Tom Bombadil's Songs

Tom Bombadil's Songs are, in the index of The Lord of the Rings, all listed as one continous song. The first part is what Frodo Baggins and Sam Gamgee hear while Meriadoc Brandybuck and Peregrin Took are stuck in Old Man Willow in the Old Forest.


 * Hey dol! merry dol! ring a dong dillo!
 * Ring a dong! hop along! Fal lal the willow!
 * Tom Bom, jolly Tom, Tom Bombadillo!

-- The hobbits then hear a string of apparently nonsense-words followed by:
 * Hey! Come merry dol! derry dol! My darling!
 * Light goes the weather-wind and the feathered starling.
 * Down along under Hill, shining in the sunlight,
 * Waiting on the doorstep for the cold starlight,
 * There my pretty lady is, River-woman's daughter,
 * Slender as the willow-wand, 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-lilies bringing.
 * Hey! Come derry dol! Can you hear me singing?

--After Tom has freed [[Meriadoc Brandybuck|Merry and Pippin, he goes on ahead to his house, outdistancing the hobbits. He sings this back to them:
 * Hop along, my little friends, up the Withywindle!
 * Tom's going on ahead candles for to kindle.
 * Down west sinks the Sun: soon you will be groping.
 * When the night-shadows fall, then the door will open,
 * Out of the window-panes light will twinkle yellow.
 * Fear no alder black! Heed no hoary willow!
 * Fear neighter root nor bough! Tom goes on before you.
 * Hey now! merry dol! We'll be waiting for you!

--Once the hobbits can see the house, they hear:
 * Hey! Come derry dol! Hop along, my hearties!
 * Hobbits! Ponies all! We are fond of parties.
 * Now let the fun begin! Let us sing together!

--At this point, Goldberry joins in with:
 * Now let the song begin! Let us sing together!
 * Of sun, stars, moon and mist, rain and cloudy weather,
 * Light on the budding leaf, dew on the feather,
 * Wind on the open hill, bells on the heather,
 * Reeds by the shady pool, lilies on the water:
 * Old Tom Bombadil and the River-daughter!

--While Tom is taken care of the ponies, he sings:
 * Old Tom Bombadil is a merry fellow;
 * Bright blue his jacket is, and his boots are yellow.

--After supper, Tom explains why he was down by Old Man Willow:
 * I had an errand there: gathering water-lilies,
 * green leaves and lilies white to please my pretty lady,
 * the last ere the year's end to keep them from the winter,
 * to flower by her pretty feet till the snows are melted.
 * Each year at summer's end I go to find them for her,
 * in a wide pool, deep and clear, far down the Withywindle;
 * there they open first in spring and there they linger latest.
 * By that pool long ago I found the River-daughter,
 * fair young Goldberry sitting in the rushes.
 * Sweet was her singing then, and her heart was beating!
 * And that proved well for you-- for now I shall no longer
 * go down deep again along the forest-water,
 * not while the year is old. Nor shall I be passing
 * Old Man Willow's house this side of spring-time,
 * not till the merry spring, when the River-daughter
 * dances down the withy-path to bathe in the water.

--Tom teaches the hobbits what to sing if they get into trouble:
 * Ho! Tom Bombadil, Tom Bombadillo!
 * By water, wood and hill, by the reed and willow,
 * By fire, sun and moon, harken now and hear us!
 * Come, Tom Bombadil, for our need is near us!

--After Frodo calls out the lines above, he hears Tom Bombadil singing the following:
 * Old Tom Bombadil is a merry fellow,
 * Bright blue his jacket is, and his boots are yellow.
 * None has ever caught him yet, for Tom, he is the master:
 * His songs are stronger songs, and his feet are faster.

--Tom sings a sort of exorcism to banish the Barrow-wight:
 * Get out, you old wight! Vanish in the sunlight!
 * Shrivel like the cold mist, like the winds go wailing,
 * Out into the barren lands far beyond the mountains!
 * Come never here again! Leave your barrow empty!
 * Lost and forgotten be, darker than the darkness,
 * Where gates stand for ever shut, till the world is mended.

--In order to revive Merry, Pippin, and Sam after getting them out of the barrow, Tom chants:
 * Wake now my merry lads! Wake and hear me calling!
 * Warm now be heart and limb! The cold stone is fallen;
 * Dark door is standing wide; dead hand is broken.
 * Night under Night is flown, and the Gate is open!

--Tom Bombadil then goes looking for the hobbits' ponies, calling:
 * Hey! now! Come hoy now! Wither do you wander?
 * Up, down, near or far, here, there or yonder?
 * Sharp-ears, Wise-nose, Swish-tail and Bumpkin,
 * White-socks my little lad, and old Fatty Lumpkin!

--Once Tom has led the hobbits to the Road, he declines to accompany them further, saying:
 * Tom's country ends here: he will not pass the borders.
 * Tom has his house to mind, and Goldberry is waiting!