Merry Fellow ~ How Tom Bombadil met The Man In The Moon

Merry Fellow

There is a forest old and grim
And misty all the time
And wet as cavern deep and dim
Sends shivers down your spine

There, trees are moving and they walk
And follow you around
And if you dare to dare to talk
You soon will make no sound

But there's another creature there
A walking man that is
His wife is tall and gold and fair
And she's forever his

This man is Tom, o merry doo
O Bombadil he's called
Yellow his boots, his jacket blue
His smile is wide and bold

O Tom once met the Man in the Moon
One night that he came down
And shiny white his costume was
His eyes and beard were brown

And in the Barrow-Downs he fell
The Barrow-Wight he met
But scaredy turtle in his shell
Inside his cave, he fled

And then the Moon-man's ears heard
A woman's crystal voice
And sought it as if he was blind
As if he had no choice

He walked towards the forest's mist
He had a brown-ish lute
The magic trees left him alone
They didn't lay a root

He saw a man, a jacket blue
His beard was brown and long
A woman there, with golden hair
Was singing him a song

The Moon-Man strung his five chord lute
A bard he was indeed
And Goldberry sang in his tune
Her husband's kindest deed

"O merry Tom, o jolly Tom
Was here before the night
Before the Old Man Willow and
Before the Barrow-Wight

The forest's sickness he ignored
The river as he sought
And all the foes, under his toes
He crushed and smashed and fought

His spirit scared the forest and
The Old, sly, Willow Man
And set the river free again
Its water proudly ran

O merry Tom, o jolly Tom
My mother, he set free
And he was dancing merrily
Beside the sly tree"

And then the Moon-man strung his lute
In a more merry tune
His lute was brown, with carvings round
His plectrum was a rune

"O merry Bombadil", he said
"O Goldberry the fair
I saw tonight, the Barrow-Wight
He hid inside his lair

And when I thought my coming-down
Was ruined from his sight
Your voice, o river-lady was
Inside the darkness, light

So here I come, to both of you
My lute, me and myself
I'm standing here, asking for beer
So bring me from your shelf"

O merry Tom, o jolly Tom
He called him in his home
And Goldberry brought them three mugs
With golden ale and foam

They danced, and drank, and danced once more
And here we go again
Until the morning's coming they
Were dancing in Tom's den

And then, the Man in the Moon shook
He left his mug half-filled
And to the Barrow-Downs he ran
Towards the long grass field

"O merry Tom, o Goldberry
I have to take my leave
The sun goes up and leaves behind
This year's Midsummer's eve

But please expect me once again
That's why I left my lute
For one more night, inside your den
Beside the misty chute"

And so he left, the Man in the Moon
For Midsummer to come
And as he promised them, next night
He went and brought them rum

They danced, and drank, and danced again
And that is how it went
And one more night, beneath Moon's light
Inside their den they spent

And that's how the Man in the Moon
The merry fellow found
And to this day, they dance and play
In Goldberry's sweet sound