Just a little stumbling on the WWW today yielded a rather fascinating, in-depth analysis by Gene Hargrove of who Tolkein's Tom Bombadil really is.
Why would I end up reading such a long, in-depth analysis? Well, it's primarily because I always found Bombadil's presence annoying in the LoTR. He always seemed out of place -- and I could never get over the fact that he had tremendous power over the Ring: immunity to its effects; seeing Frodo while wearing the Ring; and even making it vanish.
Hargrove's argument is that Bombadil and wife Goldberry are in fact two of the Valar: Aule and Yavanna.
And boy, does it make sense. At least, it makes sense to total Tolkein nerds like myself who have read the Silmarillion more than once. He does a great job of pulling together writings of Tolkein's letters, the Silmarillion, and others, fitting things into place.
And it now gives me a nice, consistent view which explains Bombadil's power over the Ring.
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