Perhaps the genius loci of that particular region.
As I recall it, his power is limited to his little domain, and his tendency to sing, and especially his exertion of power through singing ("his songs are stronger songs", if I recall correctly) might reflect the hand of the Music of the Ainur in the creation of Arda.
His immunity to the Ring's draw might be because power over others isn't the sort of thing that "nature" would be likely to be interested in at all, and his ability to see people made invisible by the ring might be a result of him existing, as nature presumably does, in both worlds.
It also seems to me to fit fairly well with his being married to the daughter of a river spirit (given her name and parentage, I imagine that Goldberry is a spirit related to or personifying some plant that grows near or in the water).
Genius Locus?
Bombadil is the local version of Demonreach. His charge is to imprison Melkor
Argh, you're right, it should be genius locus (genius loci being the plural), I believe. >_<;
Thank you for the correction!
edited 8th Apr '13 8:42:52 AM by ArsThaumaturgis
My Games and Asset PacksTom Bombadil is Melian, who never went to Valinor, had her power severely diminished, and uses her magic to change her gender.
Goldberry, on the other hand, is Ar-Pharazon the Golden
edited 8th Apr '13 9:32:42 AM by Carciofus
But they seem to know where they are going, the ones who walk away from Omelas.Genius Loci is the singular. There's a lovely hottip on that page explaining the various plurals, depending on whether there are plural spirits in one place, one spirit in plural places, or plural spirits in plural places:
Ah, thank you very much for the clarification, Madrugada!
Well, at least I was right the first time, it seems. :P
(And I love that last quip about Latin in the quote! XD)
My Games and Asset PacksEither some random stoner or Voldemort's past self.
"Oh great! Let's pile up all the useless cats and hope a tree falls on them!"- Her husband bet her daughter with a mortal over a rock.
- Her daughter stole said rock from a dark lord, eloped with said mortal, became mortal herself, and died.
- Her husband got murdered by dwarves over a necklace containing said rock.
- Her grandson and her grandaughter-in-law got murdered by the sons of the creator of that rock, again because of it.
- Of her three great-grandsons, two disappeared (almost certainly brutally murdered, again because of that !$%& rock), and the remaining one eloped with a mortal, went to the West with that rock, and became a bird.
- Her great-grandson-in-law finally convinced the Vala to take care of that "dark lord ruling Middle Earth with an iron fist" issue. They came, had a rousing victory, and returned to the west together with the sons of Feanor and many other elves. The rock was put in a boat that her great-grandson-in-law flew against a dragon.
What I mean is that Melian might have felt inclined to have a fresh start, and not at all inclined to return to the West together with the Vala and with her family's murderers. Shapeshifting is not a problem for a Maia; so she took a different form, moved from Doriath to Eriador, and started protecting a small patch of it like she used to protect her kingdom. (S)he still has power, but not as much as she used to have, and now (s)he mostly relies on song-based magic (like her daughter used to do).
edited 8th Apr '13 8:16:09 PM by Carciofus
But they seem to know where they are going, the ones who walk away from Omelas.Tom is Manwë and Melkor's irresponsible, unemployable, weed-smoking kid brother. He spent the music of the Ainur playing air guitar, and has been meaning to start composing a rock opera since before the Two Trees (spoiler: he won't). Goldberry is actually a 19-year-old runaway from Bree—early in the Fourth Age she went back home, had a family, and encouraged her kids to call her by her first name.
Well, sort of. It is really crackpotty; but I like very much the character of Melian, and it feels strange to me that she just abandoned Middle Earth for Valinor — the very reason why she met Thingol was that she loved the forests of Middle-Earth, after all, and she spent most of the First Age protecting the Doriath against Melkor.
Plus, the Old Forest is one of the oldest forests left in Middle Earth, so perhaps she might be especially interested in protecting it; and she was easily powerful enough to resist the Ring (judging by the Silmarillion, I would say that she was at least Sauron's equal, and quite possibly more powerful than him — her daughter had no particular difficulty defeating him, after all), and being a Maiar she could reasonably be said to be "oldest and fatherless".
But Goldberry being Ar-Pharazon is unrealistic, I have to admit. Perhaps Goldberry is Thingol, who respawned in Valinor, stowed away on the Istari's ship, and joined Melian in her masquerade?
edited 10th Apr '13 4:07:35 AM by Carciofus
But they seem to know where they are going, the ones who walk away from Omelas.I don't remember for sure; but wasn't Thingol one of the first elves to awake in Cuiviénen and to dwell by the rivers of that region? So in a sense, he was a "river-son" of sorts...
EDIT: For a less silly theory, I think that Bombadil = Aule, Goldberry = Yavanna works very well.
edited 10th Apr '13 4:47:19 AM by Carciofus
But they seem to know where they are going, the ones who walk away from Omelas.

So, it's almost certain that it's impossible to know who Tom Bombadil definitely is. But who does everyone think he is? I personally think he's a nature spirit.
The road goes ever on. -Tolkien