Season two of Prime Video's The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power will feature the character Tom Bombadil. Bombadil will be played by the already announced Rory Kinnear. You can see more photos of Kinnear's Bombadil below and below this news item.
When Kinnear was previously announced, it was not revealed exactly which character he would be playing in a recurring role.
In J.R.R.'s book Tolkien saves Bombadil Frodo and the other hobbits from countless dangers. In season two, Bombadil meets the Stranger (Daniel Weyman) and his Harfoot friends Nori (Markella Kavenagh) and Poppy (Megan Richards) on their journey to the east of Middle-earth.
The news about Bombadil was revealed by Vanity Fair in a conversation with Rings of Power showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay.
It is implied that The Stranger is a kind of Gandalf, while the Harfoots are the early nomadic ancestors and sisters of the hobbits. Tolkien was limited in his description of Bombadil, who is known to be old and powerful, but unable to aid in the fight against Sauron.
“In our story, he has gone out to the lands of Rhûn, which we learn used to be sort of Edenic and green and beautiful, but now is sort of a dead wasteland,” Payne told Vanity Fair. “Tom has gone out there to see what’s happened as he goes on his various wanderings.”
Payne adds, “when he finally crosses paths with the Stranger, you could say he has a desire to try to keep the destruction that has happened there from spreading to his beloved lands in the West. He nudges the Stranger along his journey, which he knows will eventually protect the larger natural world that he cares about. So I’d say our Tom Bombadil is slightly more interventionist than you see in the books, but only by 5 or 10 percent.”
“He’s whimsical and magical, and almost verging on silly. But also has the wisdom of the ages and the music of the spheres and deep emotional wells of ancient history and myth, and his conception and function are tied to Norse myths and have deep roots in European fairy tale,” McKay added in a separate statement. “So weirdly, he’s kind of the most Lord of the Rings thing in Lord of the Rings.”
Payne adds, “Tom is sort of a curiosity within that structure because while it is darker, Tom Bombadil is singing and saying lines that could be nursery rhymes from children’s poems. So, he sort of defies the tonal shift of the rest of the season and is a real point of light amidst an otherwise sea of darkness.”
Kinnear mentions that he’ll portray Bombadil with a Cornish accent because he wanted a character that “felt like the oldest part of Britain.”
Ciarán Hinds and Tanya Moodie are also joining season two, alongside Sam Hazeldine, who takes on the role of Orc leader Adar, replacing Joseph Mawle, who voiced the character in the first season; as well as Gabriel Akuwudike, Yasen 'Zates' Atour, Ben Daniels, newcomer Amelia Kenworthy, Nia Towle, Nicholas Woodeson, Oliver Alvin-Wilson, Stuart Bowman, Gavi Singh Chera, William Chubb, Kevin Eldon, Will Keen, Selina Lo and Calam Lynch.
As McKay revealed in the season finale of Deadline's Inside the Ring aftershow, the elf Círdan, who wears one of the three rings forged by Celebrimbor until he gives it to Gandalf, will be introduced in season two, along with other ring bearers including dwarves and nazgûl.
Additionally, Chris Smith, Tolkien Publishing Director at HarperCollins, revealed in Vanity Fair that the book titled The Adventures of Tom Bombadil will be re-released in paperback by HarperCollins on August 20, 2024, just ahead of the streaming series’ return to Prime Video. Smith said, “It’s my hope that, with the introduction of Rory Kinnear’s portrayal of Tom Bombadil in The Rings of Power, audiences are inspired to learn more about this unique character beloved of generations of readers around the world, and will delight in sharing in his many adventures in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth.”
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season two releases on Thursday, August 29 on Prime Video.
You can check out more first photos from The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Powwr season two below.