Tom Bombadil

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.

I think Tom is an adult, in what is basically a child’s story run amok. LOTR is like children’s imagination of what the world is after reading The Hobbit. There is backstory to the backstory and there is bad guy and good guy and there is always something happening to keep the fight going in favor the good guy while there are always new obstacles. Tom Bombadil exists like a parent who breaks this child’s illusion of what reality is, but is set aside and never brought up again to keep the illusion going until the play time ends and everyone has to go home.