Tom Bombadil is a totally random Lord of the Rings character and if you've seen the movies but not read the books, you've likely never heard the name. There's a reason for that.
After the hobbits leave the Shire, they pass through the 'Old Forest' to avoid the main roads. Merry knows it's a strange place with rumors of unfriendly trees. Walking through they feel crowded by the increasing closeness of the wood. It strains them, exhausts them. Their path moves, directing them the wrong way and they get lost. On reaching an old willow tree the forest becomes so oppressive the hobbits feel an overwhelming urge to sleep. Merry and Pippin doze off leaning against the willow, which then traps them with its roots. Frodo and Sam futilely try to pry them free before desperately calling for help. Frodo is quite surprised to get a response.
Hey dol! merry dol! ring a dong dillo!
Ring a dong! hop along! fal lal the willow!
Tom Bom, jolly Tom, Tom Bombadillo!
Then more... (bear with me)
Hey! Come merry dol! derry dol! My darling!
Light goes the weather-wind and the feathered starling.
Down along under Hill, shining in the starlight,
Waiting on the doorstep for the cold starlight,
There my pretty lady is, River-woman's daughter,
Slender as the willow-want, clearer than the water.
Old Tom Bombadil water-lilies bringing
Comes hopping home again. Can you hear him singing?
Hey! Come merry dol! derry dol! and merry-o,
Goldberry, Goldberry, merry yellow berry-o!
Poor old Willow-man, you tuck your roots away!
Tom's in a hurry now. Evening will follow day.
Tom's going home again water-lillies bringing.
Hey! Come derry-dol! Can you hear me singing?
A man comes literally dancing and singing through the forest, carrying flowers. The song actually tells you much about him, if you can decipher it. Much closer to the size of the 'Big People,' he's wearing a big hat and yellow boots and sports a long beard. I picture a big living garden gnome and so do most illustrations of the character.
Introducing himself as Tom Bombadil he runs up to the tree, sings to it in a low voice then smacks it with a stick.
You let them out again, Old Man Willow! What be you a-thinking of? You should not be waking. Eat earth! Dig deep! Drink water! Go to sleep! Bombadil is talking!
The tree cracks open and the two hobbits are freed. Immediately Tom springs off toward his home, inviting the hobbits. They follow but he's much too quick and his songs fade away. Now, however, their path is clear and the way friendly. They find his house a sanctuary.
Staying a while (a chapter), they get some rest and learn about the man. Married to a beautiful river-spirit, he's seemingly immortal, older than everyone and everything they meet later. He has great power over the ancient wood where he dwells but it's limited to there. He has seen and knows much of the outside world though rarely leaves. He never stops prancing or singing. Frodo is so enamored with Tom that he freely offers him the ring, something he never does again. Tom takes it briefly and tries it on, remaining visible, then gives it back. Unlike everyone else in the world, it has no power over him. Gandalf later states he wouldn't be any help on their mission because while the ring's power wouldn't consume him, he's likely to misplace a thing he deems so inconsequential. The hobbits eventually carry on out of the forest. Of course they immediately get into trouble again and Tom rescues them one more time. Then they never see him again.
The whole episode is a bit like a fever-dream. It's weird, filled with goofy songs and doesn't seem quite real, which is saying something taking place in a fantasy novel. Tom is powerful yet completely whimsical, his language filled with gibberish. He helps the hobbits on their way, but otherwise his appearance doesn't make a lot of sense. We just learned the power and danger of the ring yet this guy is unfazed. Tolkien himself never explained Tom's purpose in Middle-Earth, wanting it to remain a mystery.
I'm pretty sure he didn't actually have a purpose, if the Inspiration section of the LotR wiki page is accurate. Seems like Tolkien created a character based on his son's toy and included a little section for him at the beginning of the epic story.
So that's Tom Bombadil, and he doesn't appear in the terrific movies made by Peter Jackson. Cutting those chapters didn't impact the story, so I can see why it was done even though I always wanted to see Tom on film. He's not completely ignored however. In the extended edition of The Two Towers, Treebeard gets his lines.
We get Merry and Pippin drinking the ent-draughts, which makes them bigger and stronger in the books. Indeed, they've become the tallest hobbits in the Shire when they return home. And we get Old Man Willow, which makes perfect sense in the context of Fangorn with its own wild and angry trees. The extended editions tell a much improved story that's also far more true to the source material.
Anyway, there wasn't any real life connection for this post. I just wanted to write about Tom Bombadil, a character and part of LotR most people don't know anything about. Though... maybe subconsciously I'm jealous and also want to go live in the woods, not worrying about the troubles of the world.
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