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Love in the Trees - Page 2

© Michael Martinez

He has no connection in my mind with the Entwives. What had happened to them is not resolved in this book. He is in a way the answer to them in the sense that he is almost the opposite, being say, Botany and Zoology (as sciences) and Poetry as opposed to Cattle-breeding and Agriculture and Practicality. Mitcheson read the page-proofs for The Lord of the Rings before the book was published. She was literally the first of Tolkien's fans to ask him questions about the story and its characters. Her questions (and Tolkien's answers) ranged across a broad spectrum of issues. But the part of this letter which is most often cited by modern readers is what I provided above. Tolkien's brief comment on Bombadil's symbolic importance fuels raging infernos regarding Bombadil's overall importance to the book. And yet, no one ever seems to ask the one question which would be easiest to answer: Was Bombadil happily married to Goldberry? Now, I am sure most people would immediately, "ABSOLUTELY!" What man wouldn't want a wife life Goldberry? For that matter, what woman wouldn't want a wife like Bombadil? Well, okay, maybe he got the better part of the deal. And yet, Bombadil's marriage to Goldberry touches on many issues which have piqued readers' interest through the years. For example, one criticism often levelled at the story is that it's strictly a boy-tale, filled with guys going off on adventure, fighting terrible monsters, and leaving the girls at home. And yet, the Bombadil adventure only plays out like that in part. While it's true that Goldberry doesn't face down Old Man Willow or the Barrow-wight, she in fact exerts her will over something more terrifying and powerful: Bombadil. And before you snicker derisevly, think to yourself whom you'd rather face in a duel: Bombadil, who spits Barrow-wights out before eating breakfast, or the nasty old Barrow-wight who couldn't even prevent Frodo from summoning Bombadil? I'll take the wight any day. At least I'd have a chance to call for help. The only creature who masters Bombadil, other than Bombadil himself, is Goldberry. She owns him lock, stock, and barrel. When Elrond suggests that perhaps he should have summoned Bombadil to his council in Rivendell, Gandalf objects, pointing out that, "He would not have come." He goes on to explain his view of Bombadil: "Say rather the Ring has no power over him. He is his own master. But he cannot alter the Ring itself, nor break its power over others. And now he is withdrawn into a little land, within bounds that he has set, though none can see them, waiting perhaps for a change of days, and he will not step beyond them."

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