On Thu, 3 Jan 2002, Alberto Monteiro wrote:

> NB: Tolkien was *very* careful with words. He says that some things
> should be left _unexplained_ specially if an explanation exists, then
> he says that Tom Bombadil is one (intentionally). I can't see any other
> reasonable explanation than thinking that Tolkien knew *exactly* what
> was Tom Bombadil, but he chose not to write it anywhere.

But if Tolkien never wrote it down, and never told anyone, and is now
dead, then no definitive explanation exists, and we must resort to
conjecture.  (That is, unless you know the truth?)

Marvin Long
Austin, Texas


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