Millennialist bunk, get off my lawn! ;^) Really, Tom is old... older than the elves, and he (like the willow and the huron) are tired of having these whipper-s

Millennialist bunk, get off my lawn! ;^) Really, Tom is old... older than the elves, and he (like the willow and the huron) are tired of having these whipper-snappers come by and ask them to save them from danger and do their -chores- adventures for them. Old men just wanna have fun... and the gold ring ain't their bag (or problem). Merry and Frodo are lucky they remember their time with him any more than Gildor or Farmer Maggot (or they remember him differently). In the old days we didn't expect everyone to be nice or have transparent understandable motives... and we walked up Mt Doom both ways.