Who's the oldest?

[Melichus]

Actually, I've been reading the Silmarillion, and aside from the Ainur/Valar/Maiar, the oldest ceatures in existence were either the Balrogs or the ancient creatures that had survived through the "spring of Arda".

Here are the possibilities:

Balrogs: They were created in secret by Melkor well before elves and they may have been created before dwarves and the creatures of Arda's "springtime".

The "spring of Arda" creatures: This is what the Silmarillion says: "But already the oldest living things had arisen: in the seas the great weeds, and on earth the shadows of great trees, and in the valleys of the night-clad hills there were dark creatures old and strong. This is also after the fall of the first "spring" Arda, so it could be contested whether Balrogs were created before or after this. you could argue that Tom Bombadil was one of these ancient creatures, though we can't be sure.

Dwarves: Technically, they were created before anything else, but did not awaken until the elves had been up and running for a while. We still don't know when exactly the Balrogs were created, but both dwarves and Balrogs are front-runners.

[ October 14, 2002: Message edited by: Melichus ]