Re: LOTR

> From: Matthew Pearson
>
> --- The Grey Wizard wrote:
> I always found the Tom Bombadil episode the least satisfying in the book.
> Not only would it "be hard to translate the Bombadil episode to
> film without
> making it look silly", but I found even Tolkien's rendition rather silly
> <ducking>.  The whole "Hey dol! Merry dol!" thing came across as a bit too
> disneyesque for me.
> --- end of quote ---
>
> I understand your trepidation, but I wouldn't call him a
> Disneyesque character. "Disneyesque" makes me think of Snow White
> singing to the bluebirds and all that. The interesting thing
> about Bombadil for me is that he looks like a Disney character on
> the outside, but on the inside he goes quite deep.
Well, I don't think I feel any particular trepidation, but it is precisely
the "singing to the bluebirds and all that" that makes Tom seem disneyesque
to me.

> --- beginning of quote ---
> Nor am I sure that I agree about Tom's "importance to Tolkien's conception
> of the Ring."
> --- end of quote ---
>
> Well, that was awkwardly phrased. What I meant is that the
> Bombadil episode--specifically the fact that Bombadil can see
> people who are made invisible by the Ring, is not himself made
> invisible when he puts it on, and neither covets nor indeed
> expresses much interest in the Ring--plays a small but crucial
> part in Tolkien's equation of the Ring with the concept of Power.
> The greater one's power, the more he desires the Ring, and the
> more influence it wields over him. The Bombadil incident
> illustrates that only someone who is completely at peace with
> himself can withstand the lure of the Ring entirely. Bombadil has
> found the Centre. It's significant that when Frodo asks Goldberry
> who Tom Bombadil is, she replies simply: "He is."
Yes, I would agree that this is the role Tom is "intended" to play, but
fails to achieve.  Tom, IMHO, comes across as an overgrown hobbit without
the stature of a Bilbo or a Frodo.  He is too light a character to carry the
weight of this theme, particularly as he is the only character to do so.  I
find him all too reminiscent of Uncle Remus and keep expecting him to belt
out a chorus of "Zippity Doo Dah".

Stay curious,
David

David E. Bell
The Gray Wizard
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ir gonar amis
www.graywizard.net

Wisdom begins in wonder.
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