Prime Video show specifically, but also inspires some questions about just how powerful old jolly — immortal? — Tom Bombadil really is.
"Old Tom Bombadil is a merry fellow; Bright blue his jacket is, and his boots are yellow."
Keen Tolkien readers — or those who picked up The Oxford Magazine where it was originally published — first met the bearded wanderer in the appropriately named 1934 poem The Adventures of Tom Bombadil that predated the first The Lord of the Rings book by two decades. He would later appear in that tale saving Merry and Pippin from an angry old tree before once again saving the Hobbits and their friends from the barrow-wights that reside close to Tom's home. Those creepy monsters also make an appearance in his own poem, implying that perhaps wherever Tom currently lives in Rhun— and where the Stranger (Daniel Weyman) stumbles upon him in this episode — might be close to the eerie Southern forest where the elves were recently set upon by the haunting spirits of the old kings.
Tolkien's relationship with his recurring bard is deeper and older than his original poem would suggest. Tom Bombadil began life as a doll in the Tolkien household, a funny name given to a toy that purportedly caused conflict between the Tolkien children. His inclusion in the author's fictional universe acts as a sentimental reference from father to child, a callback to a family memory. All of this is to say that Bombadil seems like more of a fun recurring figure for Tolkien to write into his yarns rather than a god-like being. But the fact Bombadil has shown up over thousands of years in Middle-earth as well as Tolkien's reluctance to cement down his nature or reasons behind his long life mean that he's taken on this almost omnipotent vibe in readers' minds and The Rings of Power builds on that by expanding his mystique.
"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."
Bombadil's age is impossible to nail down, but it would seem that he's ancient. So old, in fact, that he has a god-like air to his presence. Is he a fantastical storyteller with a depth of experience and a penchant for hyperbole? Or is Tom a cryptic immortal loosely chronicling the history of existence through his whimsical statements? The vagary is seemingly the point of his character, making him a tough task for adaptations of Tolkien's work. That's probably why Rings of Power is the first live-action version to bring him to life, as the show is building on much of Tolkien's lore and expanding it. The show's Bombadil is in conversation with the years of academic readings and conversations about him, but in bringing him to screen they do seem to cement his role as a powerful being in Middle-earth.
In the books it's clear that he's very old, but here he not only quotes directly from his famed "Eldest" speech, but he adds to the timeline by revealing to the Stranger that he was here before even the stars. Not only that, but we're also told that he knows what the stars are thinking and often disagrees with them. After seeing what Bombadil can do, the Stranger comments on the fact that he can communicate with plants, has a thriving garden in the middle of a desert, and can control fire and air almost thoughtlessly when he breathes deeply. These elemental powers are hinted at in what we know of Tom in the books but are confirmed here as literal magic.
What Is Tom Bombadil?
So what is Tom? Some kind of nature spirit? The folkloric British figure known as the Green Man? He cuts off those questions with a simple answer: If you want to know who or what he is, the only answer is Tom Bombabdil, nothing more and nothing less.
Of course, it's hard not to wonder when we take into consideration that Tom Bombadil has seemingly come into the path of every Istar in Middle-earth like some kind of Tolkien Forest Gump meeting all the important wizards in history.
How Important is Tom Bombadil in the Books?
In the books, Tom’s known not only by the Hobbits but also by Elrond, who references him as part of a potential group who could carry the One Ring, as it's revealed in the Lord of the Rings series that it has no impact on him. That in itself makes him a vastly powerful force. But, as he tells the Stranger here, he's "a wanderer not a warrior" so those kinds of tasks are not the sort he takes on. It is clear, though, that he's aware of who the Stranger is and is here to help him as he relearns his identity and gets ready to face both the mysterious Dark Wizard (Ciaran Hinds) and Sauron (Charlie Vickers) as the season heads into its final episodes.
Even with this new information, the show rightfully stays away from truly solving the mystery of who or what Tom Bombadil is, while still confirming the fact that he is as exceptionally powerful as fans have always theorized. That mystery is exactly as Tolkien wished, once saying in one of his many letters that "even in a mythical Age there must be some enigmas, as there always are. Tom Bombadil is one (intentionally)."
Rosie Knight is a contributing freelancer for IGN covering everything from anime to comic books to kaiju to kids movies to horror flicks. She has over half a decade of experience in entertainment journalism with bylines at Nerdist, Den of Geek, Polygon, and more.
