Welcome Ceocan! And that is a good question! Sauron is a Maia spirit and apparently the ring does not have the invisibility effect on Maia, only on 'lesser' creatures. That's why Tom Bombadil doesn't disappear when he puts the ring on in the book, because he is Maia as well. It's reasonable to assume that if Gandalf had worn the ring, he would not have become invisible either since he too is Maia. Any other theories?

That Maia-theory could work (if we assume that Tom Bombadil really was a Maia), but I always thought it was simply because Sauron was The Lord of The Ring, and therefor he controlled the Ring and not the other way around.

[Edited on 12/8/2002 by Alqua]

I too agree with the notion that Sauron had power over the ring whilst the others (Bilbo, Frodo, Samwise, etc) didn't.
I have also always found it difficult to classify Tom Bombadill according to the known 'races', and have therefore always thought of him as being completely different to any type mentioned. Is there a reference to Tom being a Maia? It is probably the only known race that would fit, though my impression from comments that he made about himself and also that Gandalf (I think) made is that he is very different to all else.
A question: If my memory serves me correctly and Gandalf was questioned about Tom, would not Gandalf (being a Maia) know that Tom was?

Maybe the ring did make him invisible. Sauron is usualy depicted in full body armor, helmet, chainmail, the lot. Maybe he wore the armor so people could see him, because the ring made him dissapear.

Maybe the question should be why does the ring make Bilbo and Frodo to disappear. Does their invisibility cause them to become visible to Sauron and the wraiths?

Kewl another What is Tom discussion



How do we know he isn't a Valar?

and yes putting on the ring makes you vissible for the wraithies and sauron and keeps you visible for tom

To remain visible while wearing the Ring, I think you need to be more powerful than the Ring itself. Sauron obviously was because he forged it, and Tom shows his power by being unaffected by it too.
Also, I don't believe the ring just had the effect of making the wearer invisible. I believe the reason they appeared invisible was because the Ring had "moved" them to another dimension bordering on the Prime Material Plane. This "Border Dimension" was the one inhabited by creatures of "negative force", eg. the Nazgul, Wraiths etc. That would explain why the wearer can see these creatures while the Ring is being worn, and why they can better detect the wearer.
Because it is written that there were seven Valar and seven Valier. All of them a named and accounted for. In my opinion, Tom was one of Yavanna's Maiar.

Isn't it somewhere written in LotR that Toms staying visble was the other way around, Because that the ring did NOT have power over Tom instead of Tom having power over the ring.
because if you would have power over the ring you would be able to wield it.. at least i think so..

As for Valars in diguise that would be nice
or it could be valar, that weren't mentioned because they took no part in shaping middle earth but just inhabited it.
then offcourse it could be Maya or it could be protectors of the wood and river made by yavanna Just like the ents but a bit more advanced.
I've even read somewhere, someone thought it could be the representation of Illuvatar living in middle earth. beceause what would be the fun of creating middle earth and only gazing upon it from the void or where ever Eru Resided

[Edited on 16/8/2002 by Boring]

Hmmm, interesting theory. Tom is Eru. Kinda scary to think that the all powerful creator of the universe skips around the forest singing things like "ring a dong a dillo", don't you think? Could be just me I suppose.

It's all fine with me, as long as I am something!!

No, I kinda like the Valar in disguise thingie. Always known that there's more about me then the eye can see...

Here's an interesting thought for an interesting subject:
Sauron was Lord of the Ring, he created it and filled it with his power, so he could use it for whatever he wanted, but he could make himself invisible if he wanted. For lesser beings, it made them invisible: or maybe a better way of saying it is that it put the wearer into Sauron's world, the world of the Unseen. Or as Gandalf said to Frodo in Rivendell "Those who were born in the Undying Lands live at once in both worlds, and against both the Seen and the Unseen they have great power." I think that Gandalf and Galadriel would have been able to put on the One Ring and remain visible, but not for long. It's power for evil was too great and it would have corrupted them.
Then witness Galadriel with HER Ring. True, the Three were not designed to confer invisibility on their wearers - that was a power of the corrupted Rings that Sauron helped to forge. But while Galadriel wore Nenya, no one could see IT! Only Frodo could see it: in the book when she held up her hand and the star Earendil shone on it, but Sam was right there and didn't see it at all. In the movie, she held out her hand as if to take the One Ring when Frodo offered it to her, and there was no Ring on it; then she held out that same hand again, and there it was, right on her finger. (It looked like a cheap piece of costume jewelry, but that's just my opinion.)
And then we don't see the other Rings until the end of the third movie, as they're boarding the ship at the Havens. Even then, only those of us who read the books saw them, because no mention was made of them in the dialogue. Elrond shows his as he welcomes Bilbo on board, Galadriel is wearing hers, and Gandalf shows his as he holds his staff.
Or did anyone else notice this?

About Tom Bomabdil - he cannot be Maiar, or Valar, becuase Melkor was the first of the Ainur to descend, and as we know Tom Bombadil was in the World before him.

Not quite sure what all this big deal is about Tom though. We KNOW what he is - JRR specifically states that he is an enigma. I suppose we could all speculate which race he is most similar to but at the end of the day he doesn't fit into any of them - because JRR didn't want him to.

Hmm not quite sure about this. Melkor was the first of the Ainur (Valar AND Maiar) to descend as we know. Tom Bombadil was in Arda before Melkor. Seems to be impossible for Bombadil to be an Ainur.

I believe you are refering to the time after Melkor had to flee from Tulkas. Originally there was nothing in Arda and Melkor debated with Manwe saying 'This is my kingdom and I name it unto myself'. Then began the time where the Valar created and Melkor destroyed, until Tulkas, last of the Valar to descend, drove Melkor out of Arda and stole from him the Mastery of the Earth. Then Melkor gathered to him spirits out of the many places of Ea, the Universe, of which Arda is only a small part, and "Looked down in envy of the Valar" etc
But Melkor was the first to descend in the beginning.

No doubt in my mind that TB is Maia and Goldberry as well.

The more interesting question is; what is it about being a Maia that makes the Ring not effect Tom, whereas the Istari were effected.

In Tolkien's letters he kind of comically says that basically Tom if from another adventure and has no interest in these matters at hand. The Istari had their minds set to a specific task that was relevant to Men.