Quote:
Originally Posted by Inziladun
Hm, you're right. Indeed Gandalf (who to me is the voice of Tolkien in the books) does note that Tom lacked the power to defeat Sauron. That would point away from the Ainu idea, I think.
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Maiar and Valar are kinds of Ainur, aren't them? I would say Bombadil shows powers comparable to those of a Maia. If we opt for the idea Bombadil is an Ainu, we have to decide if he came into the world with the host of Valar, participated the creation and stays in ME since they left, or he came independently and did not take part in the creation, just watched it. In the first case he either was left for some purpose or simply defected. He well may belong to those other orders of creatures mentioned, but, again, his powers are similar to those of a maia and Gandalf for some reasons makes the comparison.
I wouldn't say Bombadil doesn't belong to ME. In my view he belongs to it more than all other creatures living there, as they are there only temporarily (no matter for how long) he is the older one and the last one to stay. He is well aware of what's going on there. He is there on purpose, if Eru ever existed
