who's the oldest?

[Tarien Ithil]

Tom Bombadil was a Maia spirit who came to Middle-earth in the Ages of Starlight. He was also called Iarwain Ben-adar, which means 'old' and 'without father'.


But Treebeard is said to be the oldest Ent, or the oldest of his race. Tom, however, is a spirit, in the form of a little man.

Bombadil is the oldest nonliving being

Bombadil was a spirit and therefore didn’t belong to any race but I wouldn’t day he was nonliving because he was living, just as a spirit and spirits, created by Iluvatar, have existed since the evolution of Arda…………

So, there may be a difference between Treebeard and Tom because, as far as I know, Treebeard was not a spirit of any kind, but Tom was, so Tom surely was around before Treebeard………………….