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The Adventures of Tom Bombadil
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The Adventures of Tom Bombadil (1962) (edit title/settings)

by J. R. R. Tolkien (Author) (edit contributors)

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A volume of songs, rhymes and poems from "The Red Book". They tell of Tom's encounters with Goldberry, with Old Man Willow, who tries to trap Tom inside his trunk, with the Badger-folk, and with the ghostly Barrow-wight, as well as with a princess, trolls, dwarves and legendary beasts.

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Summary edit see section history

The Adventures of Tom Bombadil is a collection of poetry written by J. R. R. Tolkien and published in 1962. The book contains 16 poems, only two of which deal with Tom Bombadil, a character who is most famous for his encounter with Frodo Baggins in The Fellowship of the Ring (the first volume... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)

The Adventures of Tom Bombadil is a collection of poetry written by J. R. R. Tolkien and published in 1962. The book contains 16 poems, only two of which deal with Tom Bombadil, a character who is most famous for his encounter with Frodo Baggins in The Fellowship of the Ring (the first volume in Tolkien's best-selling The Lord of the Rings). The rest of the poems are an assortment of bestiary verse and fairy tale rhyme. Two of the poems appear in The Lord of the Rings as well. The book is part of Tolkien's Middle-earth Tolkien's legendarium and the Middle-earth canon.

The volume includes what W. H. Auden considered Tolkien's best poem, The Sea-Bell, subtitled Frodos Dreme. It is a piece of great metrical and rhythmical complexity that recounts a journey to a strange land beyond the sea. Drawing on medieval 'dream vision' poetry and Irish 'immram' poems the piece is markedly melancholic and the final note is one of alienation and disillusion.

The book was originally illustrated by Pauline Baynes and later by Roger Garland. The book, like the first edition of The Fellowship of the Ring, is presented as if it is an actual translation from the Red Book of Westmarch, and contains some background information on the world of Middle-earth which is not found elsewhere: e.g. the name of the tower at Dol Amroth and the names of the Seven Rivers of Gondor. There is also some fictional 'background' information of those poems, linking them to the Hobbit folklore and literature as well as their actual writers (some of them were written by Samwise Gamgee).

The book is also notable because it uses the letter "K" instead of "C" for the /k/ sound in Sindarin, a spelling variant Tolkien alternated many times in his writings.

Characters edit see section history

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Quotes edit see section history

  • “Of crystal was his habergeon, his scabbard of chalcedony; with silver tipped at plenilune his spear was hewn of ebony.”
  • “There is an inn, a merry old inn beneath an old grey hill, And there they brew a beer so brown That the Man in the Moon himself came down one night to drink his fill.”

First Sentence edit see section history

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.

Table of Contents edit see section history

1- The Adventures of Tom Bombadil
2- Bombadil Goes Boating
3- Errantry
4- Princess Mee
5- The Man in the Moon Stayed Up Too Late <Poem featured in Lord of the Rings>
6- The Man in the Moon Came Down Too Soon
7- The Stone Troll <Poem featured in Lord of the Rings>
8- Perry-the-Winkle
9- The Mewlips
10- Oliphaunt <Poem featured in Lord of the Rings>
11- Fastitocalon
12- Cat
13- Shadow-bride
14- The Hoard
15- The Sea-Bell
16- The Last Ship

Series & Lists edit see section history

This is book 18 of 27 in Middle-Earth. (universe)

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

  1. J. R. R. Tolkien (Author)

Other Contributors:

  1. Pauline Baynes (Illustrator)

First Edition edit see section history

Original Language: English
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
Country: England
Publication Date: 1962
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 75

Classification edit see section history

  • Library of Congress: PR6039.O32 A6 1962.
  • Dewey: 828.912

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