Quote Originally Posted by Lix Lorn View Post
The general complaint is that Bombadil is entirely capable of just smashing the ring and solving the plotline partway through book one.
...but I'm just parroting.
Technically the Ring could be destroyed in two circumstances: It could be dumped in the fires of Mount Doom, where it was forged, or in any comparable heat source, and it could be destroyed by anyone who was better at forging than Sauron (Which is kind of a tall order, given Sauron's position in the Ardan pantheon). Does Tom Bombadil claim access to either one of these, or is that inference and realization from readers of the Silmarillion?