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Concerning “In the House of Tom Bombadil”, Book 1, Chapter 7 of The Lord of the Rings, in which we ponder all things Bombadil…
On this episode, we continue our discussion of The Lord of the Rings with Book 1, Chapter 7 of Fellowship, “In the House of Tombadil”. As the title of this chapter would suggest, our discussion on this episode consists mainly in attempting to answer the question “Who is Tom Bombadil?” We consider both the evidence contained in this chapter as well as the things Tolkien had to say about Bombadil in his letters. It’s an easy question to get lost in, and we have a lot of fun exploring it.
Topics of discussion include:
- Who is Tom Bombadil?
- Who is Goldberry?
- What does it mean that Tom is “Master?”
- How has Tom taken a “vow of poverty?”
- How can Tom have power over Old Man Willow?
- Why did Tolkien include Tom in the story even though he admitted he didn’t do much to advance the plot?
- And much more!
Originally released: 7/27/2015.
Talking Tolkien is now known as The Tolkien Road.
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8 Responses
I cannot find any of the blog posts mentioned in this episode or any of the previous ones. Can you tell me where I can read the blog about the Silmarillion Film idea?
I think this is what you are looking for: https://truemyths.wordpress.com/category/silmarillion-films/
I just discovered that all of the content from truemyths.org is now at the WordPress site. Thanks!
Is it possible that Goldberry is the physical embodiement of the Withywindle? She is known as the ‘River’s daughter’ and the Withywindle is a tributary of the Brandywine River. Does this make sense? I just had the thought and I couldn’t think of a reason why that couldn’t be the explanation of Goldberry’s name.
Definitely possible! We had a long discussion on the nature of Tom Bombadil (and Goldberry) on a more recent episode: https://www.tolkienroad.com/0216-the-bombadil-enigma-an-interview-with-keith-mathison/
Thanks for the answer! I love your podcast.😀
Also, can I still listen to the free audio versions of Tolkien’s Requiem or do I have to buy it?
The audio now comes with our Patreon $10 / month (or more) tier (along with other perks, including the audio of my other book Tolkien’s Overture). I plan to make it available via Audible eventually. Thanks for your interest!
https://patreon.com/tolkienroad