So, Hoid of a sort

This comes closest of the answers in this thread, imo. Tom Bombadil was a figurine/puppet Tolkien or his kids owned and he would devise stories around it. He included it in the main narrative as a sort of mental resting point, where both the reader and the hobbits come at peace for a brief moment. It's completely separate from the main narrative and it doesn't cleanly fit in the story. I think of it as Tom Bombadil, Goldberry and their house basically being in another dimension, which is why neither time nor the ring affect them.

If you are interested in it, Tolkien discussed the nature of Tom Bombadil in several letters and there are some decent youtube videos on the subject.

I never thought of him being immune to Sauron as him being powerful. He is just like the the hobbits but to its fullest. Bombadil is perfectly content with his own existence and there is nothing for the ring to tempt him with.

So why didn't the eagles take him...

Just kidding! Don't want to open that can of worms.

I don’t think that was the intention.

Hey dol merry dol, ring a ding a dillo

That's blasphemy, but funny

Do we know for sure that Star Trek and LOTR don't play in the same universe?

Would say Tom is chaotic-good, while Q on the other hand might be chaotic-neutral?

Why didn't he give the hobbits some neat gadgets then?

Very good analogy. Questioning Tom Bombadil's role in Middle Earth is the reason Tolkien included him, in my mind at least. The reader sees him as mysterious, mystical, alien, and seemingly detached from the world around him. And we try to fit him into the rest of the world, but not everything fits into nice little boxes. Some aspects of life will always be unknowable. The same goes for history and myth, which Tom seems to be very related to.

I like this answer. Mine would've been "spirit of nature incarnate" or similar, but this captures why I think that.

Tom Bombadil is trustworthy in that he was understood to be incorruptible by the ring. However, he wasn't a trustworthy holder of the ring because he'd probably lose it because he didn't feel the gravity of it. Tom Bombadil is good and trustworthy, but ultimately uncontrollable.

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.

What is there not to get?

Bilbo is sort of covering for the professor too

Also a linguist would of course dedicate a chapter to the pure joy of rhymes, verses, and words that feel fun to say

That is a definite threat for artists.

While you're working on your big project, the project definitely has your soul.

If the project comes out perfectly, or is close to perfect, or promises perfection, you might spend forever tweaking. Thus it has your soul forever.

Here is an alternative Piped link(s): https://piped.video/jDqYInyet3I

Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.

I'm open-source, check me out at GitHub.

Ooh I know some of this!

Sauron was a Maia (lesser primordial spirit), who along with Morgoth (a fallen spirit formally known as Melkor) was at odds with essentially every other spirit and the general concepts of peace and tranquility that were sought by the creators of the universe. After Morgoth was defeated, Sauron inherited the role of the eponymous Dark Lord and sought to rule Middle-Earth in its entirety.

The Wizards were the Istar, a group of Maiar tasked by the Valar (greater spirits) and Manwe (the king of the Valar) to travel to Middle-Earth and aid the Free People in their fight against Sauron. They took the form of elderly men and roamed the lands to counter and subvert Saurons influence. Their mandate prevented them from open conflict, which is why they took on the role of advisors and supporters instead of just fighting Sauron head on or rallying armies to fight him. Their origins were unknown to any of the Free People, but the Elves for sure new that they weren't just Men - since they lived for thousands of years and had gifts that no mortal Men possessed.

Bombadil is likely another Valar, off in Middle Earth doing his own thing - in ancient ages many of the Valar visited or lived in Middle Earth, so it could be that he didn't return to Valinor and just hung around. His complete disinterest in intervening in the conflict is one clue, and the fact that he exceeds Sauron in raw power as the One Ring is completely mundane to him, whereas Gandalf fears that it will overpower him, is another.

That's not Tom. That's the forest