Not My Tom Bombadil

As a lifelong fan of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth, I find myself deeply disappointed with the portrayal of Tom Bombadil in Amazon’s The Rings of Power (TROP). While I appreciate the effort to bring these beloved characters to life, the interpretation of Bombadil seems to miss the mark entirely.

Spoilers follow for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season two, through the finale episode that premiered on Thursday, October 3.

In “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power”, the good-evil dichotomy dominates all characters and discussions, prompting Sauron to question, with Charlie Vickers’ smug air, “What is it about me that you find so captivating?” One of the show’s most grating creative decisions this season is its portrayal of Tom Bombadil. Instead of preserving Tolkien’s cherished and mysterious forest dweller character, TROP has turned him into a mere imitation of Yoda, guiding Gandalf with songs and seemingly predictable destiny.

The problem with so many prequels is the need to overexplain — to justify the series we’re watching by linking it with something we’ve already watched. Obi-Wan Kenobi dreamt up a whole pre–A New Hope relationship between the Jedi master and Princess Leia. In House of the Dragon, Daemon Targaryen unexpectedly decides to support his niece-wife Rhaenyra’s bid for the crown after he learns about Game of Thrones’s song of ice and fire prophecy. TROP falls victim to this particular prequel flaw, too, refusing to deviate from the familiar forms of The Lord of the Rings by lifting direct dialogue from the novel and mimicking frames and moments from Peter Jackson’s films. In season one, the character the series refused to identify as Gandalf said “always follow your nose,” as Ian McKellen’s version of the wizard did in The Fellowship of the Ring. In season two, the scene when Adar introduces his gigantic Uruk army to a shocked, teary-eyed Galadriel is shot like Saruman showing Wormtongue his own white-hand-bearing legions in The Two Towers. Durin and Elrond’s unlikely friendship evokes Gimli and Legolas’s bantering bond, down to jokes about the elves’ self-obsession and the dwarves’ height. And if you somehow missed that halflings Nori and Poppy are Frodo- and Sam-coded, Poppy’s big, hopeful speech to Nori at the end of the season-two finale, “Shadow and Flame,” about how “all anybody can do is try and build something new” in response to a broken world, is another spin on Gamgee’s “There’s some good in this world … and it’s worth fighting for” monologue.

Essentially, TROP skillfully mirrors Tolkien’s narrative flow and portrays his well-known characters in a familiar, comforting manner within its TV universe. In Tom Bombadil, who was omitted from both Peter Jackson’s and Ralph Bakshi’s film adaptations of Lord of the Rings, TROP had the chance to stay true to Tolkien’s vision and bridge an adaptation gap. However, instead of doing so, TROP opted for a prequel-focused approach, altering Bombadil in a way that strips him of his iconic carefree essence.

In the TV series, TROP adapts a line from Tolkien’s novel, where Bombadil saves Merry from Old Man Willow, to the scene where he rescues not-yet-Gandalf from Old Man Ironwood. The phrase, “You should not be waking. Eat earth. Dig deep. Drink water … Go to sleep,” is repeated by Bombadil in both instances. However, unlike in the book, Bombadil’s hurried partner Goldberry and the storyteller who shares tales of change outside Sauron’s influence are absent from TROP. Additionally, the portrayal of Bombadil in the TV series does not align with the written character, as he is not affected by the growing darkness, resistant to the One Ring, and indifferent towards power and the chaos caused by its pursuit.

In J.R.R. Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings,” Bombadil represents a unique character shrouded in simplicity. He can be perceived as embodying the untouched, natural world – the vegetation and creatures that possess their own agendas, histories, and cultures, unaffected by Sauron’s war. The enigmatic way Tolkien portrays Bombadil’s resistance to the conflict suggests a deliberate mystery.

Bombadil isn’t necessarily evil; he protects the hobbits from danger, such as wights, and guides them safely through his territory. However, he is not inherently kind or altruistic. When the hobbits first enter his realm, they describe it as a disconcerting dream without resolution. Frodo later finds Bombadil’s vast knowledge and experience unsettling. These contradictions make Bombadil a complex character, a mysterious figure who converses with trees, birds, and animals while seemingly worshipping a river spirit for a wife. He is also ancient, able to identify the most dangerous object in the era but remaining unaffected by it, suggesting that there may be a way forward where the ring’s power holds no sway. Portraying Bombadil as a corny riddle-speaking spirit guide wearing a wizard hat reminiscent of Gandalf’s from “The Fellowship of the Ring” would diminish Tolkien’s most intriguing anomaly, transforming him into an uninteresting caretaker.

Take this as the insult it’s meant to be. Tom Bombadil shouldn’t be cute, and yet that’s about the extent of his TROP characterization. Rory Kinnear gives him a lilting accent that makes Bombadil sound like a Cornish Forrest Gump. He does what are basically magic tricks, like turning a map into a piece of bread and using one match to light all his cottage’s candles at once. He changes Tolkien’s “the trees and the grasses and all things growing or living in the land belong each to themselves,” a comment about nature’s disregard for interference, into an eye-rolling call for not-yet-Gandalf’s self-actualization with, “All things belong each to themselves. Just as you belong to yourself.” And TROP practically winks at the viewer when Bombadil calls the lamb who lives with him “Iarwain” (in LOTR, “Iarwain Ben-adar” is revealed as Bombadil’s previous name), then says to not-yet-Gandalf one of the wizard’s most famous Fellowship of the Rings lines: “Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them?” This Bombadil has no unfathomability, no sinister edge. He’s like if the phrase “aw shucks” became sentient.

The pair’s whole vibe in the season’s concluding moments is Yoda and Luke Skywalker, a smiling-yet-stern mentor guiding an innocent-but-powerful youngster toward his destiny. To position Bombadil in that way is to entirely miss that the character’s most intriguing quality is his indifference to the larger Middle-earth outside of his borders. Putting him in a role like this makes Bombadil generic and Gandalf derivative; both characters are less interesting when TROP ties them together and insists that Gandalf’s identity is less his own invention and more the effect of a mysterious teacher who previously failed a promising student and won’t make the same mistake twice. (In this comparison, yes, the “Dark Wizard” heavily implied to be Saruman is Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader.)

In the TROP, while it’s fascinating when they rework moments or ideas from LOTR, such as Elrond and Durin’s complex relationship due to Durin not joining Elrond in defending Eregion, the show veering significantly from Tolkien’s portrayal of Bombadil raises questions about their interest in characters that don’t fit neatly into their black-and-white concept of good versus evil. The series appears to have a limited perspective on Tolkien’s world, as evidenced by its mismanagement of one of his most distinctive creations. Bombadil, who is “jolly” as one of his songs suggests, is also indifferent, a characteristic that Tolkien purposefully made hard to understand. The series’ decision to conclude this season with hints that Bombadil and Gandalf will team up, forming an unbeatable duo that will enjoy honey by the fire, sing, and eventually confront evil wizards together, is the most creatively uninspired move yet.

2024-10-03 17:53

Not My Tom Bombadil

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