The Adventures of Tom Bombadil

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This article is about the poetry collection titled The Adventures of Tom Bombadil. For the poem by the same name, see The Adventures of Tom Bombadil (poem).
The Adventures of Tom Bombadil
File:The Adventures of Tom Bombadil cover.jpg
AuthorJ.R.R. Tolkien
PublisherGeorge Allen and Unwin (UK)
Houghton Mifflin (US)
Released22 November 1962 (UK)
1963
FormatUnknown
Pages63
ISBNUnknown

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 originally illustrated 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.

Contents

  1. The Adventures of Tom Bombadil
  2. Bombadil Goes Boating
  3. Errantry
  4. Little Princess Mee
  5. The Man in the Moon Stayed Up Too Late
  6. The Man in the Moon Came Down Too Soon
  7. The Stone Troll
  8. Perry-the-Winkle
  9. The Mewlips
  10. Oliphaunt
  11. Fastitocalon
  12. Cat
  13. Shadow-Bride
  14. The Hoard
  15. The Sea-Bell
  16. The Last Ship
Tales from the Perilous Realm
Farmer Giles of Ham · The Adventures of Tom Bombadil · Leaf by Niggle · Smith of Wootton Major
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