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Oldest and Fatherless: The Terrible Secret of Tom Bombadil (2011)

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Re: Oldest and Fatherless: The Terrible Secret of Tom Bombadil (2011)

#131

Post by imwillofficial »

lief79 wrote: post #127
dbingham wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The comments on this thread make it seem more likely that your circle of people who disliked Tom is the outlier rather than those of us who thoroughly enjoy him as a character. Also, I submit as evidence this scifi.stackexchange thread: https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/1586/who-or-what-w... I think Tolkien fans, on average, have long enjoyed the mystery that is Tom.

I had to tell a couple people (generally college aged) to skip that chapter in order to get them to continue reading the books (around the time that the movies were coming out), as he wasn't important to the rest of the narrative. I know I was questioning if I wanted to finish the books when I read that part in 6th grade. The rest of it obviously made up for it. From your link, the set of comments under the first ans…

Your experience isn’t everyone’s. Your friends missed out in my opinion.

Tom = awesome

Re: Oldest and Fatherless: The Terrible Secret of Tom Bombadil (2011)

#132

Post by Aerroon »

eric_cc wrote: post #83
Trasmatta wrote: post #29

> Possibly the least liked character in The Lord of the Rings. A childish figure so disliked by fans of the book that few object to his absence from all adaptations of the story. I've been a fan of Tolkien for decades, and this doesn't match up with my experience at all...Tolkien fans seem to generally love Tom, and many were deeply disappointed that he wasn't in the movies (even though his exclusion makes perfect se…

100% agree with you. Tom was my favorite character and an essential one in my opinion. I was one of those people that was deeply disappointed by his absence. Tom is entirely beyond caring about "good" or "evil". His peace is such a vital contrast to every other character and has stuck with me over time.

>Tom is entirely beyond caring about "good" or "evil". His peace is such a vital contrast to every other character and has stuck with me over time.

I think characters like that can make the world seem more... worldly. It gives a perspective that everything doesn't just revolve around the central plot.

Re: Oldest and Fatherless: The Terrible Secret of Tom Bombadil (2011)

#133

Post by high_5 »

nindalf wrote: post #105
Trasmatta wrote: post #29

> Possibly the least liked character in The Lord of the Rings. A childish figure so disliked by fans of the book that few object to his absence from all adaptations of the story. I've been a fan of Tolkien for decades, and this doesn't match up with my experience at all...Tolkien fans seem to generally love Tom, and many were deeply disappointed that he wasn't in the movies (even though his exclusion makes perfect se…

> Did I just run in different Tolkien circles than the author? Almost certainly. Tolkien fans aren't a monolith, there's plenty of diversity of opinion. I remember seeing these screenshots of a Tolkien forum from 2000 and 2001 of people berating Peter Jackson in the most scathing terms. They were talking about how he's completely ruined Tolkien's legacy. That said, if you're looking for a Tolkien fan who dislikes Tom…

> He contributed exactly nothing to the story.

I see you point, but there are so many chapters in our meandering lives that don't add nothing to our "story". It still does add a layer of depth to the LOTR as others have pointed out. And in a way he acts as a comic Cerberus, scaring away the materialistic minds that want to speedrun through a completely coherent story once again.

Re: Oldest and Fatherless: The Terrible Secret of Tom Bombadil (2011)

#134

Post by aszantu »

tom dongelong geht den pfad hinauf dongelong hebt schöne blume auf steht am straßenrand eine komische baum mit füße drin "eh... stamm!"

from german fanfiction, tom bombadil rap, sadly the site went offline a while ago https://www.last.fm/music/www.das-schwarze-ohr.de looks like someone saved it!

Re: Oldest and Fatherless: The Terrible Secret of Tom Bombadil (2011)

#135

Post by simplicio »

ycombinete wrote: post #31
Trasmatta wrote: post #29

> Possibly the least liked character in The Lord of the Rings. A childish figure so disliked by fans of the book that few object to his absence from all adaptations of the story. I've been a fan of Tolkien for decades, and this doesn't match up with my experience at all...Tolkien fans seem to generally love Tom, and many were deeply disappointed that he wasn't in the movies (even though his exclusion makes perfect se…

I’m really surprised by this as well. Every fan I’ve spoken to also believes that he was sorely missed as a point of perspective to the story. His contentment with his place, and his power. That he was here before this war, and will be here afterward.

I like him in the books, but he also seems like a really good example of why making movies their own thing instead of slavishly following the source material is a good idea. There's no way having the hobbits break the tense flight from the Shire->Rivendale for a weird musical number with an unexplained character who's never referenced again in the story would've been anything but confusing for the film audience.

Re: Oldest and Fatherless: The Terrible Secret of Tom Bombadil (2011)

#137

Post by [deleted] »

Trasmatta wrote: post #29

> Possibly the least liked character in The Lord of the Rings. A childish figure so disliked by fans of the book that few object to his absence from all adaptations of the story. I've been a fan of Tolkien for decades, and this doesn't match up with my experience at all...Tolkien fans seem to generally love Tom, and many were deeply disappointed that he wasn't in the movies (even though his exclusion makes perfect se…

[deleted]

Re: Oldest and Fatherless: The Terrible Secret of Tom Bombadil (2011)

#138

Post by yesbabyyes »

DontchaKnowit wrote: post #65

I've always felt that Tom Bombadil was the Jar Jar banks of lord of the rings. Completely pointless character that I love for that exact reason.

But Jar-Jar was highly consequential, and not pointless at all. He was a delegate to the Senate, and he wanted to make a difference. As such, he took it upon himself to speak to the Senate, to grant Chancellor Palpatine emergency powers. You may argue that anyone else could have done that, but I'm not so sure; it seems like one of those things that many may support, more or less in quiet, but nobody wants to take the initiative, as they are too careful and political to do so.

As such, he is the reason for the fall of the Republic and rise of the Empire.

Re: Oldest and Fatherless: The Terrible Secret of Tom Bombadil (2011)

#139

Post by kergonath »

simonh wrote: post #52
boringg wrote: post #26

A random thought just occurred - and I welcome speculation. Do you/we think Lord of the Rings will have staying power in human history 1000 years from now or only last one century or so? Inherent assumptions: humans will survive 1000 years and so will books.

I think it will be studied and valued indefinitely, if not for anything else, due to it's massive impact on literature and popular culture in this era, which shows no sign of waning. If anything in my lifetime it's influence has increase dramatically. Nobody in the future interested in the culture of the 20th and 21st century, and quite possibly well beyond, could ignore it. Having said that, will non-academics in th…

It seems you make the assumption that “reading Tolkien” means reading the original text in the English vernacular from the mid-20th century. But we still read texts from Latin authors who lived 2000 years ago, albeit translated. It’s certainly not everyone’s cup of tea, but Virgil and Ovid are quite readable.

Even today, a significant part of the readership of the Lord of the Rings already read it translated.

Bearing that in mind, it’s not completely unreasonable to assume that a certain number of people will read it in a millenium.

Re: Oldest and Fatherless: The Terrible Secret of Tom Bombadil (2011)

#140

Post by lisper »

lucideer wrote: post #50
Trasmatta wrote: post #29

> Possibly the least liked character in The Lord of the Rings. A childish figure so disliked by fans of the book that few object to his absence from all adaptations of the story. I've been a fan of Tolkien for decades, and this doesn't match up with my experience at all...Tolkien fans seem to generally love Tom, and many were deeply disappointed that he wasn't in the movies (even though his exclusion makes perfect se…

Absolutely thought "I must be living in a bubble" when I read this: I don't think I've spoken to a single book-reader who wasn't vocally disappointed by the omission of Tom from the films. He was certainly one of mine & my sibling's favourite characters.

> He was certainly one of mine & my sibling's favourite characters.

Why? He doesn't actually do anything except drone on and on about the color of his boots. He doesn't advance the story in any way (which is why it is so easy to omit him in adaptations).

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