Tom Bombadil and Treebeard are both called 'eldest', (in fact Bombadil's elven-name, Iarwain Ben-Adar, means 'eldest and fatherless'), but I think that Treebeard was eldest of the non-maiar things in Middle-Earth. The ents were 'awakened' by the elves, but that doesn't really mean that there are still elves in Middle-Earth older than he.
Tom Bombadil is another story, he's oldest of all things in Middle-Earth. He was there from the beginning, according to himself:
Quote:
'...Eldest, that's what I am. Mark my words, my friends: Tom was here before the river and the trees; Tom remembers the first raindrop and the first acorn. He made paths before the Big People, and saw the little People arriving. He was here before the Kings and the graves and the Barrow-Wights. When te Elves passed westward, Tom was here already, before the seas were bent. He knew the dark under the stars when it was fearless - before the Dark Lord came from Outside.'
|
Which means he was there already before the Elves went over the seas for the first time with Oromë, even before Melkor came for the first time to Middle-Earth to begin his plans of The Darkening.
So Tom Bombadil must be eldest, he was there before the elves, the istari, men and so on. The only question that comes up in my mind is: are there any others like Tom Bombadil in ME that we do not know about?