# Ring a dong boom! Cast the Ring into the Crack of Doom!



## Úlairi (Mar 13, 2009)

> _The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring - In the House of Tom Bombadil_
> 
> *'Show me the precious Ring!' he said suddenly in the midst of the story; and Frodo, to his own astonishment, drew out the chain from his pocket, and unfastening the Ring handed it at once to Tom. ...*
> 
> *Tom laughed again, and then he spun the Ring in the air - and it vanished with a flash. Frodo gave a cry - and Tom leaned forward and handed it back to him with a smile.*


 
The power of the Ring had no effect on Tom whatsoever as Tom is, by nature, incorruptible by the magic of Machine; being the embodiment of natural science and Nature in Middle-earth. The temptation and lust that it exerted on all creatures of Middle-earth was ultimately irresistable for any to bear hurt to it - save our Tom.



> _The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring - The Council of Elrond_
> 
> *'... He is a strange creature, but maybe I should have summoned him to our Council.'*
> *'He would not have come,' said Gandalf. ...*
> ...


 
Besides the blatantly obvious reasons as to why Bombadil would (or could) not take the Ring to withhold it from Sauron; if he were taken on the Quest with the Fellowship he would succeed in casting the Ring into the chasm. Why not beg him to fulfill the Quest for all the free folk of Middle-earth?

Just a thought-experiment, if you will... 

*Cheers,*

*Úlairi.*


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## Confusticated (Mar 13, 2009)

The exact answers to your question must depend in part on who or what Tom is. We do know enough about him to figure some things. One immediate issue that comes to mind is that anyone who doesn't understand the need is in danger of jeopardizing the quest through his own ignorance. Is Tom naive? Possibly more than anyone else in M-e. In this respect he reminds me of Manwe. 

Couldn't you see Tom giving some trickster the benefit of doubt? Then turning to Gandalf, "I know you said I should not hand over the ring in any circumstances, but he was a nice enough fellow-bombadellow!" Or stopping off in Mordor to rescue some poor lowly orc who was being whipped.

Would Tom kill in defense of himself or another? Perhaps he wouldn't even need to. He might have other solutions.

That addresses the issue mentioned by Gandalf. But there are other reasons Tom might have been a detriment to the quest. His presence might have drawn the attention of Sauron. 

Gandalf may have reasons that he saw no need to mention.


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## Alcarinque (Mar 13, 2009)

Having the Greek edition of the book forgive me if my translation isn't accurate:"...But you are young and I'm old. The oldest, that's who I am. Mark my words my friends; Tom was here before the river and the trees; Tom remembers the first drop of rain and the first acorn. He built paths before the big Men and witnessed the arrival of the little Men. He was here before kings and tombs and vampires. When Elves crossed the route to the West, Tom was already here. He knew the darkness underneath the stars when it didn't hid any fears- before the Dark Lord came from far away."
 Tom is far from being naive. He is almost as old and wise as Gandalf. But he doesn't get involved in the current troubles of Middle Earth more than it is mentioned. Maybe having seen so many ages he doesn't have the will to fight anymore. He prefers to offer comfort like a loving father and let his children learn to fight their own battles for he won't always be around.


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## Alcuin (Mar 13, 2009)

Bombadil was in his own little world, in the Old Forest. (The barrow-downs were part of his stomping-grounds, too, at least occasionally; and Aragorn seems to have known him personally.) Gandalf, who apparently knew him well, said that he would not have gone to Elrond’s Council, that he would only reluctantly take the Ring to hide it, and that he would have been a most unreliable guardian. It is inconceivable that he would have taken up the Quest for Mount Doom.


> [noparse][Elrond said,][/noparse] “…I had forgotten Bombadil. … He is a strange creature, but maybe I should have summoned him to our Council.”
> 
> “He would not have come,” said Gandalf.
> 
> ...


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## Úlairi (Mar 14, 2009)

Alcuin said:


> Bombadil was in his own little world, in the Old Forest. (The barrow-downs were part of his stomping-grounds, too, at least occasionally; and Aragorn seems to have known him personally.) Gandalf, who apparently knew him well, said that he would not have gone to Elrond’s Council, that he would only reluctantly take the Ring to hide it, and that he would have been a most unreliable guardian. It is inconceivable that he would have taken up the Quest for Mount Doom.


 


> Besides the blatantly obvious reasons as to why Bombadil would (or could) not take the Ring to withhold it from Sauron...


 
 That's why I stated the above, the reasons are quite obvious... 

However, if Tom, confronted by the notion that the land he so loved, and Goldberry his darling were facing annihilation by the power of Sauron once Middle-earth had come under his dominion; would he then not feel compelled to also go on the Quest? 

You've made some interesting points Nóm. I also considered that Tom could potentially draw attention to himself. He would nonetheless be a powerful ally. I have crafted a concept I've entitled _Ardalindalë_ that I wish to discuss in another thread about the residual power of Music within Arda from the _Music of the Ainur_. Bombadil had this power. Yavanna appears to have wrought the Two Trees into being with it. Fingolfin battled Sauron with Music also. It is the unknown power of Arda. 

I do not believe Tom to be naïve, Gandalf compares himself to Tom in the very literal sense of being a rolling stone and Tom a moss-gatherer. It appears that Gandalf was alluding to the wisdom of Tom; who was wise enough to give Merry the sword that helped to defeat the Witch-king of Angmar. Tom knew a little more than he tended to let on...

*Cheers,*

*Úlairi.*


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## Bucky (Mar 14, 2009)

I don't think Bombadil niave either....

He knows to be on the lookout for Frodo because he's been forwarned, apparently by Farmer Maggot somehow and he's right on top of things with the Barrow-wight, having already warned Frodo with a song to call him in case of trouble......

But, I don't think that trying to convince Tom that He and/or Goldberry are in trouble would work. "What trouble?" tTom would think or say.....

Gandalf says Bombadil would fall last as he wasd first, but I think that perhaps Sauron's forces would never even bother finding Tom in the Old forest in the first place.


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## Úlairi (Mar 15, 2009)

Hmmmm... that's an interesting observation Buckland...

Once Sauron had brought ME under his dominion; would he desire to enslave or destroy Bombadil? I think _Myths Transformed _may have the answer... you should look it up!

*Cheers,*

*Úlairi.*


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## Prince of Cats (Mar 15, 2009)

Bucky said:


> Gandalf says Bombadil would fall last as he wasd first, but I think that perhaps Sauron's forces would never even bother finding Tom in the Old forest in the first place.



I think Old Tom might get curious why his forest is sick from the evil about it and do a bit of "Scourging of the Shire"  I imagine orcs and the like would be equally enamored by his song


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## Starflower (Mar 25, 2009)

Úlairi said:


> Once Sauron had brought ME under his dominion; would he desire to enslave or destroy Bombadil?



What I would like to know is what exactly does Sauron know about Tom? I'm certain he knows that he exists, but what about Tom's rather specialised powers? Would Sauron venture into the Old Forest even to look for the Ring?


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## Tyelkormo (Mar 25, 2009)

As I suggested elsewhere, I believe that part of the reason Tom is immune to the Ring is that he has his own narrative thread which may touch and intertwine with that of ME now and then, but which is not the same. I doubt he could be motivated to perform the task because _it's not his story_.


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## YayGollum (Mar 25, 2009)

Tom Bombadil is terrifying. I can't hate him, but only because he's more like a force of nature than a force of personality. I'm not a large fan of the personality, though. The Prince Of Cats person pointed out why he's so terrifying. What do you do versus his evil as well as unfair magic? You die, unless he happens to be entertained by you, at the moment. I wouldn't be surprised if one of the reasons for why he wasn't invited was because he's so terrifying. The evil torturer Gandalf is evil and tricksy enough to keep himself interesting to Tom Bombadil. The farmer Maggot is a nasssty hobbit and, therefore, ignorant of the danger and endlessly as well as inexplicably fascinating to plenty. 

Even if he decided to help out and destroy the One Ring thing, he'd probably get distracted and slash or wish to go back home. The Fellowship Of The Ring would become The Babysitters Of The Idiot Savior. And even though the One Ring thing didn't immediately affect him (so he's stronger than most. He might have already been messed with by it, but he decided to send the nasssty hobbitses away before it did much to him), Sauron and the probability that Tom Bombadil and the entire fellowship wouldn't remain especially stealthy would have gotten them all killed. Sure, Tom Bombadil most probably could have put up a decent fight, but, as far as I know, only the mistakes in the story led to the big distraction that opened the way to Mount Doom as well as the hero Gollum showing his face to make himself useful.


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## chrysophalax (Mar 26, 2009)

Mistakes in the story?


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