Preface to The Adventures of Tom Bombadil

A preface introduces the 1962 collection The Adventures of Tom Bombadil and Other Verses from the Red Book.

In it, J.R.R. Tolkien presents the poems as a translation from the Red Book of Westmarch, and gives some background information that is not found elsewhere. This includes the name of the tower of Dol Amroth and the names of the Seven Rivers of Gondor. Tolkien explains that the poems carry some backstory, linking them to Hobbit folklore and that they are all works that Hobbits enjoyed and were preserved in the margins of the Red Book. Tolkien attributes several of the poems to Bilbo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee.