“Come Merry Dol!” LotR: ‘Rings of Power’ Reveals Live-Action Tom Bombadil

Rings of Power Season Two has revealed images of one of Tolkien’s silliest creations—and yes, the live-action Old Tom has got the boots.

Early last year, rumors flew around that Rings of Power would feature the universe’s goofiest character Tom Bombadil. Turns out those whispers were onto something. Love him or hate him, this merry fellow will be joining the cast of Season Two. And while we’re still disappointed that Matt Berry wasn’t cast in the role, the choice of actor is still good.

Tom Bombadil in Rings of Power Season Two

Amazon Prime and Vanity Fair released pictures of actor Rory Kinnear (Men, Penny Dreadful, Skyfall) sporting the famous Tom Bombadil yellow boots.

Thanks to the pictures, we also know that Tom will interact with The Stranger, whose greater identity in the Tolkien universe is still unknown to us.

What Was Tom Bombadil Doing in the Second Age?

Regarding the literature from Rings of Power‘s timeline, we have no clue. When it comes to Middle-Earth lore, we don’t know much about Tom Bombadil during the First or Second Age. Did he have some peripheral knowledge of the rise of Melkor? Who can say? If he did, he didn’t get involved, and we don’t know why.

Of course, Rings of Power has taken artistic liberties with a bunch of things that happened during the Second Age. So sure, Tom coulda’ been there.

READ MORE: YOU SHALL NOT PASS Up This Ultimate ‘Lord of the Rings’ Watch Guide

We do know that, by the Third Age, Bombadil was known by the Elves as Iarwain Ben-adar, to the Men as Orald, and to the Dwarves as Forn. He was also known to the Hobbits, and it was said that he watched them first settle the land of the Shire. But we don’t know how Elves, Dwarves, and Men came to know the friendly spirit.

Amazon Prime’s high-budget live-action adaptation of Tolkien’s universe in the Second Age turned out to be a pretty serious storyline. Will Tom Bombadil fit in with the tone of the story? I, as always, remain cautiously optimistic.

Rings of Power Season Two will premiere on August 29 on Amazon Prime.

Author: Danni Danger

Danni is a staff writer and editor whose expertise lies in comic books, superhero movies, science fiction/fantasy, horror, and cheesy dad jokes. They spent 8 glorious years working at Austin Books & Comics, and created content for almost 15 years. They've written for the Daily Dot and made YouTube content with the Weirdlings. Danni currently does all the things for BoLS, Screen Fanatic, and TheStreet.