THE MYSTERY OF TOM BOMBADIL.

THE MYSTERY OF TOM BOMBADIL. Tom Bombadil is controversial. He is the most important character left out of the Lord of the Rings movies. I think that a majority of the Tolkien fans that I know (a small sample) seem to dislike him and are pleased to see him excluded. This wikipedia article gives this description: “Tom Bombadil is a spry fellow, with a quick, playful wit. He speaks in a rhyming whimsical way: ‘Hey dol! merry dol! ring a dong dillo! Ring a dong! hop along! fal lal the willow! Tom Bom, jolly Tom, Tom Bombadillo!’” He goes back to the begining of time. He claims to remember “the first raindrop and the first acorn”, and “knew the dark under the stars when it was fearless — before the Dark Lord came from Outside.” I think that those who don’t like him are influenced by their distaste for his verse. I think I valued him because the hobbits on the quest encounter him early. He sets a tone for the book(s). There are wonders in the world the hobbits have entered and that world has a very long history.