Love in the Trees - Page 6
© Michael Martinez
said fair Goldberry. 'Bubbles you are blowing,
frightening the finny fish and the brown water-rat,
startling the dabchicks, and drowning your feather-hat!'
'You bring it back again, there's a pretty maiden!'
said Tom Bombadil. 'I do not care for wading.
Go down! Sleep again where the pools are shady
far below willow-roots, little water-lady!'
Back to her mother's house in the deepest hollow
swam young Goldberry. But Tom, he would not follow;
on knotted willow-roots he sat in sunny weather,
drying his yellow boots and his draggled feather.
This is a classic courtship ritual. The woman does the choosing, and she tests the man to see if she can dominate him. If she can, he fails her test and she's not interested in him. Tom won't play any girlish games, though, and he goes on about his business, dismissing Goldberry as if she doesn't matter to him. So, he passes the test, and later on, at the end of the poem, when Tom comes to take her away, Goldberry is ready to be his wife.
Tom's aloofness is not conceit, though. He is self-confident and knows where he is going and what he is doing. He has his priorities. He may, if a friend asks him to, set aside his own concerns for a while and attend to something else. He does so at Gildor's request, when he keeps an eye out for Frodo and the boys. But Gandalf is quick to point out that Bombadil would be a poor choice as guardian for the One Ring, should the Council of Elrond decide to hide the Ring again from Sauron. Gandalf's fear is that Bombadil won't understand why everyone would want him to keep the Ring, and that Bombadil might eventually forget about it.
Those concerns are entirely in keeping with Tolkien's portrayal of Bombadil as a decisive and focused man. Men can't really be trusted to watch after other people's affairs. They have their own concerns. There is a football game on today. Brother jack will have to wait to move that couch until tomorrow.
The neat thing about Tom and Goldberry is that she is his number one priority. She is safe in his house (as are all who visit there), and secure as long as Tom is around. And Tom won't leave her to face the world alone. He knows that Sauron is chasing the Hobbits. He even seems to know what the One Ring is. But he refuses to leave his land to help them further. It would be a great adventure, to be sure, and Tom would probably learn some new things. But "Tom has his house to mind, and Goldberry is waiting!" he tells the Hobbits.
Go To Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
The copyright of the article Love in the Trees - Page 6 in J.R.R. Tolkien is owned by Michael Martinez. Permission to republish Love in the Trees - Page 6 in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
| Here's the follow-up discussion on this article: | View all related messages |
For a complete listing of article comments, questions, and other discussions related to Michael Martinez's J.R.R. Tolkien topic, please visit the Discussions page.