Long they laboured in the regions of Eä,

[chasmaniac]

which are vast beyond the thought of Elves and Men, until in the time appointed was made Arda...

Lots o' room in there fer talkin'. Discuss!

[An execellent online resource about Tolkien's fictional world is The Encyclopedia of Arda at http://www.glyphweb.com/arda/]

[Karl Henning]

So . . . is Bombadil a Maia? Or a creature of Middle-Earth?

[chasmaniac]

So . . . is Bombadil a Maia? Or a creature of Middle-Earth?

You ain't messin' around, Karl, you go right for a toughie!

I'm with the encyclopedist referenced above. I think Bombadil an original creation of a nature or kind not accounted for in the elf-centred (pre)history we get in the Valaquenta etc. A "spirit of nature", if you will.

[Karl Henning]

And yet . . . spirit of nature may suggest Maia.  It is a gnarly one, innit?

[chasmaniac]

And yet . . . spirit of nature may suggest Maia.  It is a gnarly one, innit?

Aye!

The main point against Bombadil-the-Maia is his immunity from the ring. It doesn't tempt or fascinate him in any way. Whereas Gandalf fears to so much as touch it, and he surely knows that he is a Maia. Sauron created it, and he is a Maia. Saruman perverts himself to get it, and he is a Maia. And people tend, I think, to forget Goldberry in all this. She shares at least enough of Bombadil's nature to be, apparently, his mate. And as "the river's daughter" she gives every appearance of being the sort of geographically limited, local sprite or nature-deity that we are used to in other mythologies, Greek and whatnot.

Anyway, that's my story and I'm sticking to it! 

[Scion7]

The Maia were created by Eru prior to the Music ... and it seems that Bombadil shows up after the Valar had shaped the world according to Eru's plan.  There's no talk in Tolkien's writings about him "descending" into the world ... at the same time, the Valar never created any sentient beings.  So, sometime during the era of the dark forests (before the Two Trees) Bombadil comes into the world via some agency of Eru/Illuvatar.  Between that and the "Who is Tom Bombadil?" treatise, I think he's a unique being, along with his mate.

He also seems to be a bit of a dandy!   

[Karl Henning]

... at the same time, the Valar never created any sentient beings.

All in all, both yours and chas's posts well taken.  There, though, are you forgetting Aulë and the dwarves?

[chasmaniac]

the Valar never created any sentient beings.

Strictly speaking Aulë did, but he couldn't finish the job by himself:

Elves and Men were an intrinsic part of Ilúvatar's plan for the World, and so were together referred to as the 'Children of Ilúvatar'. The Dwarves, though, were created independently by the Vala Aulë, and only afterwards given true life by Ilúvatar.

(Quotation from the Encyclopedia.)

Edit: Ha! Karl beat me to it!

[Karl Henning]

Oh, I know; Ilúvatar gave them life independent of Aulë's direct 'management'; still, they were possessed of sentience before that gift, meseems.

And . . . the Ents.  Yavanna's role there is only hinted at . . . as with so many matters, we cannot hope for final answers, this side of the Blessèd Realm : )

[chasmaniac]

this side of the Blessèd Realm

Which, as men, it seems we'll never see! Our gift is a strange one!

[DavidW]

I don't think that good old Tom is Maia.  He is the first man and he is simply unique.  He is a creature of Middle Earth but his gifts transcend the other inhabitants.

[Karl Henning]

Oh, I concede he may be no Maia. But, not a Man, surely : )

[DavidW]

Oh, I concede he may be no Maia. But, not a Man, surely : )

Well not of the race of men or even the Numenor but not elf, dwarf or any other such creature.  He's just the first.

Yup I agree with you that we can't really call him a "man" since men have the gift of being mortal.  I guess we can just call him the first.

[kishnevi]

Well not of the race of men or even the Numenor but not elf, dwarf or any other such creature.  He's just the first.

Yup I agree with you that we can't really call him a "man" since men have the gift of being mortal.  I guess we can just call him the first.

And Gandalf at one point calls him just that, when he says that they can't send the Ring to Tom to keep because even if Tom actually kept it,  Tom would eventually succumb to Sauron's power,  "the Last as he was the First".

To me he's always been a nature spirit (which is why he's immune to the Ring, which is a product of technology)--perhaps meant to be Nature itself, or the Spirit of Middle Earth, or maybe Arda itself   (although I doubt the latter, since he seems to have no connection with the Immortal Realm. 

[kishnevi]

By the Brothers Hildebrandt, the original can be yours for a mere 35000USD.

[Karl Henning]

A lost chapter in the Valaquenta: On the Coming of Kitsch to Middle-Earth . . . .

[Karl Henning]

Kitsch, of all the deeds of Melkor, the most hateful to the Elves . . . .

[DavidW]

Kinkade eat your heart out!

[chasmaniac]

Little is known for certain of the beginnings of kitsch, the Enemy's decorative conceit. It is said that it was in origin corrupted taste captured and abused by Melkor before the beginning of the First Age. Most kitsch flourishes in darkness, but the kinds bred later in the Fourth Age could endure the spotlight, and are yet used as wall-hangings in the trollish dwellings of these later days.

[Karl Henning]

I am really in awe of the subtlety with which Tolkien sets up the grand tragedy of the Silmarils.  When Melkor destroys the Two Trees, the Valar cannot simply "do over";  likewise a terribly tough choice is given Fëanor, who is loth to unmake the jewels, even before the awful Oath.