I like that quote very much. It suggests what I concluded after much rumination about Tom and his possible origins--that he is enamored of experiencing the world around him, not of power, and that his own power ironically arises from this circumstance.
I agree there were sufficient reasons to leave him out of the films. I disliked him in the books for a long time until I really thought about him in light of the entire world in which he exists, and I don't believe that is a thing casual filmgoers are bound to do. Now I'm quite fond of him.
Rambling ahoy! My first conception of his origins was that he was one of the Maiar who refused to retreat to Aman when Melkor spilled the lamps--that he remained in the land he'd made his home, loving it more than he feared the dark powers, and pretty much became an inextricable part of it. There were numerous things that informed my ideas, including his being referred to as "eldest;" my hypothesizing would allow him to exist in Middle Earth already when all the Ents and Elves etc came long.
That was my first idea, and one I would like to consider Tolkien might approve of. I think it's my best and soundest idea. That said, I have some really warped satirical ideas about Tom's origins which really don't portray the Valar in a good light...which will need exorcising eventually..
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Date: 2011-11-14 01:54 am (UTC)I agree there were sufficient reasons to leave him out of the films. I disliked him in the books for a long time until I really thought about him in light of the entire world in which he exists, and I don't believe that is a thing casual filmgoers are bound to do. Now I'm quite fond of him.
Rambling ahoy!
My first conception of his origins was that he was one of the Maiar who refused to retreat to Aman when Melkor spilled the lamps--that he remained in the land he'd made his home, loving it more than he feared the dark powers, and pretty much became an inextricable part of it. There were numerous things that informed my ideas, including his being referred to as "eldest;" my hypothesizing would allow him to exist in Middle Earth already when all the Ents and Elves etc came long.
That was my first idea, and one I would like to consider Tolkien might approve of. I think it's my best and soundest idea. That said, I have some really warped satirical ideas about Tom's origins which really don't portray the Valar in a good light...which will need exorcising eventually..