I've read these books as many times as the next guy and I just noticed, they both seem to make the claim to oldest thing in Middle earth.

hahaha, random.

Bombadil is older. He was before the elves. the elves "woke up" the ents (treebeard and the like).

my geek is showing.

Bombadil is just way, super~old, and kind of impossible to understand within the context of everything else we know or can infer about Middle Earth. Which is cool. I thought this was a Rivendell thread and I am a nerd.

But then Gandolf does refer to Treebeard as "the oldest of all living things". Maybe Bombadil's been around longer but just doesn't age.

I was about to move this thread, but then realised it has obviously everything to do with being classic and/or vintage. Just don't ask how much older either of them are, or I'll have to move this to VVI. Thank you.



--Juha, a Forum Mod

Their not real!

Only the wisest in Valinor, who were the First, can know.

Unless one of the other Tolkiens has clarified it in the later books?

Now, now! Tolkien would never have mixed up "they're" with "their" without a good but esoteric philological reason!

Road Fan, an avatar of Legolas, who is not old enough to Know.

Ill bit...... WHAT?

Pretty sure that Treebeard is older, but he's had consiousness for less time (the elves woke him, as was previously explained).
Allan

Benjamin my friend, I think the last snow dump sent you over the cabin fever precipice.
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(two feet in Norridgewock, just south of Agmar)

Pack a bike for Dallas. We're going to hit 80 degrees this week!

I'm glad you said it, Ken, so I didn't have to.

You just opened up a big can of worms.

Treebeard did indeed claim to be "the oldest living thing that still walks beneath the sun."

However, Tolkien himself said that "Treebeard is a character in my story, not me; and though he has a great memory and some earthy wisdom, he is not one of the Wise, and there is quite a lot he does not know or understand..."

Gandalf did indeed call Tom the oldest thing on middle earth...

And treebeard did say he himself was the oldest living thing on middle earth...

Could Tom be one of the Vala or Maia?

It's always warm astride the gates of Mordor.

Shadowfax would certainly prefer to run the other way.

Perhaps Treebeard was mistaken.

In the Silmarillion, I thought it went over creation of the Ents, no mention of Bombadil? Maybe I'm wrong.

Here:

'Conclusion'
There is only one answer to the riddle of Tom Bombadil: that there is no answer. Though we've presented some of the evidence here, this article does no more than dip beneath the surface. It seems, though, that Tom's nature is ultimately undiscoverable, and this is surely a good thing.

Part of the wonder of Tolkien's world is its depth and detail, but it needs its mysteries and unknowns too: if we knew everything about the World of Arda and its inhabitants, there would be no joy of exploration and discovery. If nothing else, Tom Bombadil stands proudly as a symbol of the mysterious, and we should be glad that he does.

Oh boy. i can't wait for the Star Trek convention thread!!!


(I tease all you dorks in jest, as a fan of both Tolkien, and Star Trek.)

Tom is the ineffable, the uncreated, the forever young

Treebeard is just damned old. ;-)

Geez - you scared me there. For a moment, I thought that title thread read "Is Treespeed older then Pinarello."

-Kurt

That would be the carbon black plant outside of Borger, Texas - not Dallas.

tcs

Indeed, 6" is just enough to keep me off the road and a virulent flu is keeping me out of the workshop. Best curl up with a nice fat trilogy. Fantasy is best when you have a low grade fever, plain reality gets a little dreamy.

I guess what I should have asked to make it a C+V thing is "which character best represents classic and which vintage?" Or maybe we should get straight to the point and ask "What would Treebeard ride?" Maybe something like this;

And Bombadil? I'd say he'd be stoking a Rivendell tandem behind Goldberry.

Damn hippies - get off my lawn.....

Kio? Cxu vi povas ekspliki al mi pri kion vi estas parolanta?

Good movie, nice Garand.
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