In the House of Tom Bombadil

By C.R. Wiley and C.R. Wiley

What is Tom Bombadil doing in J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings ? His bright blue coat and yellow boots seem out of place with the grandeur of the rest of the narrative.

"Some of the best insights ever made about J.R.R. Tolkien's invented world or, frankly, about 20th-century literature.... Here is a book of intense wisdom and penetrating thought." Bradley J. Birzer, author of J.R.R. Tolkien's Sanctifying Myth: Understanding Middle-earth

In this book, C.R. Wiley shows that Tom is not an afterthought but Tolkien's way of making a profoundly important point. Tolkien once wrote, "[Tom Bombadil] represents something that I feel important, though I would not be prepared to analyze the feeling precisely. I would not, however, have left him in, if he did not have some kind of function."

Tom Bombadil and his wife Goldberry are a small glimpse of the perfect beauty, harmony, and happy ending that we all yearn for in our hearts. To understand Tom Bombadil is to understand more of Tolkien and his deeply Christian vision of the world.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1954887027
• ISBN13: 9781954887022
• Release Date: December 2021
• Publisher: Canon Press
• Length: 128 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.8" x 8.8"

Customer Reviews

A book Tolkien fans will love

CR Wiley does a great job examining the worldview behind the writing of the LOTR and specifically application that we can find in the chapters on Tom Bombadil. As a big Tolkien fan, I liked Tom before reading this, but have come to love and enjoy Tom’s character more after reading this book.