Bombadil Goes Boating
Bombadil Goes Boating is a poem written by J.R.R. Tolkien and was published in The Adventures of Tom Bombadil.[1] It was closely related to The Lord of the Rings as Tom shows that he knows much of the recent events in the Shire thanks to Farmer Maggot. As part of the Shire-lore recorded in the Red Book, the poem was composed after the War of the Ring.[2] J.R.R. Tolkien wrote the poem preparing for the publication of The Adventures of Tom Bombadil and he aimed to connect the collection better with the legendarium of The Lord of the Rings.[3]
Synopsis
One autumn Tom Bombadil decides to go boating down the Withywindle and starts mending and preparing his cockle-boat. A Little Bird starts conversing and teasing him. Then Bombadil starts boating in order to go to the Brandywine and meet some hobbits he knows there. He meets and teases a King's Fisher, which leaves behind a blue feather, which Tom puts onto his hat (replacing his old swan feather). He also meets Whisker-lad (an otter) and the Old Swan.
At Grindwall Tom leaves his boat and some Bucklanders of Hays-end and Breredon tease him and shoot three arrows into his hat. At sunset Tom climbs the Mithe Steps and walks along the Causeway towards Rushey. Farmer Maggot, on his wagon, calls him a beggar asking his business, saying that he won't find any beer to buy and drink. Tom boards the cart and they are off to Bamfurlong laughing.
There Maggot's family greet and serve Tom, and his daughters dance the Springle-ring. After the party Tom and the Farmer exchange all kind of news:
old Tom and Muddy-feet, swapping all the tidings
from Barrow-downs to Tower Hills: of walkings and of ridings;
of wheat-ear and barley-corn, of sowing and of reaping;
queer tales from Bree, and talk at smithy, mill, and cheaping;
rumours in whispering trees, south-wind in the larches,
tall Watchers by the Ford, Shadows on the marches.
When dawn comes, Tom has left without a trace and his boat is untouched at the Grindwall. Three days later, the animals that appeared earlier, pull it back to Tom's creek, but have forgotten the oars. ==See also==is oars.
References
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Adventures of Tom Bombadil, "Bombadil Goes Boating"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Adventures of Tom Bombadil, "Preface"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien; Christina Scull & Wayne G. Hammond (eds), The Adventures of Tom Bombadil, "Introduction"
