I don't know what Tom is yet. He is the master. Whatever that means :~D
And someone here thought the elves were out of touch and unhelpful. Tom can't be bothered with anything that goes on outside of his "realm." He is happy with his lady and controls all that takes place inside his borders. Are those borders self imposed or not? He does protect wanderers that come into his area of influence, but he does not seek any news of the outside world although he does have some contact and like the elves he can learn things from the trees, plants, and animals. He does not seek to use his 'songs' to change the character of the forest he just lets it be and he just is, living with his environment and only exerting that control when necessary. Is he always around when someone gets into trouble even though he says he just happens to be on that trail or was this just another instance when fate took a hand. Do other beings get caught by Old Man Willow and their stories end?
Just some mussings and very few answers.