response 200 of 207:

Nov 18 02:18 UTC 2002

In Book 3, Chapter 4, Treebeard pretty much implies that the race of ents
started with the elves woking trees & taught them language, but the remark 
is in passing and never made explicit.  Treebeard does explicitly compare
ents to both elves and men, finding ents more like each in various ways.

Yes, both hobbits & ents are relatively removed from the central Eldar,
Enemies, Rings, & Wizards story, but both are races of mortal individuals
moving & changing over time, especially in response to the central saga,
and both move from the shadows to center stage in the final act.  Bombadil
neither is nor does any of these things.

response 202 of 207:

Nov 18 02:56 UTC 2002

http://www.glyphweb.com/arda/default.htm includes a lengthy discussion 
of Tom Bombadil's place in Lord of the Rings.  A couple of exceprts:

"And even in a mythical Age there must be some enigmas, as there always 
are. Tom Bombadil is one (intentionally)."     
 The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, No 144, dated 1954 ...

and...

Though Tom's insertion into the nascent Lord of the Rings might be 
viewed (at least in a sense) as 'accidental', it is certainly no 
accident that he remained there. Tolkien reviewed and revised the book 
with his customary meticulousness - it is inconceivable that the 
character of Tom Bombadil would have stayed in place if Tolkien didn't 
see him, in some sense, 'fitting' with the rest of the story. In 
Tolkien's own words:

    "...I kept him in, and as he was, because he represents certain 
things otherwise left out."     
 The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, No 153, dated 1954  


In the same letter, he goes on to summarise what these 'certain things' 
are. It is difficult to paraphrase his statements here: the suggestion 
is that while all sides in the War of the Ring seek, in their different 
ways, some sort of political power, Tom is immune from this in the same 
way that he is immune from the Ring. He only wishes to understand 
things for what they are, and desires no control over them. 

response 204 of 207:

Nov 18 13:29 UTC 2002

For what it's worth, #202 is mostly what I was thinking of when I originally
answered your question (it was yours, right?) about Bombadil.  I didn't say
what was said in the third-to-last paragraph, but should have.  Yes, Tolkien's
way of writing left no room for anything as big as the Bombadil section to
be left in anything but deliberately.  My point was that Bombadil as described
does not fit with anything said (elsewhere than LotR) about the creation of
various races; any explanations are speculative to the point of
being presumptuous, & I'm uncomfortable with all of them I've heard or dreamt
up myself.

Regarding ents: what Treebeard says entails that the elves taught ents to
speak, and (I think) that they awakened them - presumably making them
conscious beings in a way they weren't previously.  His comments a bit later
on trees and ents - that sometimes trees become awake and alert and entish,
while sometimes ents become almost like trees - don't quite say that trees
can develop legs, feet, eyes, mouths, etc. like ents.  Even taken with the
mobility of various trees (both in _The_Two_Towers_ and in the Old Forest
episode of _Fellowship_), this seems to be a step away from saying that ents
are trees awakened by the elves, IMNVHO.  But it's certainly enough to make
some kind of case on it, & people have done so.

response 206 of 207:

Nov 19 13:28 UTC 2002

Sorry, Rane.  This comes of not paying attention to item headers.  There
already is a Tolkien item (#80), and maybe someone would like to paste this
discussion there.