Who is Tom Bombadil, Middle Earth’s most powerful hermit?

The incredibly rich world J.R.R. Tolkien put to page in his iconic fantasy series has kept readers, viewers, and even gamers fascinated for more than eight decades. Over that time, his fans have come to love a range of incredible characters, not the least of whom being the singularly powerful Tom Bombadil.

He’s not a character fans of the films or television series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power will easily recognize, but that’s set to change with season 2 of the Prime Video prequel. Bombadil is prepped to enjoy his television debut with the incoming second season, introducing a brand new legion of fans to the ancient and mysterious character. He’s wacky, weird, a bit strangely dressed, and keeps far from the politics of Middle Earth, but through it all Tom Bombadil may also be the oldest and most powerful creature J.R.R. Tolkien ever dreamed up.

Who is Tom Bombadil?

Anytime I see Tom Bombadil’s name, a silly song echoes through the years to stick in my skull like a burr. Brought to life in not-quite spectacular quality by a poorly-reviewed 2002 Fellowship of the Ring PC game, I can’t help but remember the charming song that first introduced this character into my life.

To be fair, by the time I’d played the game the book was already a beloved part of my identity, but Tom Bombadil truly came to life for me in that goofy, low-quality release. And it is the song Frodo sings to summon the strangely powerful Bombadil that locked the character in my head for good, right alongside (for some reason) the Entish word for hill. (A-lalla-lalla-lalla-rumba-kamanda-lind-or-burúmë, for those wondering).

Tom Bombadil is at once an utterly vital Lord of the Rings character, and also a truly inconsequential one. He is perhaps the oldest being in all of Middle Earth — he’s got some competition, but many Tolkienites agree that he was the first — and he’s also among the most powerful. Unfortunately, he cares not for the silly, passing politics of the mortal beings around him, so even when the world was burning, Bombadil kept to himself.

In Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Bombadil is introduced early in the story, as our quartet of beloved Hobbits make their way out of the Shire. He resides in the depths of the Old Forest in a place called Withywindle with his river-spirit wife, Goldberry. There, he maintains seemingly endless power over his minor domain, but spends little time worrying over anything beyond his borders.

Bombadil comes across as a kindly and eccentric wizard, but one who — despite that kindness — refuses to concern himself with the insidious schemes of the Dark Lord, Mordor, or the darkening days that are encroaching as Frodo and the Hob Squad depart their land for parts unknown. He was around long before the Dark Lord Sauron arose — or was even a glimmer in Arda’s eye — and he may have even walked the reaches of Middle Earth before the Valar.

Bombadil is known, in legend at least, to every race on Middle Earth, but many of them assume him to be little more than fiction. He has many names, in different corners of the world, but all cultures seem to see him as near-mythical. Despite this fact — and the overarching fan assumption that, had he interfered, he may have been able to stop the war singlehandedly — Bombadil seemingly wanted nothing more than to settle in his minor domain, enjoy the company of his beautiful wife, and sometimes engage in a strangely powerful (and always silly) song, suited up in his blue jacket and yellow boots.

Bombadil is a mystery, and one that Tolkien gleefully allowed to remain an overarching question across each of his works. He’s insanely formidable but strangely scatterbrained, utterly ancient but occasionally childlike, and through it all, he treats the world like a collector treats an ant colony. He has respect for the lives of the little beings around him, but their troubles are so far beneath him they don’t even register. Gandalf even says as much at the Council of Elrond, noting that — while the One Ring has no power over Bombadil — he’d be more likely to forget about the Ring than destroy it, were it given to him.

As a result, Bombadil exists in the background of Tolkien canon. He’s a foundational aspect to the story of Middle Earth, but all the major points would also remain the same if he never existed. Sometimes life is strange that way, and if there’s one thing Tom Bombadil inarguably is, it’s strange.