(What follows is
post 6 of 8 exploring the mystery of Tom Bombadil)
Tom as the Incarnated Spirit of the
Music of the Ainur
Since we can safely conclude that Tom is not a Vala, a Maia, nor a nature spirit the question becomes what kind of incarnated spirit is he? How we do determine that? The answer is rather simple, spirits are determined by that which is most central to their character and function. For Tom, his character is powerful yet limited, oldest, first and last, and rather joyful. He functions and is in close relation to music from the moment we meet him. So when asking, "What type of Spirit is Tom since he is none of the above?" The most logical way to answer is to look at how he acts. That is what this theory attempts to do.
Now a definition of terms is in order, when saying that Tom is incarnated I simply mean he is found in the flesh, he is a spirit who has taken on flesh much like Gandalf and Saruman have, yet being the Spirit of the Music of the Ainur he has a unique relationship with the Music that no one else does, indeed that is the very essence of his being and life.
Now a definition of terms is in order, when saying that Tom is incarnated I simply mean he is found in the flesh, he is a spirit who has taken on flesh much like Gandalf and Saruman have, yet being the Spirit of the Music of the Ainur he has a unique relationship with the Music that no one else does, indeed that is the very essence of his being and life.
There are at least
three objections which must be addressed before fleshing out this theory. The
first of which is one the nature spirit theory must also answer, is there any textual grounding for inserting
spirits that are not clearly laid out by Tolkien (Valar & Maiar)?
Because my theory is closely related to the nature spirit theory the texts used
against this objection are the same as theirs. In other words, we rely upon the
same texts but our explanation of Tom’s essence and character differs. Tolkien
leaves the door open for other “unknown” varieties of spirits in multiple
locations. First, there is Ungoliant, who will be addressed more later, who is
described by Tolkien in The Silmarillion,
“The Eldar knew not whence she came; but some have said that in ages long
before she descended from the darkness about Arda…” (The Darkening of Valinor, 77). Her species is clearly in question
and much like Tom she is a mystery. Secondly,
Tolkien when describing the Aratar (the highest 8 ruling Valar) and their
commissioning to Arda he writes of the Maiar and other spirits:
Eight remain, The Aratar, the High Ones
of Arda: Manwe and Varda, Ulmo, Yavanna and Aule, Mandos, Nienna, and Orome.
Though Manwe is their King and holds their allegiance under Eru, in majesty
they are peers, surpassing beyond compare all others, whether of the Valar and
the Maiar, or of any other order that
Iluvatar has sent into Ea.[1]
It is clear that
Tolkien leaves the door open for other orders of spirits besides the Valar and
Maiar.
Tolkien
also writes of the Valar shaping Middle
Earth and that they called to themselves other companions of various kinds,
“and the Valar drew unto them many companions, some less, some well nigh as
great as themselves, and they laboured together in the ordering of the Earth
and the curbing of its tumults” (Silmarillion,
11). It is clear that other spirits were there in Middle Earth and were used to
help in the ordering of the planet. These spirits were neither Valar nor Maiar.
It is here, that we find a textual grounding for other Spirits, some of which
were almost as powerful as the Valar themselves. Is this not an adequate
description of Tom? Almost as
powerful as a Valar yet not quite. Tom must be one of these spirits because as
demonstrated above he cannot be a Maiar nor a Valar. So the question becomes
how do we best speak of Tom as one of these other spirits? There are also the occurances of the Stone Giants, the Watchers, Cahadras, and Barrow-wights which seem to point to other spirits existing than the Maiar and the Valar.
The
second objection is: isn’t Middle Earth
the incarnation of the music and therefore there is no need to speak of any
other. While in a sense it is true that Arda is the
incarnation of the Music, there is also a clear distinction drawn by Tolkien
between the cosmos of Arda and the Music of the Ainur. In the creation account,
Illuvatar teaches the Ainur the themes of music and eventually he teaches them
the Great Theme.[2]
But in this singing they are shown a vision of the creation that was to come,
but it was not yet created, “Illuvatar said to them: ‘Behold your music!’ And
he showed them a vision, giving to
them sight where before was only hearing”
(Silmarillion, 6). The Valar are given a vision of what the music will create, sight where there was only
hearing before. This division is picked up again:
While the Ainur were yet gazing upon
this vision, it was taken away from them that in that moment they perceived a
new thing, Darkness, which they had not known before except in thought[3]…but
Illuvatar called to them, and said: ‘I knew the desire of your minds that what
ye has seen should verily be, not only in thought, but even as ye yourselves
are, and yet other. Therefore I say: Ea! Let these things be!’ (Silmarillion,
9).
Illuvatar communicates
that he will give life, through the Flame Imperishable and the Music. But the Music
itself is not Middle Earth, it is merely
the means through which Middle Earth was created. This is picked up again
when the Elves say the Music of the Ainur lives still in the echoes of the
water of Middle Earth (Silmarillion, 8). Clearly here we can see that Middle
Earth exists during history yet the Music is not there anymore as it once was
yet there remains an echo of that Music in the water. The Music and the
creation are undoubtedly intimately related but there remains a distinction.
Notice it is a distinction not a separation. They are like to sides of the same
coin intimately linked yet distinguishable. And in many senses the fact that
Music is the means of creation should not surprise us that it then also be represented
by a Spirit in Middle Earth, in this way this theory is close to the nature spirit theory which claims Tom is the Spirit of Middle Earth.
A
third possible objection is the idea of Tom being an incarnation of the Music
is too close to the Christian doctrine of the incarnation of the Word. There
are several distinctions here between my theory of Tom as the Music and the
Christian doctrine of Jesus as the Word. First, I am not asserting that Tom
shares in the divinity or essence of Illuvatar any more than that of a Valar or
Maiar would. Second, it should not surprise a reader of Tolkien to find
Christian themes in his work that are close to Christian doctrines yet ultimately
utterly different. This occurs time and time again in his work for example
Frodo bearing the weight of the World's sin, yet Frodo himself falls prey to
it. The theme of resurrection is applied several times in Tolkien's mythology
(Gandalf, Beren, Glorfindel). The list could go on but it need not. So while
Tom as the spirit of the Music may sound similar to the Christian doctrine of
the incarnation, it need not be that way for that is not how I intend it.
Now
that the initial objections have been dealt with it is about time we begin to
lay out the theory. As mentioned above we have established there is textual
basis for talking about other Spirits besides the Valar and the Maiar. It is
clear that Tom's status as an enigma and his inability to fit in to what we
know of the Valar and Maiar that he is indeed one of these other spirits. So
the question becomes, “how do we best explain what we know of Tom as revealed
to us in LOTR? What type of Spirit is he?” As stated earlier the idea of him
being linked solely to the Forest or just Middle Earth is full of issues and
inconsistencies. So below I will lay out the textual support for Tom as the
Incarnated Spirit of the Music of the Ainur.
Building the Theory
Tom
and his constant singing
In
order to define what type of spirit any-given spirit actually is, one must deal
with the very core of who they are in
what they do (how they function).[4] It
is best to describe what they are as what they are most closely related to, or
what they are most intimate with. For example, if Old Man Willow is a spirit,
then it would be easy to point out that he is a spirit of the trees or woods
for he functions primarily in his essence
in this manner. Or if Goldberry is a nature spirit, she must be a spirit of
the water, for she is called "the River Woman's Daughter", as it were
because she functions in the manner of a river/water spirit. Finally, the
Balrogs are spirits who are described in their essence as Spirits of fire, exactly how they appear and function.
Tom on the other hand does not appear nor function as spirit of the earth nor
of the forest, as argued earlier. He battles against the forest and takes the
form of man. Rather we find he is
intimately related to Music. At his very essence Tom must sing much like
the Balrogs must be of shadow and flame. Tom is introduced by his singing, he
cannot help but sing while doing the everyday tasks from running to making
meals. Indeed, if you take away his incessant singing you would take away what makes
Tom Bombadil: uniquely Tom Bombadil. Tom cannot be rightly understood apart
from his affinity to song. This is why much ink has been spilled on trying to
make him a Valar or Maiar because these theorists rightly recognize Tom’s
unique relationship with the Music of creation that the Valar and Maiar sang, but these theories fall short elsewhere. Also, these theories miss the simple reality that
any spirit in Middle Earth is best described by what he or she is most intimate with and for Tom that is
Music.
This
is displayed in shocking detail when Tom runs into the Hobbits who are in
trouble on two occasions. Tom approaches Old Man Willow who is engulfing Merry
and Pippin and he sings! Not only does he sing, he says, “I know the tune for
him. Old grey Willow-man! I’ll freeze his marrow cold, if he don’t behave
himself. I’ll sing his roots off. I’ll
sing a wind up and blow leaf and branch away…”[5]
Tom claims to know the tune to get Old Man Willow to behave, even to know the
tune to blow away his leaves and branches. Tom then approaches the tree and
begins to sing softly into it. The tree then allows Merry and Pippin to go
free. Tom ends with a correction of the trees bad behavior: “What be you
a-thinking of? You should not be waking. Eat Earth! Dig deep! Drink water! Go
to sleep Bombadil is talking!” Tom commands the tree via song, by the tune he
knew, and via the power of his voice. This is not the only incident in which
Tom uses song and his voice to fight.
In
the incident on the Barrow Downs, it becomes clear that Tom’s power via song is
not limited to the Forest or to nature for that matter. Tom is summoned by Frodo
via the song incantation of water, wood, hill, reed, willow, fire, sun, and
moon.[6] As
he arrives, in song yet again, Tom draws attention to the special power of his
songs:
Old Tom Bombadil is a merry Fellow,
Bright blue his jacket is, and his boots
are yellow.
None has ever caught him yet, for Tom,
he is the Master:
His
songs are stronger songs, and his feet are faster. [7]
Tom is the Master because his songs are stronger. Tom then
proceeds, via a song, to command the Barrow-wight to “get out”, to “vanish”, to
“shrivel” then Tolkien writes, “At these
words there was a cry and part of the inner end of the chamber fell in with
a crash. Then there was a long trailing shriek, fading away into an unguessable
distance; and after that silence.”[8] Tom
defeats a demon by his stronger song.
Tom’s intimate relationship to music and song cannot be
ignored. In fact, it is the only thing which adequately explains his very essence and his uniqueness.
He battles against the trees and speaks of them as dark, he commands evil
spirits to flee and they flee, this is
not an action of a nature spirit. This sheer display of ultimate power via song is utterly unique, for we are told
Frodo tries a similar thing commanding the Ringwraiths back to Mordor but he fails,
Tolkien writes, “but Fordo had not the power of Bombadil.”[9]
Tom’s power via song is utterly unique it is enigmatic. He knows the tunes and
his songs are stronger (It is true that other beings fight via song but not with the sheer command that Tom displays).
When
Tom fights, he does not fight like Sauron, Saruman, Tulkas, or even Gandalf, he
does so by the power of his voice through song. When he fights against the
barrow-wight and Old Man Willow he does not wage battle against their physical
bodies but instead against their very essence, against their spirits by song. As
we know Middle Earth was created by song and Tom "knows the tune" and
his songs are "stronger" it appears Tom is correcting the warped
natures of Old Man Willow and the Barrow-Wight by song, by the very creative
power of Middle Earth Tom wages battle. In a sense, Tom is restoring
harmony via music where there was once only the Discord of Melkor.
The Lesson of Ungoliant
As
stated earlier, Ungoliant is almost as big of a mystery as Tom Bombadil is.
Both creatures have enormous power and both seem to be one-of-kind creatures.
Though not essential to this argument I believe that Ungoliant is closely
related to Tom in function and essence. In other words, if Tom Bombadil is the
Spirit of the Music of the Ainur, then it is plausible Ungoliant is the Spirit
of the Discord of Melkor. In this way, Ungoliant functions as the antithesis of
Tom Bombadil. Why would I suggest this? Simply because of how Ungoliant is
described and what her essence is proven to be and Tolkien’s mention of two
competing Musics who were, “utterly at variance.”[10]
Tom and Ungoliant are both mysteries in their origin and power yet they are
characters who are utterly at variance one for good and one for evil.
As
cited earlier, Ungoliant is said to be a mysterious creature who came out of
the void but who ultimately did not serve Melkor. Indeed, after she eats the
trees in Valinor she becomes so powerful that Melkor himself fears for his life
and summons his Balrogs to fight her off. So, Ungoliant’s power is indeed great
for she drove Melkor to fear for his life. But at her very essence Ungoliant is
many things, she is darkness, greed, and her insatiable appetite to destroy.
This is at its very core what Melkor introduces to the Music with his discord.
Ungoliant’s name comes from the word for “darkness.” We are told she descends[11]
out the very Darkness that is first seen by the Ainur at the conclusion of the
first singing of the Music which derived from the theme/discord of Melkor. So
it would not be far off, considering her function and her immense power, that
she is an incarnation of the discord Melkor brought in. Ungoliant’s insatiable
darkness eventually leads to her consuming herself.
So
what does this have to do with Tom Bombadil? Well if both of these mysterious
creatures are incarnations of their respective Music we should understand them
in light of one another. Both possess abnormal powers and both seem to embody
the source of their power. Tom is joy and almost nonsensical music while
Ungoliant is uncontrollable thirst for dominion. Ungoliant need not be the incarnation
of the discord of Melkor, but it is definitely a plausible solution in light of
this theory.
One
further thing of importance should be noted in this discussion. Ungoliant’s
name derives from the word for darkness, which is no surprise for that is what
she is. Much in the same way we should consider Tom Bombadil’s name. Names in
Tolkien’s world carry great significance and they often tell us something of a
character. Tom’s first name at the very least seems very common to us today, but
that should fool us into thinking there is no meaning here. In the book of Unfinished Tales there is a story of a
great gong named Tombo. These are the
first six letters of Tom’s name. Interestingly
enough, the root of tom in Tolkien’s
world carries with it a very distinct meaning: that of a gong or trumpet.[12]
Tom’s very name communicates to us that he is closely related to Music much
like Ungoliant is closely related to darkness. So now, not only do Tom’s
actions point to the Music but also his
very name shows his intimacy with the Music.
Tom’s Love of Goldberry
Goldberry,
the wife and companion of Tom, is another interesting character. Any theory of
who Tom is must account for her. It is my belief that it is rather obvious that
Goldberry is a nature spirit. She clearly functions as one being the
“Riverwoman’s Daughter” and her intimate connection with the Brandywine River.
She even has a “washing day” the day it rains while the hobbits are staying in
Tom’s house. Nonetheless, an argument could be made that she is a Maiar
directly charged with the care of the river.[13]
You can take either stance and it will not greatly affect the arguments that
follow; for either way Goldberry is intimately connected as a water spirit
(nature or Maiar).[14]And
this tells us something very important about Tom.
Tom,
as we know, loves Goldberry to a near state of obsession. When we are first
introduced to Tom he is gathering water lilies to give to her. He spends much
of his time singing about Goldberry and his love for her. But what does this
tell us about Tom? Why is Tom in love with a Spirit of the River and how does
this relate to him being the Spirit of the Music of the Ainur? It is actually
rather blatant and simple.
We
are told a startling fact about the Music of the Ainur and water in The Silmarillion, “And it is said by the Eldar that in water there
lives yet the echo of the Music of the Ainur more than in any substance else
that is in the Earth”[15]
and that the elves are drawn to the sea by this echo of the Music. Much in the
same way we find Tom absolutely enamored by a Spirit of the water a spirit of
the one substance that still holds an echo of the Music. If it is true that Tom
is a Spirit of the Music then it makes perfect sense that he is in love with a
Spirit of the only substance that still contains an echo of the Music. There is
no other place for him to be. In fact, in one of his songs Tom describes his
falling in love with Goldberry and he links his love to her song by the water:
By that pool long ago I found the
River-daughter,
Fair young Goldberry sitting in the
rushes.
Sweet
was her singing then,
and her heart was beating.[16]
Tom’s initial drawing
to Goldberry is by her song as a river spirit. This should not surprise us that
Spirit of the Music is in love with Goldberry a spirit of a river. Goldberry
sings with an echo of the Music of the Ainur and this is why Tom is so utterly
obsessed and in love with her. So with what we know of Goldberry, the Music in
the water, and Tom’s first encounter with her, it becomes clear that again we
have a reference to Tom’s intimate relationship with music and indeed the Music
of the Ainur. Goldberry points us yet again in the direction of seeing Tom as
the Spirit of the Music of the Ainur.
Who is Tom? “He Is"
As we draw near
the end of the formulation of this theory it is important to look at how
Goldberry and Tom answer when asked who Tom Bombadil is. Goldberry is asked
first by Frodo and she responds, “He is…He is as you have seen him… he is the
Master of wood, water, and hill.”[17]
The statement that “he is” is one of the major reasons some have suggested Tom
is Illuvatar but Tolkien himself rejected this theory. But the fact that Tom’s
identity is linked with the idea of existence yet again points us in the
direction of the Music. While it is true that Illuvatar brought about existence
by his power, he nonetheless used the Music of the Ainur as the means through
which he created. So when Goldberry says, “He is” we can explain this perfectly
by the proposed theory. He is the Spirit of the Music which is the means of
existence. He is much like the Music is.
The Music explanation also allows us to make sense of him
being “Master” yet not owning anything in his realm. The Music does not own
anything yet it does run through everything and it is Master over
all in the sense that it is the creative instrument of Illuvatar.
While other theories have a tough time explaining the answer Goldberry gives,
there is no such trouble for the theory that Tom Bombadil is an incarnated
Spirit of the Music of the Ainur. This also explains Tom’s vast almost all
knowing knowledge of men, beasts, and nature which he shares with the hobbits while they stay with him.
Continues here: Answering the 3 Questions
[1] Silmarillion, Valaquenta, 21.
[3] The creation of Darkness, which
Tom says he was there before, exists before Arda and is uniquely tied to the
Discord of Melkor.
[4] Steuard Jensen, a major
proponent of the nature spirit theory, rightly states: “Nature spirits, we
suggest, are each associated with some lasting feature of the physical world
which is the source of their being; they cannot stray far from it.” http://tolkien.slimy.com/essays/Bombadil5Theory.html
[5] FOTR, 169.
[6] It is interesting to note that
no one else we know can be summoned by song, not Gandalf, not Sauron, and not
Morgoth.
[7] FOTR, 196.
[8] Ibid., 197.
[9] Ibid., 286.
[10] Silmarillion, Ainulindale, 5.
[11] Silmarillion, Of the Darkening of Valinor, 77.
[12] The Book of Lost Tales, Appendix, 269.
[13] This is a difficult theory to
hold because of her lack of power and Tolkien’s insistence that the Maiar
seldom come to Middle Earth and even more seldom appear in the form of any of
the Children of Illuvatar.
[14] FOTR, In the House of Tom Bombadil, 179. We are told of Goldberry singing
a rain song as the rain comes down. Tom later refers to the rainy day as
Goldberry’s “washing day” (180).
[15] Silmarillion, Ainulindale, 8.
[16] FOTR, In the House of Tom Bombadil, 176.
[17] Ibid., 173.
Cool theory!
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