Hi! This thread is slightly self-explanatory. Discuss who you think Tom Bombadil is. Don't have arguments. Debating, yes, but no angry arguments.
Personally, I think Tom couldn't be Eru. In the Lord of the Rings, it says that he couldn't withstand all of Sauron's power (who, when you think about it, if Tom was Eru, would be his son). I think he's some very old spirit, who has enough power to maintain his land. But, that's just my opinion.
I don't need to say a word, people know my stance on Bombadil discussions.
I personally, like lots of people, think that he is Aule.
I think that he is a Maia, more powerful than Sauron. Possibly one of Yavanna.
Tom Bombadil is actually Gloin, think about it. You've never seen the both of them in the same room..
Well he's pretty obviously supposed to represent nature gods (specifically celtic, i've heard), and I'm fine with that. But if we want an in-lore explanation, I like to think of him as the first experiment with life made by illuvatar, after the ainur. After all, he's oldest.
Also, not that I'm saying this thread should be deleted, but we've discussed this rather many times on the forums.
He is the First and he will be the Last.
I think he's Father Time.
There is a theory that Tom Bombadil is an Ainur governing the "time" of Middle Earth. He and Gandalf both state that he is the "eldest" and assuming this is true, no one person could possibly be older than time itself, save for perhaps Eru Ilúvatar. The ring has no effect on him because the ring has nothing to offer him; time is already immortal, and neither good nor evil. He has no real concern because his existence will still be around whether or not Sauron gets the ring back. Another hint to this idea of him being or governing time is his wife is said to govern the nature in Middle Earth. This could be a reference to Mother Nature and Father Time, with Goldberry and Bombadil occupying their roles, respectively. His wife describes him as being "Master of wood, water and hill." Time does effect all these, and even in the riddle battle between Gollum and Bilbo one of Gollum's riddles involves something that has dominion over many things with "trees" and "mountain" included, the correct answer that Bilbo gives is time.
Tom Bombadil may be a jolly, old fellow...but is he really? Or is he Darkness itself?
I quit reading on the first paragraph when it said that bombadil wasn't very much liked. I like tom enough for about fifty people.
Correction: I read further, and probably will later. However, this guy is taking things too far. He's acting like he knows who tom is, and no one does. I doubt Tolkien did. He's saying that his whole goal is to defeat sauron, and he called Tom's land more dangerous than Mordor. Like, woah. I mean, I think if Tom wanted to defeat Sauron, he wouldn't send four hobbits to do it. I don't care how smart he is, no one would make a bet like that unless they were incredibly desperate. My new decision is that that guy is just...I don't know. He's making too many assumptions and acting like they're true.
I just finished. He thinks he knows that Tom is evil, and ruled Middle-Earth before Morgoth was there. He thinks he's bound to his land by the Valar, but nothing in the book says that. So...I think this guy assumes too much.
The Lord of the Rings specifically states that he's less powerful than Sauron.
Tom is less powerful than SAuron, LOTR specifically states it.
I don't think he's a maia because ring would have power as on Gandalf, Saroumane or Sauron for example.