Editing Goldberry (section)

=== Type of being ===
{{Quote box
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 |quote=Her long yellow hair rippled down her shoulders; her gown was green, green as young reeds, shot with silver like beads of dew; and her belt was of gold, shaped like a chain of flag-lilies set with the pale-blue eyes of forget-me-nots. About her feet in wide vessels of green and brown earthenware, white water-lilies were floating, so that she seemed to be enthroned in the midst of a pool.<br/>
 —  ''[[The Fellowship of the Ring]]'', book 1, ch. 7, "In the House of Tom Bombadil"
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Goldberry does not fit easily into any of Tolkien's definitions of sentient beings in his world, and like Tom Bombadil she remains an enigma.<ref name="Hesser 2013"/> With regards to Goldberry's true nature within the context of [[Middle-earth]], the Tolkien scholar [[Tom Shippey]] suggested that Goldberry is similar to the many named [[water spirit]]s of traditional [[English folklore]] such as [[Jenny Greenteeth]] or [[Peg Powler]] of the [[River Tees]], though she is a noticeably gentler figure than they are.<ref name="Century">{{cite book |last=Shippey |first=Tom |author-link=Tom Shippey |title=[[J. R. R. Tolkien: Author of the Century]] |year=2001 |location=London  |publisher=HarperCollins |isbn=978-0261-10401-3 |pages=60–62}}</ref> The scholar Ann McCauley believed that she is likely a [[water sprite]],<ref name="Basso 2008"/> while [[John D. Rateliff]] suggested that, at least within the context of Tolkien's early mythology, she should be seen as one of the wide category of [[Fairy|fays]], spirits, and elementals.<ref name="Baggins">{{cite journal |last=Rateliff |first=John D. |author-link=John D. Rateliff |title=[[The History of The Hobbit]]: Volume I: Mr. Baggins |year=2007 |location=London |journal=[[Mythlore]] |issn=0146-9339 |pages=50–59}}</ref>
Goldberry's association with water, writes {{ill|Leo Carruthers|fr}}, thematically links Bombadil with [[Väinämöinen]] and his fiancée [[Aino (mythology)|Aino]] from the ''[[Kalevala]]'', the Finnish national [[epic poem|epic]].<ref name="Kalevala">{{cite book |editor-last=Carruthers |editor-first=Leo |title=Tolkien et le Moyen Age |trans-title=Tolkien and the Middle Ages |year=2007 |location=Paris |publisher=CNRS Éditions |isbn=978-2-271-06568-1 |pages=50–59 |language=fr}}</ref> 

The scholar Ruth Noel calls Bombadil and Goldberry "undisguised personifications of land untouched by humans".<ref name="Noel 1977">{{cite book |last=Noel |first=Ruth |title=The Mythology of Middle-earth |location=London |publisher=Thames and Hudson  |year=1977 |isbn=978-0-500-01187-4 |oclc=4034977 |pages=127, 130}}</ref>

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Another proposed explanation is that she is one of [[Ainur (Middle-earth)|the Ainur]], specifically the [[Valar|Vala]] [[Yavanna]].<ref name="Basso 2008">{{cite journal |last=Basso |first=Ann McCauley |year=2008 |title=Fair Lady Goldberry, Daughter of the River |journal=[[Mythlore]] |volume=27 |issue=1 |at=article 12 |url=https://dc.swosu.edu/mythlore/vol27/iss1/12}}</ref><ref name="Hesser 2013"/> There are physical similarities between Goldberry and Yavanna: both characters have blond hair and dress in green, and are associated with the plant kingdom, which would make Tom Bombadil an [[avatar]] of [[Aulë]], husband of Yavanna.<ref name="Hargrove 1986">{{cite journal |last=Hargrove |first=Gene |title=Who Is Tom Bombadil |year=1986 |journal=[[Mythlore]] |volume=13 |issue=1 |at=Article 3  |issn=0146-9339 |url=https://dc.swosu.edu/mythlore/vol13/iss1/3}}</ref> Taryne Jade Taylor associates Goldberry with the Greek myth of the goddess [[Persephone]], for the way she is captured by Bombadil and its association with the rhythm of the seasons, as well as [[Étaín]], a deity in [[Irish mythology]] associated with light.<ref name="Investigating">{{cite book |last=Taylor |first=Taryne Jade |title=Investigating the Role and Origin of Goldberry in Tolkien's Mythology |year=2008 |publisher=Mythlore |isbn=978-2-271-06568-1 |pages=50–59 |url=https://dc.swosu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1333&context=mythlore}}</ref> For Christina Ljungberg, Goldberry is one of the three divinities of [[Mother Nature|personified Nature]] that exist on the side of good: she represents the [[Immanence|immanent goddess]], while Elbereth or Varda represents the [[Transcendence (religion)|transcendent goddess]], and the elf queen [[Galadriel]] combines these two aspects.<ref name="Root">{{cite book |last=Ljungberg |first=Christina |title=Root & Branch: Approaches towards Understanding Tolkien |year=1999 |isbn=3-905703-01-7 |location=Zollikofen |publisher=[[Walking Tree Publishers]] |page=60}}</ref> 
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