What was J.R.R. Tolkien’s first published poem featuring Tom Bombadil called?

J.R.R. Tolkien’s first published poem featuring Tom Bombadil was called The Adventures of Tom Bombadil.

The poem was published in the Oxford Magazine in 1934. It predates Tom Bombadil’s appearance in The Lord of the Rings, where he shelters Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin after their encounter with Old Man Willow and the Barrow-wights. Tolkien later reused and developed the character for the novel.

The 1962 book The Adventures of Tom Bombadil contains sixteen poems, but its title can cause a historical misunderstanding. The title poem was not newly invented for that collection; an earlier version had already appeared in 1934. The volume also includes poems connected with Middle-earth and other imagined traditions.

Tom Bombadil remains one of Tolkien’s most enigmatic figures. He is powerful within his own region, yet the narrative deliberately avoids giving a simple explanation of his identity or place in the wider mythology.