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.
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For a long time I wasn’t a big fan of Tom Bombadil. As a matter of making the plot logical and the characters’ development make sense, however, he is a very useful device. The four hobbits are just venturing out into the world for the first time and would likely get themselves into trouble and would need help – Bombadil is a source of assistance as they develop competence, and there are reasons to keep them from encountering Aragorn or Gandalf again.
A deus ex machina is a useful thing for a writer.
Looking at it now, I had forgotten that Frodo still has nightmares, even in the safety of Bombadil’s home. An early sign that Frodo will be irrevocably damaged by this task.