What was the point of the hobbit's encounter with him?

>>8486623
Never thought about this and am actually interested in a well-educated response, good question

If I had to take a guess it'd be to show that the Hobbits were legitimately unable to take care of themselves on their own at the novel's outset, as Tom had to come in and save their asses. Later on the Hobbits grew a bit stronger (still with help) until they develop in the Two Towers (for Mary and Pippin) and in the Return of the King (for Frodo and Sam) into independently strong and capable characters.

That or generic Tolkien was doing world building for later work

Tom is Sauron.

>>8486623
Was he Adam?

Maybe it was to show Tom's power level in comparison to other characters we will be later introduced to. For example he can see Frodo even though he is wearing the One Ring.

It's been a while since I've read lotr but I think the hobbits stayed at his house for at least a week where he gave them a lore crash-course. That probably helped them in on way or another.

>>8486623
Bombadils my fav LotR character for sure because my fav thing in books is wit, whimsy, songs and frolicking behavior, and his character is full to the brim of it. Every passage is like one of those scenic forest hikes, you turn the page & POP you get a face fulla woodland merry-making and you fall back cackling. The mad mind, the crack genius, to do it! and then you think hmmm whats he gonna do next, this trickster, and you pick the book back up and BZZZZZZZZZZ you get an amusing story about bees and Hahahahahah you've been pranked again by the old bombsmeister, that card. "Ringa-a-ding-dillo!” he says, laughing yukyukyukyuk. Watch him as he shoves a pair of yellow boots right up into his knees and displays em for you- left, right, center- "Hey, come derry doll! Hop along my hearties!” Pulls out a song. "Ho-ho!" Laughing merrily. And you're on your ass again laughing as he snaps his blue jacket, exits stage right, and appears again hauling a fair river-daughter of spring.

>>8487847
noice.

>>8487847
10/10

>>8486623
world building I guess, hey there is this weird strong guy in the forest, hey he knows something bads about to happen, he has so many cool stories to tell and he is also super mysterious, damn his wife is angelic is he some kinda forest god? shit dude I'm intrigued where is this gonna go this fantasy world is awesome

>>8487847
>>8487862
>>8487868

Is this pasta? Someone please enlighten me.

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Reminder that Goldberry is best girl in Tolkien's legendarium.

>>8486623

He has a wikipedia article, why don't you read it?

>>8487907
It's a Pinecone pasta.

>>8486623
Tom Bombadil is just a neutral character, someone not effected by the laws of magic within that realm. He was put there as a bit of a joke by JRRT to show how a true neutral character would respond to the plight of the Fellowship. Essentially he's a powerful entity but whimsical to the point that his power is irrelevant in the scope of the story. Basically a troll character.

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>>8488061
I wonder if she was inspired by Idunn?

Why didn't the eagles just fly Tom Bobadil into mordore so we wouldn't have to read his chapters?

So what I'm getting from this thread is that Tom was just a giant middle-finger created by Tolkien to waste our time.

>>8488156
that's what his entire oeuvre was.

>>8487847
Include me in the screencap

>>8487847
bombadil

I thought he was used to show that not everyone in middle earth was really concerned with the one ring and Sauron. Maybe this issue wasn't as big as the characters in the book made it seem to the whole world.

>>8488107
I agree with this.

He's there to waste some pages, too, because JRRT was so obsessed with his own world and not just with telling a story. Tom Bombadil's story existed before Frodo's and was basically inserted into the LOTR. You can skip the whole chapter and lose almost nothing in context to the story.

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>>8487847

>>8486623
What was the point of Beorn in the Hobbit?

>>8486623
Probably to show the kind of power that is exempt from the influence of Sauron's kind of power. So look at Tom's attributes:

--Music
--Whimsical, doesn't take himself seriously
--Deeply concerned with nature

Tom responds to the ring by laughing at it. Compare that to other characters, who are either slowly seduced by it or must exercise great care to avoid its temptations (Gandalf, Galadriel). That's one thing that's lost in the movie. In the movie Gandalf casually touches the ring all the time while in the book Gandalf never touches it, knowing the temptation to take it would be too powerful. Same with the other god-tier characters. Tom however is arguably the most powerful of all the good guy characters except maybe Galadriel and he can touch it and laugh at it with impunity.

So there you go, no real point just kind of a contrast to other characters.

>>8486623
Tom is the ultimate example of self-reliance. If you can take care of yourself, you'll never be tempted to take or use power.