Eldest? - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

narfforc · 05-31-2006, 07:51 AM

Maybe this is just one of those contradictions we will have to live with, for Tolkien has Bombadil calling himself Eldest, yet in a letter to Milton Waldman in 1951 he again says that the Ents are the oldest rational creatures. Now is there a distinction between creatures and peoples? Creature to me means something created/living being. So where does that leave Bombadil, has he not been created, or is he part of something else, like the Flame imperishable or Eru. Iluvatar placed the Flame Imperishable in the heart of Ea at the creation of the world, what else was there from the beginning, who came first and alone?

05-31-2006, 07:51 AM	#21
narfforc Ghost Prince of Cardolan Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Muddy-earth Posts: 1,297	Maybe this is just one of those contradictions we will have to live with, for Tolkien has Bombadil calling himself Eldest, yet in a letter to Milton Waldman in 1951 he again says that the Ents are the oldest rational creatures. Now is there a distinction between creatures and peoples? Creature to me means something created/living being. So where does that leave Bombadil, has he not been created, or is he part of something else, like the Flame imperishable or Eru. Iluvatar placed the Flame Imperishable in the heart of Ea at the creation of the world, what else was there from the beginning, who came first and alone? __________________ [B]THE LORD OF THE GRINS:THE ONE PARODY....A PARODY BETTER THAN THE RINGS OF POWER.