The Adventures of Tom Bombadil



The Adventures of Tom Bombadil is a collection of poetry by J.R.R. Tolkien, published in 1962. The book contains 16 poems, only two of which deal with Tom Bombadil, a character who is most famous for his encounter with Frodo Baggins in The Fellowship of the Ring, the first volume in Tolkien's best-selling The Lord of the Rings. The rest of the poems are an assortment of bestiary verse and fairy tale rhyme.

The book was illustrated originally by Pauline Baynes and later by Roger Garland.

The book, like the first edition of The Fellowship of the Ring, is presented as if it is an actual translation from the Red Book of Westmarch, and contains some background information on the world of Middle-earth which is not found elsewhere. Examples are the name of the tower at Dol Amroth and the names of the Seven Rivers of Gondor. There is some dispute about its canonical status since the information presented about the secondary world is considered only as folklore among the Hobbits.

It is also notable because it uses the letter "K" instead of "C" for the /k/ sound in Sindarin, a spelling variant Tolkien alternated many times in his writings.

Tom Bombadil can best be seen as a small, poetic venture into Tolkien's imagination.