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A Critical Review of “Bombadil Goes Boating” from Tales from the Perilous Realm

Tom Bombadil’s Final Journey: Poetry, Mystery, and the Limits of Tolkien’s Middle-earth

Rowing Through Myth and Mirth

A Critical Review of “Bombadil Goes Boating” from Tales from the Perilous Realm

“Bombadil Goes Boating,” the final poem in The Adventures of Tom Bombadil (and thus the closing note of Tales from the Perilous Realm), offers a whimsical, musical farewell to one of Tolkien’s most enigmatic characters. Originally published in The Tolkien Reader in 1966, the poem is at once light-hearted and rich in linguistic texture, a continuation of Tom’s lyrical life, and a subtle expansion of the poetic mythology that Tolkien carefully cultivated around the margins of Middle-earth.

A Poetic Pilgrimage Downstream

At face value, “Bombadil Goes Boating” is exactly what it says: Tom Bombadil goes on a rowing trip down the river Withywindle. However, as with all things Tolkien, what appears simple on the surface conceals layers of meaning and tone. The journey begins with cheer: “Tom Bombadil turned to the West,” and from the first line, we are invited into a world where movement through nature becomes a metaphorical—and perhaps metaphysical—voyage.

Along the way, Bombadil encounters familiar figures such as Old Man Willow and Goldberry, as well as new creatures like the King’s fisher and a talkative otter. These meetings echo the episodic structure of fairy tale quests, yet instead of battles or trials, the encounters are characterized by greetings, songs, and exchanges that reinforce Tom’s cheerful dominance over the landscape.

Language as Buoyancy

The poem floats on Tolkien’s signature poetic style: a buoyant rhythm, intricate internal rhymes, and playful alliteration. The meter gallops forward with childlike joy:

He brushed from his beard the yellow leaves,
He combed the cuffs of his jacket sleeves.

This consistent sing-song structure creates a rhythmic river of its own, mimicking the poem’s theme of movement down a flowing stream. The sounds themselves are part of the enchantment—words chosen not just for meaning, but for musicality. The reader is not simply following Tom’s journey; we’re dancing with it, rowing to its internal beat.

Tom Bombadil as a Liminal Being

In “Bombadil Goes Boating,” Tom is more than just a quirky wanderer. He is a mythic figure of liminality—existing on the borders of worlds, between wild nature and hobbit civilization. He is comfortable among river spirits, woodland trees, and even in the domestic company of Farmer Maggot and his dogs. This reinforces his unique role within Tolkien’s legendarium: Bombadil belongs everywhere and nowhere.

His final destination in the poem is telling. He visits the Brandywine River and then the Shire, entering Hobbiton and even speaking to Sam Gamgee’s cousin. It is a rare moment where the fantastical Tom brushes up against the more grounded world of the hobbits. In this crossover, Tolkien gently weaves the ethereal with the familiar, implying that wonder and myth live just around the corner of the ordinary.

Themes of Time, Nature, and Contentment

Where “The Sea-Bell” mourns alienation, “Bombadil Goes Boating” celebrates presence. Tom is untroubled by fate, death, or dominion. He is the anti-Ringbearer: unaffected by power, uninterested in conquest, and deeply rooted in the moment. The poem conveys this ethos subtly, showing a being at peace with the world as it is.

In a legendarium filled with tragic heroes and long defeats, Tom’s carefree boating becomes a profound act of resistance—against fear, sorrow, and the weight of history. He embodies Tolkien’s ideal of Escape and Recovery from On Fairy-Stories: a return to clarity and joy through engagement with the natural and the mythical.

A Soft Epilogue to the Perilous Realm

Ending Tales from the Perilous Realm with this poem is a masterstroke. It offers not a dramatic climax, but a gentle ripple—an invitation to drift away from the mythic deep waters and into the everyday stream of life, humming a tune along the way. “Bombadil Goes Boating” leaves readers with a sense of lightness, reminding us that the perilous realm is not always perilous; it is also playful, poetic, and profoundly life-affirming.