[narfforc]

I thought I might throw this into the discussion.....;but with Aule was that great lady Palurien whose delights were richness and fruits of the earth, for which reason has she long been called Yavanna among the Eldar. About them fared a great host who are the sprites of trees and wood, of dale and mountain-side, or those that sing amid the grass at morning and chant among the standing corn at eve. These are the Nermir and the Tavari, Nandini and Orossi, brownies, fays, pixies, leprawns, and what else are they not called, for their number is very great: yet must they not be confused with the Eldar, for they were born before the world and are older than it's oldest, and are not of it, but laugh at it much, for had they not somewhat to do with it's making, so that it is for the most part a play for them.......

A greater character reference for Tom Bombadil could not be written, however this was never published in Tolkiens lifetime so we have no idea whether he would have included it in the Silmarillion. What was published in the Silmarillion, was this........With the Valar came other spirits whose being also began before the world, of the same order as the Valar but of less degree. These are the Maiar, the people of the Valar, and their servents and helpers. Their number is not known to the Elves, and few have names in any of the tongues of the Children of Iluvatar.


In the notes Christopher says:- Particularly interesting is the passage concerning the host of lesser spirits who accompanied Aule and Palurien, from which one sees how old is the conception of the Eldar as quite dissimilar in essential nature from 'brownies, fays, pixies, leprawns', since the Eldar are 'of the world' and bound to it, wheras those others are beings from before the worlds making. In the later work there is no trace of any such explanation of the 'pixie' element in the worlds population: the Maiar are little referred to, and cetainly not said to include such beings as 'sing amid the grass at morning and chant among the standing corn at eve'.

Is it not possible that many of these spirits/sprites survived, who is The River Woman, are huorns mere tree sprites. When Gimli speaks of Caradhras he talks like it is an entity. If Osse and Uinen can affect their environs then surely other Maiar are lurking in the undergrowth doing the same thing. I believe that Tom is a surviving Sprite/Maiar of his little dale. I believe this because Tolkien was always re-using bits he had discarded, if we forget Tom Bombadil the character alltogether and just leave his circumstances and actions in, then the remainder leaves only one conclusion, he is not one of The Children of Iluvatar, he can only be what is left, a divine spirit.