.@krisswank: Tom Bombadil has much in common with Fintan Mac Bóchra of the Irish tradition. In an early prose fragment Tom B is “one of the oldest inhabitants of the kingdom” after the Britain had suffered many invasions. #s749 #IMC2018 @IMC_Leeds
.@krisswank: original answer of Tom B when Bingo (later Frodo) asks him who he is was “I am an aborigine”. #s749 #IMC2018 @IMC_Leeds
.@krisswank: Tolkien made a note about Fintan in his drafts of The Lost Road. Many parallels between Tom B and the legend of Fintan, esp. being the oldest man in the world. #s749 #imc2018 @IMC_Leeds
.@krisswank: Both Fintan and Tom B have experienced deluge: Tom remember the world “before the seas were bent”. Both have otherworldly associations. #s749 #IMC2018 @IMC_Leeds
.@krisswank: Fintan is called upon to give evidence about the history of the land - he tells the story of a yew tree from seed to great tree. Tom remembers “the first acorn” and the history of the trees in the Old Forest. #s749 #IMC2018 @IMC_Leeds
.@krisswank: Tom as a guide and teacher for the hobbits, the guardian of historical knowledge - just like Fintan #s749 #IMC2018 @IMC_Leeds
