Editing Tom Bombadil (section)

==="The Adventures of Tom Bombadil"===

{{Quote box
 |width=27em
 |align=right
 |quote=<poem>Old Tom Bombadil was a merry fellow;
bright blue his jacket was and his boots were yellow,
green were his girdle and his breeches all of leather;
he wore in his tall hat a swan-wing feather.
He lived up under Hill, where the Withywindle
ran from a grassy well down into the dingle.</poem>
 —  "[[The Adventures of Tom Bombadil]]"
}}

The original version of Tolkien's poem "The Adventures of Tom Bombadil" was published in 1934 in ''[[The Oxford Magazine]]''.<ref>{{harvnb|Tolkien|2014|p=123}}. They were later included in ''[[Tales from the Perilous Realm]]''.</ref> The poem depicts Bombadil as a "merry fellow" living in a small valley close to the [[Withywindle]] river, where he wanders and explores nature at his leisure. Several of the valley's mysterious residents, including the "River-woman's daughter" [[Goldberry]], the malevolent tree-spirit [[Old Man Willow]], the [[European badger|Badger]]-folk and a [[barrow-wight]], attempt to capture Bombadil for their own ends. However, they quail at the power of his voice, which defeats their enchantments and commands them to return to their natural existence. At the end of the poem, Bombadil captures and marries Goldberry. Throughout the poem, he is unconcerned by the attempts to capture him and brushes them off with the power in his words.<ref>{{cite book |last=Carpenter |first=Humphrey |author-link=Humphrey Carpenter |title=J. R. R. Tolkien: A Biography |title-link=J. R. R. Tolkien: A Biography |publisher=[[HarperCollins]] |date=2002 |isbn=978-0007132843 |pages=216–217}}</ref><ref name="Shippey 2001 pp60-62">{{cite book |last=Shippey |first=Thomas |author-link=Thomas Shippey |title=[[J. R. R. Tolkien: Author of the Century]] |date=2001 |publisher=[[HarperCollins]] |location=New York City|isbn=978-0261-10401-3 |pages=60–62}}</ref>

Bombadil makes it clear that he found Goldberry in the Withywindle river, calling her "River-woman's daughter".<ref name="Shippey 2001 pp60-62"/> The Tolkien scholar [[John D. Rateliff]] suggests that, at least in terms of Tolkien's early mythology, she should be seen as one of the [[Fairy|fays]], spirits, and elementals (including the [[Maia (Middle-earth)|Maia]]): "Thus [[Melian (Middle-earth)|Melian]] is a 'fay', (as, in all probability, are Goldberry and Bombadil; the one a nymph, the other a ''[[genius loci]]'')".<ref>{{cite book |last=Rateliff |first=John D. |author-link=John D. Rateliff |title=Mr Baggins |date=2007 |publisher=[[HarperCollins]] |location=New York City |isbn=978-0-0072-3555-1 |pages=50, 59}}</ref>

The later poem "Bombadil Goes Boating" anchors Bombadil in [[Middle-earth]], featuring a journey down the Withywindle to the [[Baranduin|Brandywine]] river, where [[Hobbit]]s ("Little Folk I know there") live at Hays-end. Bombadil is challenged by various river residents on his journey, including [[bird]]s, [[Eurasian otter|otters]], and Hobbits, but charms them all with his voice, ending his journey at the farm of [[Farmer Maggot]], where he drinks ale and dances with the family. At the end of the poem, the charmed birds and otters work together to bring Bombadil's boat home. The poem includes a reference to the Norse [[Lai (poetic form)|lay]] of [[Ótr]], when Bombadil threatens to give the hide of a disrespectful otter to the barrow-wights, who he says will cover it with gold apart from a single whisker. The poem mentions Middle-earth locations including Hays-end, [[Bree (Middle-earth)|Bree]], and the [[Tower Hills]] and speaks of "Tall Watchers by the Ford, Shadows on the Marches".<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|2014|loc=1. "The Adventures of Tom Bombadil"}}</ref><ref name="Hargrove 2013">{{cite book |last=Hargrove |first=Gene |editor=Michael D. C. Drout |editor-link=Michael D. C. Drout |chapter=Adventures of Tom Bombadil |title=[[The J. R. R. Tolkien Encyclopedia]] |date=2013 |orig-year=2007 |publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]] |location=London, England |isbn=978-0-415-86511-1 |pages=2–3}}</ref>