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I love tom bombadil but he really wasn’t necessary and cutting him for pacing was not a bad decision.
I will begrudgingly agree that Tom isn’t needed to tell the story of the fellowship.
However, it’s a much smaller and blander world without Tom. The fact that he’s never really explained in the trilogy, and that he shows up relatively early, really drives the point to the reader that this world is OLD, and that the story we’re currently following is just one of the many, many stories that this world has seen and will see in the future.
It puts things into perspective: yes, the task of the fellowship is critical, and it’s outcome will probably dictate what the New Age will be like. But it’s just one story - the world saw many before them, arguably even grander, and will probably see more stories and new ages, even if they fail.
This is what really made me fall in love with the Lord of the Rings. It escapes that Hollywood feeling that the now is the only thing that matters, and that it has to be the biggest baddest most spectacular thing ever.
It really doesn’t, and that doesn’t take a thing from the story being told. Tom’s aloofness puts this into perspective for me, and his absence makes the universe of the movie much more linear and boring.
My only issue with that is that the hobbits never get their cool weapons because of that part being skipped
Aragorn gives them the swords in Bree.
those are just some random swords, the ones they find after meeting Tom are ancient powerful weapons that can harm Nazgul
Ah yes, that’s true. I always thought we’re supposed to know they’re magic Arnor swords, but that’s never actually mentioned in the movie.
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I think for the average viewer they would had been confused with Tom being included, given that the ring had no effect on him.
I mean it’s not like they went out and filmed new stuff for the extended versions, it was just stuff they had cut from theatrical. It would make no sense to have filmed stuff they weren’t planning on putting in the movie in the first place.
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They also skipped the whole “the entwives went feral and are all rooted near the shire” bit too, though that’s fair since the hobbits never made the connection/told the ents about it.
Would have been a good sub plot point to emphasize that tragedy though.
I thought the entwives went out east before they disappeared, right?
I mean, sure, but how else can you explain the ominous forest near the shire that misleads at best, and outright attacks people at worse? Especially since the ents never find the wives while looking east, and described what happens when ents get depressed as losing rationality, the ability to walk, and increased aggression, etc etc.
Sorry to be contrarian, but fuck “went feral.” They just did their own thing. They had no obligation to live in Fangorn forest.
I say going feral, as that forest is clearly hostile to anyone that enters, but the trees are rooted and don’t visibly relocate, nor did they ever get described as being able to communicate (except, I guess, a clear GET THE FUCK OUTTA HERE)
Oh right – I don’t think Tolkien gives any indication that the Old Forest near Buckland has anything to do with the entwives? It’s insanely old, contemporary to Bombadil even, and the only named tree is characterized as male. I like the idea though.
Yeah, it never got revisited/explicitly mentioned, but between the description of the forest, and the way the ents describe what happens when they are alone for too long, its hard not to think the forest is full of entwives.
The only named tree being male could be that a single male went with/found/was born among the entwives and also ‘went feral’, or it could be a mistranslation (in world or IRL) or the gender used got changed over time as people forgot it was a female tree (as it has been far too long since I read any Tolkien books to remember who voiced the trees name - if it was Bombadil this point is obviously moot)
It is indeed Tom Bombadil. You won’t be surprised to hear he has an entire song for Old Man Willow.
It’s fine, we’ll shoehorn him randomly into some origin story about gandalf later for some reason.
Hey Tree-beard-a-dil, Tree-beard-a-dillo!
By water, wood and hill, by the reed and willow
