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@pupfish1966 12 сағат бұрын
I think Goldberry is a Maia under Yavanna.
@oliveragag8576 12 сағат бұрын
Obviously Goldberry is Ubgoliant and Tom Bombadill is Morgoth.
@otaku-sempai2197 Күн бұрын
Peter Jackson's film timeline is a bit confusing. Aragorn tells Eowyn that he is 87 years old (in the book, he would have been 88). But is this before or after his birthday of 1 March? When the hobbits first encountered Aragorn in Bree, was he 86 or 87? I know the book answer (87) but what about the films?
@susannechinn647 Күн бұрын
Recently, when read Lord of the Rings, I thought about Goldberry, and in my mind she is a daughter of the Goddess of the Rivers .
@Lauren.E.O Күн бұрын
I guess Dior and Celegorm had to figure out which of them was the fairest of them all (Sorry 😅)
@GirlNextGondor Күн бұрын
It had to be settled in a... fair fight. (May Mandos have mercy on our souls)
@2shadesofgray752 Күн бұрын
I also think the idea of unhoused spirits finding a bodies is in alignment with the real world idea of the vampire which is a unrestful dead Spirit which possesses its own body for the purpose of remaining in the physical world and feeding
@Ingolenuru Күн бұрын
The reason Tom is so much more explored than Goldberry because Tom put on the one ring and it had no effect on him at all. He would have to be at the level of Vala as a minimum. Sauron is a powerful Maia and made the ring with all of his power. Tom is the enigma.
@Lauren.E.O 2 күн бұрын
I like to think an orc could be, perhaps not a paragon of shining goodness and mercy, but at least comfortably neutral if given a chance. One raised away from their corrupted people may very well be good, provided elves/men/etc allow them a fair shot at living a good life.
@ricomariani 2 күн бұрын
Thanks!
@ricomariani 2 күн бұрын
I can't help but think that Tulkas came into Arda at least partly because Nessa was there. Having not found his companion elsewhere he knew she was in Arda. This would have been powerful motivation for Tulkas to fight.
@lizkirwan3783 3 күн бұрын
She was absolutely a lovely character to me.
@Eloraurora 3 күн бұрын
Snrk at "psychoactive plant matter"
@Lauren.E.O 3 күн бұрын
Great video! It’s really fascinating to consider how their personalities changed and kind of dulled as they strayed towards evil.
@kongspeaks4778 3 күн бұрын
A special fruit with which Tom had relations
@bundayeti 3 күн бұрын
"Frodo's got that Took in him" is Middle Earth's equivalent of "he's got that dawg in him"
@flamingosedai1820 3 күн бұрын
I've gone back and forth in my opinion of the Valor...honestly, I wouldn't be able to do any better on my first go. It's easy to judge in hindsight.
@ricomariani 4 күн бұрын
Thanks!
@ricomariani 4 күн бұрын
Dear Miss Next Gondor. This one was especially good.
@GirlNextGondor 3 күн бұрын
RICO!! 🥹Thank you!
@thetweedcladenglishman 4 күн бұрын
“Who is Goldberry?” She is.
@williammullikin2076 4 күн бұрын
very interesting always wondered about Goldberry, my favorite Tom Bombadil theory is that he arose spontaneously from the spilled or overflow music of the songs of creation which why he sings so much and is so very old. The nameless things are also leftovers from the music
@notacatgirl93 4 күн бұрын
Damn, these ladies are insightful. Respect.
@theflammiferofwesternesse6122 4 күн бұрын
Instead of calling them the "Faenorians", just call them the Noldor. They were and are doomed. All of the sons and daughters.
@janach1305 4 күн бұрын
Weird things can happen when people don’t understand another culture’s naming conventions. In the 1960s, an Englishman named Donald Charles Alfred Crowhurst took part in an around the world yacht race. One of the rules was that anyone who stopped on land along the way was disqualified. Crowhurst was not the world’s best sailor, and he ended up having to stop in a small town off the coast of Argentina. The town officials needed to record his arrival, and he gave them all four of his names. They knew only Spanish naming conventions, not English. They assumed “Donald” was the English version of the Spanish title “Don,” his given name was Charles, his father’s family name was Alfred, and his mother’s family name was Crowhurst. It was Charles Alfred who was officially listed as having come ashore in an obscure Argentinian harbor, thereby keeping secret the fact that he broke the rules. It turned out not to matter, because he didn’t survive the race.
@jimpemberton 5 күн бұрын
I've long thought that Goldberry was a maia of Ulmo. In fact, it's possible that she's the protector of Tom's forest in a way much like the Girdle of Melian. Tom's strength is in his utter lack of desire to use any power that might be available to him. He's the ultimate pacifist. One might speculate that he would fall to Sauron, but I doubt it would have ever come to that because of what I believe Tom's role was in Middle Earth. I don't think it was by coincidence that he lived in close proximity to the Hobbits. In fact, I think it was his peaceful influence on the Hobbits that gave them their love of peace and lack of desire for power. It was this characteristic that made it possible for Frodo to make it all the way to Mount Doom through many perils with the intent of destroying the ring. In some ways, I think he thought that through, but in some ways I think it was simply his nature. As such, the most likely ontology for him is that he is an ainur, but not a valar. I think he was sent at the creation of Middle Earth to be that force of stubborn peace that cannot in any way be corrupted. He had no desire to rule or dominate, though he was the master of all he came in contact with. He was there in the first age, he was there when Melkor was defeated, he was there when the rings were crafted, he was there when Numinor fell, and yet only as an uninterested bystander. His quiet peacefulness influenced the world to recover from the damage inflicted on it from all of the corrupting forces, and he did so simply by being there, though maybe not local to the events he was present in Middle Earth.
@emma7933 5 күн бұрын
Honestly the more "horrifying" elements of Tolkien's works are why I find them comforting. I've encountered stories where hope/belief in goodness gets presented as being able to overcome literally anything to the extent that nothing bad is really permanent, but that's a fundementally unsustainable belief system. I think it's impossible to write about hope in a compelling way while avoiding the reasons we need hope in the first place. Sometimes wounds can't be healed, sometimes everything awful will happen and you can't avoid it, sometimes things go wrong in a way no one will ever be able to fix. Hope is about carrying on anyway.
@alexv3357 5 күн бұрын
My favourite explanation for Tom comes from the fanfiction The Green Ring by EvadneGrande. The story is about a girl from modern Earth who happens across one of old Andrew Ketterly's world-hopping rings from The Magician's Nephew and is sent to Middle Earth at the end of the Third Age. Tom is a boy who was sent to Middle Earth way back at the very dawn of creation, before even elves, and has been wandering ever since. The fact that he is from outside of Arda is why he is not subject to Arda's laws, and hence is ageless and able to handle the One Ring without issue.
@KC-rt4hp 5 күн бұрын
Tom Bombadil is an enigma, but I believe that since Gandalf said Tom would be the last to fall in Middle Earth against Sauron, that he is the embodiment of the secret fire: the soul of earth itself. Goldberry seems to appear as an elf maiden, but more likely she is a maiar: associated with Ulmo.
@radrose4864 5 күн бұрын
Yeah I found Goldberry to be just as intriguing as Tom.
@ricomariani 5 күн бұрын
Thanks!
@Eloraurora 6 күн бұрын
I know there's not much information about the blue wizards, but now I'm kind of picturing an off-screen tragedy. Because if the Istari were meant to encourage resistance to Sauron, and the blue ones went to the east, but the Easterlings still fought _for_ Sauron - that's a profound failure.
@Makkaru112 6 күн бұрын
What about her connection to being the lost Maia of Ulmo? Winglid? Mermaids have their own origins in real world mythology. So if 'Wingildi' means 'foam-maidens' there is a very obvious cognate with the origins of Aphrodite/ Venus aka the Morning Star. Nice shiny Venus up in the firmament, a merry yellow berry-o indeed.
@Makkaru112 5 күн бұрын
I’d love to hear your reply. Thanks for the heart sticker
@douglashubbard7484 6 күн бұрын
Late to the party, but something occurred to me. Merry says to avoid the Withywindle Valley. However, wouldn't that river have been a can't miss navigation aid? Couldn't marching to the Withywindle and head upstream been the a valid course of action?
@izzycurer1260 6 күн бұрын
Tokein hated allegory, so anything he meant by his stories was unintentional unless he was unconsciously channeling some cosmic truth. That being said, if Galadriel is the Empress in a deck of tarot, then Goldberry is the Queen of Hearts. So, basically the same thing, just with some nuance.
@user-zq2vu4bs5x 6 күн бұрын
There's a theory that Ungoliant and the nameless things were sung into creation, maybe Tom is also one such being
@Lauren.E.O 7 күн бұрын
Just discovered your channel. SO good!
@celestialhylos7028 7 күн бұрын
Definitely not an insert character?!😂😂
@theo-dr2dz 7 күн бұрын
Tom Bombadil and Goldberry are also the representatives of a happy marriage. They are very different, yet devoted to each other. And in some strange way they also fit, they belong together. They are just happy together in their own little corner of the world and that's enough for them.
@Derry_A_Deryni 7 күн бұрын
Bride? or Lady... _what if Goldberry is the _*_daughter_*_ of Ulmo..._
@Eloraurora 7 күн бұрын
Your point about accepting the last chance not fixing everything reminds me of that really heartbreaking XKCD about cancer, where they frame remission not as recovery, but just staying on the path, as more and more of your fellows swerve off into death.
@expred 7 күн бұрын
Your video essays are always top notch. They reach a level of depth, interconnectivity and amount of insight which is honestly impressive. Your delivery is also crystal clear and sometimes frankly put hilarious, I do love the occasional dry humor here and there. (I'm still laughing over "hijinxes ensue" as your description of the entirity of events of LotR in one of the videos, think it was about Arwen&Aragorn)... I'm not a native English speaker but I can still tell your essays have great structure, they are very academic and scholarly, just overall well written. Still they're not dry, they have a sparkle of magic in them. Quite like Tolkien himself. I think the most impressive thing however is how with almost every single video you've managed to breathe life into any topic by presenting new perspectives - even topics I feel I "know everything about". I am proven wrong every time, and to "know everything about Tolkien" is pretty much like saying "i understand all of quantum physics". If I say I do, I don't. I'm sure Tolkien himself would be impressed by your work. What a shame he isn't around to hear these, to see how we people connect over his stories still so long after his passing. Lexi, may you have a summer blessed by the Valar themselves!
@GirlNextGondor 7 күн бұрын
The same to you, friend! I'm very grateful you took the time to write this out - it matters a lot to me that my videos keep a sense of humor no matter how scholarly they get, so I'm always particularly happy when I hear others value it too. And I definitely agree that knowing 'everything about Tolkien' is impossible; no matter how deep into the books I go, I'm always left feeling like I'm standing on the shore of an ocean, trying to see across it. Of course, that's part of the fun 😁 Thanks again 💖I'm glad you've enjoyed the channel and really appreciate the feedback!
@expred 6 күн бұрын
@@GirlNextGondor I'm happy to have made a positive impact with my comment. The scholarly professionalism with an occasional witty comment here and there makes a big difference in my opinion. I always thought learning should be entertaining, so I might be a bit biased here. Jokes and other forms of entertainment make even the heaviest of topics more digestible. And I don't seem to be the only one enjoying the humor (The comment section of your videos are a gold mine on their own and surprisingly civil for, well, an Internet comment section. Your squad definitely loves you). Every time I think I've finished hearing all the details about any Tolkien topic, I just seem to reach "new unattainable vistas" as the Fantasy OG himself would probably phrase it. And it's amazing. I still can't believe all of this stuff I've spent years researching as a hobby comes from the mind of basically a single person (of course he draws influence from others and myths, and there is the amazing work of Christopher Tolkien which deserve all the praise in the world, but in the end it is still pretty much a one man project). The mind can truly be a vast and a beautiful place. It's also trippy to imagine how Tolkien never could have foreseen how successful his works would become. Being an artist myself (though not literary, but audio/visuals), the thought of dedicating my life to pretty much a single project and not even knowing if people will care, truly speaks for how much this project meant to the man himself. I'd imagine any kind of fame was an afterthought. But I'm getting sidetracked here. Thanks for taking the time to reply and as always, looking forward to the next one! Though, especially with your quality of research, I definitely would choose quality over quantity here (as pretty much anywhere tbh). Doesn't matter how long it takes, so don't feel too pressured to come up with something, the squad will gladly wait for more :)
@ricomariani 8 күн бұрын
Thanks!
@ricomariani 8 күн бұрын
I thought you might find this amusing. I wrote this to a friend today: So I have been watching videos by this woman "GirlNextGondor" She does analyses of Tolkien. She got me thinking about the unreliable narrator aspect of Tolkien's work. e.g., LotR is the notes from the hobbits -- they're biased. She kind of opened a Pandora's box... See I had always viewed LotR etc. as myth with true canon but I realize now this is not necessarily true. Tolkien wasn't as deliberate about it as Stafford, but neither could make up their mind about the truth. Tolkien has notes with all kinds of variations. Christopher just picked some sensible combo. And then I remembered the Silmarillion is told to us by The Noldor. They are not unbiased! For instance, note that the Vanyar basically do nothing. That's like 1/3 of the high elves. Apparently, they show up and hang out around Valinor for aeons and mostly just look at the stars or something. The only time they are even mentioned is when one marries a Noldoli or when they leave en-masse to fight Morgoth in the War of Wrath. Really? If this was Glorantha, I'd be saying "Yeah I'm sure that's right." Then I started thinking about Melkor... Like here's a simple one: The Valar make the two lamps that light the world. Melkor destroys them. Option 1 Melkor, the most powerful and maybe smartest Vala with the keenest sight of the world, capriciously destroys lamps for no reason anyone can understand. Option 2: Melkor is saying, "You idiots! Don't you understand the men are coming and they have to SLEEP! You can't have it be day all the time!" The Valar won't listen to him because lamps are "my precious" so he finally tears them down. Now I think at some point he totally loses his shit. But when? I would never have read it at face value if it was Glorantha. I would say that the black and white bad guy that is Melkor is for sure Noldor propaganda. So now I find myself thinking "what really happened?" I have no reason to believe Tolkien wanted this kind of analysis, but, in some sense, he invites it because none of his work is from the voice of an omniscient narrator. He makes them be "what the hobbits saw" and hence vast swaths of land are undocumented for instance, there is no complete map, the map isn't even fully reliable. A lot of the world is like one word with no details. I'm inclined to take the entire body of Tolkien's writing and assume all of it was found in different places with different pedigree and we can't assume any of it is the truth anymore than we would if it was actual history. A better assumption is that it's all at least slightly wrong and any given copy totally omits important stuff that particular historian didn't happen to think was important. You could conclude that there are fewer women heroes in the available legends because most of the historians were men. Consider: Merry didn't even know who Dernhelm was and he was riding with her. Can we really assume she is therefore truly the sole female? And now I can't close the box anymore!
@ricomariani 8 күн бұрын
Did the Noldor earn redemption the only way they possibly could have? The same way as the Dead Men of Dunharrow? The Noldor are coming. They have been summoned. Kinslayers, you would call on them? ....
@GirlNextGondor 5 күн бұрын
Once you see the metafiction, you can't unsee it! And to some extent, Tolkien did make use of this feature, both as a 'cheat code' to reconcile plot holes, and as a way to add depth and detail to his worldbuilding. In late writings he even gives Fingolfin and Finarfin some never-before-mentioned bonus sisters, and explains them away with 'oh, they were always there, but historians didn't often mention or focus on them because they weren't directly involved in the kinds of military/political maneuvers that concerned the Mannish tribes.' It's not that 'canon doesn't matter,' but if Tolkien himself liked to test the suppositions of his own invented history, he can't have been *entirely* opposed to the practice....
@flamingosedai1820 8 күн бұрын
Your videos are amazing!
@GirlNextGondor 7 күн бұрын
Thank you so much! 🥰
@richardclark. 8 күн бұрын
I do not know where Tom came from but I know where he went. In the 4th age he became a rapper with the name Tom daBombadil.
@johntucker8016 8 күн бұрын
Excellently done
@upschutt4842 8 күн бұрын
Well, she is wearing green, so she is definitely the green witch in Narnia ;)
@celestialhylos7028 8 күн бұрын
Redemption and Salvation is between Lord Eru and them, it's our job to arrange the meeting.
@goldberry_riverdaughter 8 күн бұрын
Incredible analysis of these characters, and I loved all the art you picked.
@kevint1910 9 күн бұрын
Intended or not Tolkien made Tom "first" and eldest in middle earth having arrived prior to even Melcor apparently and when he was discussed at the council Gandalf said that should Tom take the ring for safe keeping that Tom would be over come eventually "last as he was first". There was only one entity that entered middle earth prior to Morgoth "the eternal flame" the force that instantiated the music the thing Morgoth most coveted prior to the creation of the music and the sole reason for his entry in to middle earth...just saying intended or not Tom IS the manifestation of the flame of creation there is only one "first" and if he is it then the flame is the only thing he can be.
@David.Bowman. 8 күн бұрын
‘Flame’ can be a poetic word for Love. Poor Morgoth, just looking for love in the void.
@xrdx9930 9 күн бұрын
Wait. Who’s the River Woman? Any lore out there?
@GirlNextGondor 7 күн бұрын
Very little - she does make a brief appearance in "The Adventures of Tom Bombadil," crying in the hollow after her daughter is, ah, 'ensnared' by TB. But, as Tolkien reminds us, this poem is a Bucklandish legend, which may tell us more about the traditions of hobbits, than about its subjects.
@zachgarrett152 9 күн бұрын
I always have wondered what would happen if Melian and Sauron went head to head
@jornspirit 9 күн бұрын
...a brilliant exploration and analysis of Goldberry as a character, and looking at the interplay between her and Tom, as well as looking into the similarities and differences with Galadriel is very enlightening, while you show all the respect to not nail her down unnecessarily, as well as Tom... beautifully done - love it! I'm sure that Tolkien put much care, intuition and attunement into the choices of names, pairing up, may it be Sauron and Saruman, Arwen and Eowyn, Boromir and Faramir, or... Galadriel and Goldberry - they share the 'G' as a door into the vibration of their name, between them, but also with Gandalf... co-incidence? - I don't think so. 🌈
@titanscerw 9 күн бұрын
There is no judeo in Catholicism, we are The Christians. take you judeo behind your hat :) I like you talking about the Lady Goldberry, Daughter of the River. +][+