Hey. I’ve been re-reading Lord of the Rings in earnest. Years ago, I would complain that the book was too verbose and skip the descriptive chapters and stick to the main plot. I was very impatient.

As some of you may know, the odd character known as Tom Bombadil was completely left out of the recent film adaptation. I didn’t miss Tom when I saw the movie(s) but I have been thoroughly enjoying my rediscovery of him. His character raises many questions of his existence in Middle-earth and what it means. For one, the One Ring has no power over Tom Bombadil at all. He even laughs at it, using it as a plaything. Very interesting.

Without going into the theories of what old Tom may be or what he may represent, I want to share a quote with you all. In my readings, searching for answers, I found some letters Tolkien himself wrote explaining Tom a bit. It’s a clarification why Tom just doesn’t give a care about the Ring or the War.

Here it is:

…if you have, as it were, taken ‘a vow of poverty’, renounced control, and take your delight in things for themselves without reference to yourself, watching, observing, and to some extent knowing, then the questions of the rights and wrongs of power and control might become utterly meaningless to you, and the means of power quite valueless…

If I can, I would like to have more of this point-of-view.
I like to think I do, although I’m sure some will disagree, at least to some extent. I mean, I do find most things, even terrible things, funny in some way.

Alright. Back to work, Thanks for reading.

Rob