# Gandalf and Bombadil



## Maeglin (Nov 8, 2002)

> But if you would know, I am turning aside soon. I am going to have a long talk with Bombadil: such a talk as I have not had in all my time. He is a moss-gatherer, and I have been a stone doomed to rolling. But my rolling days are ending, and now we shall have much to say to one another.



What is Gandalf going to talk to ]Bombadil about? And has he ever met Bombadil before, its not mentioned anywhere. And Bombadil does not care at all about what has happened in the world or on there adventures, so what is Gandalf going to tell him for? The only thing Bombadil cares about is the ents(thats mentioned soon after the quote I posted)


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## Anamatar IV (Nov 8, 2002)

I really dont know. Maybe Bombadil is really Alatar or Pollando (either one) and Gandalf wants to tell him of his journeys after Valinor............


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## Goldberry344 (Nov 8, 2002)

um....could you tell us where in the book this quote is located?? i remember reading it somewhere, but i dont remember where.


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## Anamatar IV (Nov 8, 2002)

right after the second time in the prancing pony when the hobbits are heading home.


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## Maeglin (Nov 8, 2002)

yep thats right


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## HLGStrider (Nov 8, 2002)

They've both been around for eternity... I'm sure they bumped into each other once or twice.


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## Ithrynluin (Nov 9, 2002)

I guess they just wanted to have a pleasant chat and catch up on all the important events that occured so far.


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## LadyGaladriel (Nov 9, 2002)

Gandalf goes to Bombadil because basically his confused about what to do next. 
Bombadil is like Gandalf in a way. Bombadil has finished all his dealings in the world and so has Gandalf.


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## Ithrynluin (Nov 9, 2002)

I disagree. I think Gandalf has a very clear notion of what to do next.
Nothing! His role in the War of the Ring,which was I daresay the most difficult one of all,was over. He had to wait for other folks to finish their affairs (e.g. The hobbits' scouring of the Shire and other realms fixing things up) so that they could depart together.


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## LadyGaladriel (Nov 9, 2002)

> _Originally posted by ithrynluin _
> *I disagree. I think Gandalf has a very clear notion of what to do next.
> Nothing! His role in the War of the Ring,which was I daresay the most difficult one of all,was over. He had to wait for other folks to finish their affairs (e.g. The hobbits' scouring of the Shire and other realms fixing things up) so that they could depart together. *



I never said he didn't know what to do next . I think he was confused about how to stop.also he didn't spend an entire year at Bombadils and also he didn't know for sure Frodo would be coming.


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## Ithrynluin (Nov 9, 2002)

> I never said he didn't know what to do next .


I never said you said that. 




> I think he was confused about how to stop.


Stop what? Helping people?

Just a hunch: I think he knew Frodo would be coming, because the pains and grief he suffered would be too great to be healed in ME.


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## LadyGaladriel (Nov 9, 2002)

> _Originally posted by ithrynluin _
> *I never said you said that.
> Stop what? Helping people?
> Just a hunch: I think he knew Frodo would be coming, because the pains and grief he suffered would be too great to be healed in ME. *


stop interfeering in the affairs of Middle Earth


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## Wolfshead (Nov 9, 2002)

It was once suggested to me that Bombadil was actually Eru incarnate. If this was the case, we could well have had Gandalf going off to report his doings to the Boss. Or so to speak.

And another theory, which would be very nice if true, is that Bombadil and the Lord Of The Nazgul are actually one and the same. And here's the explaination of Gandalf's conversation with Bombadil at the end


> ...It's worth noting that, after the Witch-king was dead, Gandalf said he was "going to have a long talk with Bombadil" (Return of the King, p. 275). Curiously, he never tells anyone about the meeting later... and he's right there at the Grey Havens at the end of the book, undelayed it seems by long conversation. I think we can therefore theorize that Gandalf made it to the Old Forest, but that Tom (once the so-called "Witch-king" had died) was nowhere to be found!


This makes perfect sense, and is as good an explaination of Bombadil's origins as any  Of course, some people will have seen this argument before, so I won't bother claiming it for my own. So here's the link

http://www.flyingmoose.org/tolksarc/theories/bombadil.htm


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## Ithrynluin (Nov 9, 2002)

Wow...

What a lousy and far-fetched theory! Doesn't make sense at all! Arguments like "You never see the two of them together."? Oh please...


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## Wolfshead (Nov 9, 2002)

Oh yeah, that reminds me. I'd better say that the theory was really made up with a sense of humour in mind. Thought I ought to say that, last time I pointed this theory out anywhere I had people telling me how stupid it was and how it could never be true. So, remember, it's a joke...


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## gate7ole (Nov 9, 2002)

I wouldn't want to discuss Bombadil's true identity, since it will be totally outside the question of this thread and furthermore, such a discussion would lead to a dead-end. (but Bombadil is NOT Eru, Tolkien rejected it it a letter)
Gandalf wanted to speak to Bombadil not for any need of guidance. Whatever Bombadil was, he didn't seem to have greater wisdom than Gandalf, about the matters of the War or the Ring. I would say that Gandalf knew more about it even than Manwe. Bombadil would be a great source of knowledge about the history of Middle-Earthnad not the present. Gandalf seems to know the true nature of Bombadil and knows his limits and depth of knowledge. I don't think he would turn to him for a guidance about his future plans. Elrond would be far more suitable for this (or Galadriel).


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## Wolfshead (Nov 10, 2002)

> _Originally posted by gate7ole _
> *(but Bombadil is NOT Eru, Tolkien rejected it it a letter)*


Fair enough, I haven't read the letters, so I wouldn't have known. I shall inform my friend as to his mistake next time he mentions it.


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## Proudfoots (Nov 12, 2002)

Couldn't Gandalf (known patron of pubs) simply want to sit down with ol' Tom and have a pint or two and talk about the trees and the rivers?

The man had been running around putting out fires for 3000 years, i am sure that he was getting footsore and thirsty after going toe to toe with the witchking, firing his old boss (everyones dream) and keeping the hobbits out of trouble.

I am sure a beer with a relaxed gentleman like Tom is exactly what Gandalf was looking forward to.

'foots


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## HLGStrider (Nov 12, 2002)

If he can take the singing... I can imagine Gandalf gritting his teeth while old Tom romps around the room singing and drinking and throwing flowers... Don't you just love pictures like that?


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## JanitorofAngmar (Nov 12, 2002)

O.K. drop the hooey here. Here's the story:

Proudfoots is in fact on the right track. The reason that Gandalf went off to Bombadils _was_ in fact to relax. He had been putting out fires for the last 3000 years and wanted to drink a few beers and shoot some pool (and likely try to [color=008000]--<B>--[/color]). Since Gandalf was already aware of the "situation" in the Shire where he often tries to relax he headed to Tom's place instead. Tom has the best den in all of ME (with the exception of Sauron's Barad Dur "getaway" facilities..._very_ nice!). His pool table as I have mentioned before is unmatched (even if his skills are questionable...dig) and he has several fine brews on tap and quite the dartboard too!

On a side note I happen to be there the day Gandalf showed up after he left the hobbits and although it was a little foggy (too much brew and pipe-weed) he was dog-tired-beat! He drank like an elf and him and Tom yammered on for hours about current events then started drunkenly singing in Quenya til they passed out. After that Gandalf slept for 2 days! Leave the guy alone! I was there that day and the poor guy needed a break. The hobbits could fend for themselves!

Janitor


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## JanitorofAngmar (Nov 12, 2002)

What? _That_ got edited? And a warning?

Come on. You have to be kidding? If that was offensive I'm the Queen of England!

Little quick with the "axe" there Beorn.

*indignant huff!*


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## OldTomBombadil (Mar 3, 2005)

Wolfshead said:


> It was once suggested to me that Bombadil was actually Eru incarnate. If this was the case, we could well have had Gandalf going off to report his doings to the Boss. Or so to speak.


The problem with this theory is that it contradicts what Tolkien himself said,

"There is no embodiment of the One, of God, who indeed remains remote, outside the World, and only directly accessible to the Valar or Rulers."
_The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien_ No 181, dated 1956

(This is the quote *gate7ole* referred to.) 

If you must know, the reason that Gandalf went to visit Bombadil was that he had a hankering for yellow cream, honeycomb, white bread and butter, and no one serves a better table than the Master of Wood, Water, and Hill.


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## Hammersmith (Mar 4, 2005)

Perhaps Gandalf was handing over his duties to Tom. As the Valar's emissary and the one charged to contend Sauron, the greatest evil, it might be said that Gandalf was the one in charge of all good in Middle Earth. That could explain why Tom was so indifferent to the Hobbits' plight; it was none of his business. Maybe he was the future caretaker who would ensure the flourishing and thriving of nature and the arts in a peaceful post-Sauron world.


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## Annaheru (Mar 4, 2005)

Actually, I think the original quote gives the best clues. Gandalf, even as Olorin, had always passed among the elves (see Sil). Now, he's about to return to Valinor, where he will spend the rest of eternity in 'a little realm', very much like Bombadil's (self determined) small area. I think Gandalf had forgotten how to be still. In TTT, he says that he has learned much that he had forgotten, and forgotten much that he had once known. I think he went to Tom with the idea of relearning how to be content with himself, without needing to influence outside affairs.


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## grimalkin (Dec 8, 2015)

Tom Bombadil is the eldest, older than Treebeard, he came into existence when Middle Earth was begotten, interesting he is somehow the opposite of Morgoth's ring which is somehow an enchantment placed upon all Middle Earth. Ok, Tom Bombadil is..... the MYSTERY ... of nature. He is a personification or rather the personification of the mystery of Middle Earth's nature and nature's mystery personified. He is nature's mystery and its mysterious magic which humans took a while to understand and allocate completely within the confines of science, which in fact science is the dry intellectual version of the understanding of the mystery of creation. Well, fable will not have much science unless its 'a mind of wheels and steel' Saruman's mind or a light mention of his discovery of 'gun powder' or Morgoth's sciences which created the dragons. Anyhow, this is fable and it would look quite strange if Tolkien were to exchange fable's mysteries, diction and nomenclature with those we find in science fiction, such as Jules Verne etc etc etc. So who knows what Gandalf would have wanted to know in his conversations with the mystery of nature and of creation?? it is a mystery too, Gandalf knew that Morgoth's ring ie the enchantment upon Middle Earth was also bound around Tom Bombadil, but then again Sauron's ring had no effect on Tom Bombadil. Morgoth gone Tom Bombadil was probably freed from Morgoth and his ring, but this is another mystery... I personally think that Gandalf wanted to meet a friend, a firend whom he loved because Gandalf was the steward of all Middle Earth and cared for it and loved it and wanted to see it freed of Sauron, what best way to celebrate then to go and meet Tom?? I think that it was love ...


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