What was J.R.R. Tolkien's first published Middle-earth poem, featuring Tom Bombadil?

J.R.R. Tolkien's first published Middle-earth poem featuring Tom Bombadil was “The Adventures of Tom Bombadil.”

The poem was published in the Oxford Magazine in 1934. It presents Tom Bombadil in a playful narrative involving Goldberry, the river-woman's daughter, and the mischievous Barrow-wight. Tolkien later included a revised version in The Adventures of Tom Bombadil, published in 1962.

Tom Bombadil subsequently appeared in The Fellowship of the Ring, where he shelters the Hobbits after their encounter with Old Man Willow and helps them escape the Barrow-downs. The 1962 book is a collection of sixteen poems, and its title poem is not the same text as every Bombadil poem Tolkien wrote.

The Lay of Leithian and The Lays of Beleriand concern other parts of Tolkien’s mythology. They should not be confused with the early Bombadil poem.