8. Who Let This Happen?

All about Tom Bombadil.

Jared, Oriana and Ned discuss Oriana’s choice of topic: Tom Bombadil.
Famous—or more probably, infamous—jolly Tom is one of the most unusual
characters in The Lord of the Rings, dropped in wholesale, along with his
partner Goldberry the River Daughter, the threatening Old Man Willow and the
bone-chilling Barrow-wight, from a playful English folklore-tinged poem
Tolkien wrote years even before The Hobbit was published. And, well, boy, does
he sing a lot—and caper. What’s he even doing in Middle-earth to start with,
and how does he, or doesn’t he, fit with the entire logic of the larger story?
Is it impossible to adapt him for the screen or even the radio? And—despite
all of that—what are some of his better qualities as a character in this
story, given that in the end he also inspires some of Tolkien’s most
lovely—and, alternately, terrifying—writing?

Jared’s
doodle for
the episode. Tom’s walking along but he’s not alone…

Deadline’s report on Joseph
Mawle’s casting as Oren. Hm, yes, Oren. Mm.

Collider’s report on Maxim Baldry’s casting.

Ioreth is pretty damn great, no lie.

Christopher Lee DID do a project that Tom Bombadil appears in—but not the one you’re
thinking of.

Väinämöinen
has seen a lot, at least according to the Finns.

“Oldest and Fatherless: The Terrible Secret of Tom
Bombadil.”

If you really must listen to the 1979 NPR production of The Lord of the
Rings,
be our guest.

Brian Sibley’s 1992 BBC radio series Tales From the Perilous Realm, via
CD or
Audible.

Farmer Maggot rules—and here’s a little more about why he has that
name.

Tolkien’s Letter 144, written to
Naomi Mitchison.

The Dude abides.

The Adventures of Tom Bombadil is a fun read for sure, especially with
Pauline Baynes’s illustrations.

Bored of the
Rings is a thing.

The Last Ringbearer by
Kirill Eskov is the thoroughly unofficial Russian-language sequel/alternate
read on Middle-earth. But it’s part of a long tradition of response
literature. (Consider The Wind Done
Gone.)

AO3. That’s all we’ll say.

Barrow-wights are seriously
creepy as hell.

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