“ I don’t think Tom needs philosophizing about, and is not improved by it. But many have found him an odd or indeed discordant ingredient. In historical fact I put him in because I had already ‘invented’ him independently (he first appeared in the Oxford Magazine) and he wanted an ‘adventure’ on the way.” - J.R.R. Tolkien – In a letter of 1954
The return of the Shadow/The old forest and the withywindle
‘It seems that he has a power even over the Ring.’ – Erestor about Tom Bombadil
‘No, I should not put it so, ‘ said Gandalf. ‘Say rather that the Ring has no power over him. He is his own master. But he cannot alter the Ring itself, nor break its power over others.’ – The Council of Elrond/FOTR
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