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My friends and I always considered Tom Bombadil to be Tolkien's interpretation of the Christian God, as he was a Christian himself it isn't that far fetched.

gitpusher 11y ago
I agree that Melkor's narrative is essentially the same as Lucifer's: God created the world, and fathered a quantity of powerful and benevolent beings to watch over it... until one of them goes rogue, eventually becoming their Evil counterpart. But if Tom Bombadil pre-dates even the Valar, then he doesn't really fit into that Biblical narrative. He's definitely not "God". There already is a God (Eru/Iluvatar), and he's utterly absent from world affairs after the Creation. We all "know" that Lucifer was an angel who disagreed with God (or some such), who then banished him from Heaven... But do we really know that? The Bible doesn't actually say much on the topic. All we know is that he was once in Heaven, and was cast out. We don't know if Lucifer was born there (as opposed to merely visiting) or if he was even an angel at all! Most of us believe the Serpent and Satan to be one and the same... but the Bible never says this. It's entirely possible that they are two separate entities, with different explanations. If Melkor is the Serpent (who corrupted the Elves), then perhaps Bombadil is the real original evil. Possibly even the one who corrupted Melkor in the first place? The Bible, much like Tolkein's mythos, has many inconsistencies + leaves a TON to speculation. That's half the fun (if not most of it) :-P
muraiki 11y ago
It seems that others asked Tolkein about this, and he denied it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Bombadil#Characteristics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Bombadil#Characteristics (fourth paragraph) This has a few more relevant quotes: http://scifi.stackexchange.com/a/46928 http://scifi.stackexchange.com/a/46928
Sindisil 11y ago
The closest analog to the Christian God in Tolkien's mythology would be Eru Ilúvatar, I think.

gitpusher 11y ago

I agree that Melkor's narrative is essentially the same as Lucifer's: God created the world, and fathered a quantity of powerful and benevolent beings to watch over it... until one of them goes rogue, eventually becoming their Evil counterpart. But if Tom Bombadil pre-dates even the Valar, then he doesn't really fit into that Biblical narrative. He's definitely not "God". There already is a God (Eru/Iluvatar), and he's utterly absent from world affairs after the Creation. We all "know" that Lucifer was an angel who disagreed with God (or some such), who then banished him from Heaven... But do we really know that? The Bible doesn't actually say much on the topic. All we know is that he was once in Heaven, and was cast out. We don't know if Lucifer was born there (as opposed to merely visiting) or if he was even an angel at all! Most of us believe the Serpent and Satan to be one and the same... but the Bible never says this. It's entirely possible that they are two separate entities, with different explanations. If Melkor is the Serpent (who corrupted the Elves), then perhaps Bombadil is the real original evil. Possibly even the one who corrupted Melkor in the first place? The Bible, much like Tolkein's mythos, has many inconsistencies + leaves a TON to speculation. That's half the fun (if not most of it) :-P

muraiki 11y ago

It seems that others asked Tolkein about this, and he denied it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Bombadil#Characteristics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Bombadil#Characteristics (fourth paragraph) This has a few more relevant quotes: http://scifi.stackexchange.com/a/46928 http://scifi.stackexchange.com/a/46928

Sindisil 11y ago

The closest analog to the Christian God in Tolkien's mythology would be Eru Ilúvatar, I think.