Frodo and friends get comfortable in the first half of “In the House of Tom Bombadil,” and Alan and Shawn finally begin to unwrap the enigma that is Tom and his wife Goldberry. While the hobbits eat and drink as only famished hobbits can, we dive into Tolkien’s letters, poetry, and more for clues to the nature of our mysterious hosts and their relationship; but don’t hold your breath for any conclusions just yet. We also answer a listener question on why Tom has been cut out of every screen adaptation so far, and get word-nerdy on one of Gandalf’s most memorable lines.
Thank you to Jordan Ellis Rannells for sponsoring this week’s episode! Visit his website www.learntolisten.net, contact him on Instagram @jrbassist or email him at JordanEllisRannells (at) Gmail (dot) com for more information.
For a transcript and audio of Tom Shippey’s lecture on Peter Jackson’s films, see the Swarthmore College website here: “Tolkien Book to Jackson Script: The Medium and the Message” (audio recommended!)
For the 1998 interview with Peter Jackson referenced in our Barliman’s Bag response about Tom Bombadil, see https://web.archive.org/web/20000815100628/http://www.aint-it-cool-news.com/lordoftherings2.html
For the 2003 blog post by Jim Korkis referencing his interview with Ralph Bakshi: If at first you don’t succeed … call Peter Jackson
For the 2008 review of the BBC radio dramatization of The Lord of the Rings: http://www.tolkienlibrary.com/press/850-Lord-of-the-Rings-BBC-Dramatization.php
Recommended Reading:
Carpenter, Humphrey, ed. The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien (Mariner Books, paperback)
Shippey, Tom. J.R.R. Tolkien: Author of the Century (Mariner Books, paperback)
Tolkien, J. R. R. Tales from the Perilous Realm (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, hardcover)
In her first appearance in the poem “The Adventures of Tom Bombadil,” Goldberry reminds me of an English river-spirit along the lines of Jenny Greenteeth, the kind that pulls unwary mortals into the water to drown them. The fact that Tom escapes her rather easily does not disprove this theory, since the entire poem consists of Tom encountering things (including Old Man Willow and the Barrow-wight) that seek to capture or kill him, only to win free with his singing and his mastery. (Mind you, by the time he included her in LOTR, I think that Tolkien’s view of Goldberry had evolved, and she seems to have become both more powerful and more benevolent.)
I first encountered the poem many years ago in The Tolkien Reader, with illustrations by Pauline Baynes. (To this day, her illustrations for Smith of Wootton Major and Farmer Giles of Ham are how I picture these stories; in both cases, I now realize, she based her art style on the illustrations found in medieval manuscripts.) For the second Tom Bombadil poem, “Bombadil Goes Boating,” she included an illustration of Tom dancing with Farmer Maggot and his family — but the Maggots are clearly drawn as humans, not hobbits, shoes and all. This may have been due to the medieval style I mentioned, but also to the fact that the poem itself does not actually call Maggot a hobbit: earlier in the poem, Bombadil encounters “hobbit-folk” (who warn him to stay on his side of the river), and later meets up with Maggot, but the two are not explicitly related.
My apologies for the lengthy post! I have been a Tolkien reader for almost thirty years, and a Prancing Pony Podcast listener for a few months; I first came to your site for your interview with Verlyn Flieger, after encountering her by way of Corey Olson’s podcasting only a little while earlier. I am impressed by what you’ve done, and hope that you can continue for many episodes to come.
I do have one question: I live in Northern Virginia and was startled to find out that Mythmoot V had taken place only a short distance from where I live. I am hoping to attend Mythmoot VI this summer; is there any chance that you fine gentlemen might put in a repeat appearance?
Thanks, Glenn! Indeed, Tom Shippey also made a connection between Goldberry and the English “water hags” like Jenny Greenteeth (whom I hadn’t heard of before) in his book J.R.R. Tolkien: Author of the Century. I agree that we’re seeing a softening and even an inversion of her by the time she makes her appearance in The Lord of the Rings. Interesting catch on the Maggots as well! I’ll have to go back and read that more closely.
Thank you for the kind words! We are planning to go all the way through The Lord of the Rings and even a bit more after that, so we’re here for the long haul! Unfortunately we do not have plans to attend Mythmoot this year. We’re going to be going to the Tolkien 2019 conference in Birmingham in August, and there’s just no way we could do both of them. But I personally hope to make it back next year, so perhaps we’ll get a chance to meet at Mythmoot VII?
Thank you for your response, Shawn! I am definitely hoping to make it to Mythmoot this year; I can’t make any promises about next year, but if I’m still around, I hope to see you then!