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03-27-2018, 03:13 AM | #1 |
Overshadowed Eagle
Join Date: Nov 2017
Location: The north-west of the Old World, east of the Sea
Posts: 3,909
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Tom Bombadil and Luthien Tinuviel
It's hard to imagine two more different characters than Jolly Tom and Luthien the Nightingale. But, on thinking about Tom for Mithadan's thread, I realised something that's either profound or blindingly obvious.
Tom Bombadil uses magic a few times during his appearance in LotR, including:
Luthien Tinuviel also makes repeated use of magic, including:
Is it coincidence, that these lists line up so neatly? The only ones I've missed out are Tom's mucking about with the Ring, and Luthien's use of healing arts; but even there, Luthien is famous for wearing a magical item from the Enemy (the bat-fell), and Tom's house, if not healing, is definitely a place of rest. Thinking about other Good magic users, we have Melian, who possesses the power of prophecy, can see things at a distance (that's one correlation), and throws up a protective spell around Doriath; Galadriel, who can see the past, present (there it is again), and future; and Gandalf, who mostly focuses on pyrotechnics and manipulating people. It does feel like the correlation between Bombadil and Tinuviel's magic is very strong, but there's no obvious reason. Singing aside, there's not a whole lot to link the two of them! But can it really be a coincidence that Tolkien wrote their magic as so similar to each other? hS |
Tags |
bombadil, luthien, magic |
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