Re:The Hobbit: Riddles in the Dark – The Lost Version
by jfengel on Friday December 23, 2022 @04:47PM
(#34110965)
That's an important point: Tom Bombadil was another character that Tolkien had already created, independent of both the Middle-earth stuff and The Hobbit.
His inclusion in the book is awkward and people have tons of questions about it because it doesn't really fit. Tom Bombadil is more of a nursery-rhyme character, and would have fit better into a Hobbit sequel than what became The Lord of the Rings.
His continued inclusion reflects the way Tolkien was loath to give up an idea once he'd written it, leading to a chapter that is at once incredibly evocative and maddeningly uninformative.
His inclusion in the book is awkward and people have tons of questions about it because it doesn't really fit. Tom Bombadil is more of a nursery-rhyme character, and would have fit better into a Hobbit sequel than what became The Lord of the Rings.
His continued inclusion reflects the way Tolkien was loath to give up an idea once he'd written it, leading to a chapter that is at once incredibly evocative and maddeningly uninformative.