[tar-ancalime]

I disagree with the characterization of Treebeard and Bombadil as "hollowmen."

They're not wasting their lives, they're not just waiting for the end. What they're doing, though, is refusing to concern themselves with the world "outside." The two are not the same thing.

To call Bombadil and Treebeard "hollowmen" because they've not become involved in other societies is shortsighted, I think. Treebeard never gives up searching for the Entwives or tending to his trees and his forest. Bombadil walks through his land and keeps the Willow under control, and also maintains contact with Farmer Maggot. These are important things, at least as important in their way as farming in the Shire or re-settling the Lonely Mountain. Both Treebeard and Bombadil are instrumental in the continuing existence of their own societies. While it's true that their societies would be overrun by Sauron if not defended by the weapons of Gondor, Rohan, and the Rangers of Arnor, that doesn't make the societies themselves any less valuable. Middle-earth is a diverse place, and I think that any character who is actively involved in maintaining a society is filling an important role, very different from the empty waiting of the "hollowmen."

If there are "hollowmen" in Middle-earth I think they are Elves who have resigned themselves to fading and going West, and are merely waiting for the right moment to take the ship.