The Unsung Hero of the Lord of the Rings (2025)

eric4smith

Really? No.

sphars

Saved you a click: Tom Bombadil is who they're referring to

jackdoe

I have no idea if this is AI or not. I tried reading it, and was doubting every sentence. Damn. At this point I am not sure it matters. Few years ago I would've read it with joy. I love Tom Bombadil, Tolkien's ghost.

riffraff

> overlooked by a huge swathe of readers I think there is no one who read LoTR and ignored Tom Bombadil. If anything, they give him too much importance.

dash2

He may be the unsung hero, but I reread it a few years ago and found the whole scene unbearably twee.

anshargal

see also (which is a much better writing): https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32263535

alexey-salmin

The article is the "Chad Tom Bombdadil" meme from reddit, but somehow watered down to multiple pages of text. >Barges into the narrative. >Sings a song about how he's older than the world. >Puts on and takes off the Ring with no effect. >Refuses to elaborate. >Leaves.

HlessClaudesman

My uncle who lent young me his copy of LOTR advised me to skip the Tom Bombadil chapters entirely, it was good advice.

CollinEMac

This article claims that Tom Bombadil is under-appreciated and then promptly gives no reasons to appreciate him more. We just get a brief description of who he is and what he does in Lord of the Rings.

vmilner

Fatty Bolger?

pipes

Click bait title.

Hugsbox

Extremely low-effort article, here it is without the paywall if you wanna see for yourself: https://archive.ph/BjWiM

justin66

I honestly don't remember much about the Harvard Lampoon's Bored of the Rings but I'm pretty sure Tom Bombadil has a van and you don't want to get in it.

ChrisMarshallNY

I found his character a bit weird, in The Rings of Power . I suspect we'll be seeing more of him, if they ever get around to releasing another season. I enjoyed Tim Benzedrine, and Hashberry, from Bored of the Rings .

analog8374

we could go with Bombadill is an "awakened being", in the Buddhist sense. Which is supposedly better than a god. And it's hallmark power is self-control and resistance to temptation. Basically Neo.

CGMthrowaway

Bombadil represents the secret to resisting evil (vice, temptation to power, desire to dominate). Why is Bombadil completely unaffected by the ring? Bombadil represents pure being - existence without the will to power. Note the biblical echo to the immortal godhead in Goldberry’s statement “He is” ("I am"). Bombadil doesn’t resist the ring because he’s stronger than it. He resists it because he delights in creation rather than possessing it. The ring can only corrupt what desires power. Bombadil desires nothing, so the ring has nothing to latch onto. The key to overcoming evil in Tolkien's world isn’t military strength, strategy, nor political authority, but detachment

jswelker

Really? Bill the Pony is higher in my ranking of heroes than Bombadil. Bombadil is low low on the list along with other insufferable dicks who could have fixed the entire conflict in 5 seconds like Gandalf and the giant eagles.