Why is Tom Bombadil (Reconsidering the Onion?)

[Androthelm]

Hey y'all
Long ago and far away, on Old Plaza, there was much discussion about old Tom Bombadillo and little consensus. I'm sure those who were there remember it well.
That being said, I remember at some point being linked in that thread to an off-site essay which essentially argued that the sequence in FoTR when the hobbits pass through the Old Forest, Tom's House, and the Barrow-downs is most significant when examined through the lens of Tolkien as a medievalist--and that there is, perhaps, a narrative echo there of the rituals associated with knighthood and the process of becoming a knight?

I do not remember any more specifics, and Im sorry that I can't be more directly helpful -- but does anyone remember what this might have been? Or, is anyone familiar enough with that reading / that field of study to perhaps help reconstruct that claim?

[Boromir88]

Thanks Androthelm, I think one of my main regrets when I was an active member on the old Plaza was never being involved or interested in the Bombadil and Goldberry topics halfir kept going. At the time, being a teenager, the Bombadil and Old Forest parts just didn't interest me. I never skipped over the chapters if I was doing a full re-read, but I always left it as "Who is Tom Bombadil? Tom is Tom and that's it, moving on."

My last re-read about 2 years ago I was far more interested in Bombadil, Old Man Willow, the Barrow-wight and Goldberry and I regretted never taking an interest to really dive into halfir's threads.

This topic makes me want to read those chapters again, because the last time wasn't through the POV of a medievalist and knighthood ceremony. So, some random and general ideas that come to mind are...

One of the first steps in the ritual was a cleansing the night before. The squire would prepare for becoming a knight, by taking a thorough bath the night before, as a sign of cleansing and purification. I seem to recall the hobbits having a similar bath the first night in Bombadil's house. I might be misremembering though.

One of the final steps is symbolized by Merry becoming a knight in King Theoden's service, swearing an oath of fealty. And Pippin becoming a knight in Denethor's service swearing him an oath of fealty.

So there is, I think at least a beginning and an end in the case of Merry and Pippin going through the rituals of knighthood. And I will be diving in to see what else there is to find.

You certainly always find something, if you look, but it is not always quite the something you were after. The Hobbit: Overhill and Underhill

[Androthelm]

@Boromir88 -- these are some good points! I remember the bath being significant. I'll confess, I'm in the midst of a reread (finally convinced some friends to do a book club with me!) and I've just read The Old Forest but haven't yet read In The House of Tom Bombadil, so while I can't say for sure if a bath happens there, I will acknowledge that there is a bath scene in Crickhollow, featuring some ... strange poetry by Bilbo.

That being said, I'm also remembering -- perhaps the sequence in the Barrow-downs was drawn in comparison to knightly vigils, resulting in their being given swords? Again, I'm far from a scholar -- I'm drawing my understanding of ceremonies of knighthood almost entirely from pop-culture and other Fantasy novels

Also, quick EDIT: oh man, those halfir essays. What a memory -- I sort of named this thread after them, without remembering they were his.

[Androthelm]

To double up on postings, I've just finished rereading In The House of Tom Bombadil. There is, as Borimir88 pondered above, a sort of a cleansing scene -- although it's with water in basins that they wash up before dinner, not a bath like the one in Crickhollow.
Also, I forgot how much I love old Tom Bombadillo. Eldest, Oldest, Master of Hill and River --

I may have to try and wayback the halfir essay threads.

[Boromir88]

Ahh, @Bombadillo yes I thought the bathing and 'bath song' was when the hobbits were in Crickhollow. I didn't know if there was another thorough bathing at Tom Bombadil's. I recall Bombadil saying something about Goldberry's 'washing day.' I guess if we're looking from the perspective of becoming a knight, what do Tom and Goldberry represent?

Knighthood was definitely a highly ritualistic ceremony, I just don't know enough to know the specifics other than a few of the steps. The hobbits capture by the Barrow-wight is certainly a ritual. If I remember correctly they are clothed in white and the barrow is where the hobbits find their swords (which seems like it would be part of a knighthood ceremony).

Also, one of the things that's always interested me about these Bombadil chapters is their titles. Fog on the Barrow-downs is such a great title. 'Fog' and 'barrow' are just words you don't hear anyone using anymore. They have an 'ancient' sound to them. I'm not at all an expert on origins of words, fog seems like it would be a little after the medieval period. The use of "barrow" though certainly puts you in that period.

[MistressofJesters]

Ahh, @Bombadillo yes I thought the bathing and 'bath song' was when the hobbits were in Crickhollow. I didn't know if there was another thorough bathing at Tom Bombadil's. I recall Bombadil saying something about Goldberry's 'washing day.' I guess if we're looking from the perspective of becoming a knight, what do Tom and Goldberry represent?

There is another bathing scene. I don't have a copy of Fellowship handy but I distinctly remember Tom singing a song that ends with "combing out your tangles." The room they bathe in, I think, also has fresh rushes all over the floor like a carpet. (It's weird what details stick in my mind. )

Ritual washing would have had a lot of connotations with baptism or other uses of holy water, which would have been almost universally practiced by medieval Christians. Knights made use of holy water and other sacramentals to spiritually prepare themselves for trying journeys or quests (and done in thanksgiving after them). Goldberry especially, as the "river-daughter," could be a blend of these and the pre-Christian mythology from those cultures. Tom and Goldberry both are tied to their locations, like many pagan gods or goddesses. They have a lot of power in their own domain but not much authority outside it, but Tom's authority is sufficient against the Barrow-wights.

I've always interpreted these chapters as a "rest stop" along the quests, which is a pretty common element in any adventure story, and weird asides or (seemingly) unrelated side quests aren't infrequent in older epics. The hobbits have survived the awful Old Forest (it didn't seem nearly as creepy to me as a kid as it does now!) and need some rest before the next awful thing (the Barrow-downs), before they get another brief reprieve (Bree, though that doesn't go as expected.)

[Androthelm]

@MistressofJesters yes! That's the scene I mentioned above -- Tom is eager to start dinner and Goldenberry points out that the guests may want to wash up first, so they do.

I think the comparison to "rest stop" segments in some of the older stories we know Tolkien was familiar with is also very sharp. It is interesting, because they do get semi-frequent rests until the Breaking of the Fellowship (Crickhollow, Tom's House, Bree, Rivendell, Lothlorien) at which point it gets a little more fragmented, but there are still a handful -- Frodo and Sam get their brief capture by Faramir's rangers, Merry and Pippin get their sojourn with Treebeard in the ruins of Isengard, Pippin will go on to have a lovely moment to catch his breath between being brought into Denethor's service and the proper onslaught beginning -- and after that, I think it's a straightish run until, of course, the eu-catastrophe of the Eagles' arrival.

[Eldy Dunami]

Regarding the cycle of action and respite, Ursula K. LeGuin wrote a really interesting essay on this topic that was included in the anthology Meditations on Middle-earth, but that I recall because a copy of it was hosted on the now-defunct LOTR Fanatics Site (the original Plaza's parent site). Fortunately, the Wayback Machine nabbed a copy of it.

http://web.archive.org/web/200206041341 ... ations.asp

[Boromir88]

@MistressofJesters I've always interpreted these chapters as a "rest stop" along the quests, which is a pretty common element in any adventure story, and weird asides or (seemingly) unrelated side quests aren't infrequent in older epics.

Same and it's likely why I never really read the chapters from the 'medievalist' point of view. It is interesting, because there is a lot of symbols and ritualism in these chapters. Also, considering Merry and Pippin do actually become knights. Theoden's and Denethor's motivations were more of making a kind, symbolic gesture (or, well at least Theoden...Denethor's was an attempt to extract information out of Pippin).

Finding the part of the Barrow-wight's ritual in Fog on the Barrow-downs, there is a lot of symbolism of knight's ceremony:

He turned, and there in the cold glow he saw lying beside him Sam, Pippin, and Merry. They were on their backs, and their faces looked deathly pale; and they were clad in white. About them lay many treasures, of gold maybe, though in that light they looked cold and unlovely. On their head were circlets, gold chains were about their waists, and on their fingers were many rings. Swords lay by their sides, and shields were at their feet. But across their three necks lay one long naked sword.

A shield and sword are probably the most recognized symbols in a knight's ceremony. Also, being clad in white. Although, with the hobbits their being clothed in white by the Barrow-wight was "cold" and "unlovely."

[Androthelm]

Interesting points @Boromir88 re: the negative side of the knightly vigil here. I'm also, on a tangent, interested in the fact that the treasures which are piled around the slumbering Hobbits (evoking not only ceremonies of knighthood but also the kingly burials of the barrows which Tolkien is basing his on) are "of gold maybe, though in that light they looked cold and unlovely."
I think there's something to be said for the distinction here between the warmth--both in temperature and palette--of Tom's house (and Tom himself), even when it comes to his handling of a certain golden treasure, and the coldness of everything in Fog on the Barrow-downs from the wight to the gold to the Fog itself.