Tom Bombadil is a Titan
The Mythological Russel’s Paradox: The biggest circle still has its border.
If you’re a big enough Tolkien fan to read the books, you’ve wondered what Tom Bombadil IS. Tolkien goes out of his way to say that he’s too short for a man, too tall for a hobbit, and too granola loving to be a dwarf. More importantly, to those of us who read our Silmarillion instead of just putting it out in our office at Thiel Capital trying to impress the boss, Bombadil is too old to be any of those things. He’s older than the Angels (Maiar), and clearly not one of them. He doesn’t seem to have needed God’s permission to enter Middle Earth! Old Tom Bombadil doesn’t belong to any named category, “That would indeed be a burden!” How can he exist if he hasn’t been specifically created?
Tolkien wrote “the Sillmarillion” as a historical background for his novels. The book makes the rest of the series much more interesting. For example, the Elves to the west of the Shire, the High Elves, are manufacturing Space Ships, to fly back to Valinor (land of the Gods) after an ill-fated attempt at colonization. This is why they are so unhelpful and uninterested in Hobbits. In contrast, the Forest Elves who live in Mirkwood, barely even know how to work metal, and love to pick berries and get drunk. The Silmarillion clarifies that Galadirel can’t go home until she…
