[Esgallhugwen]

I don't know if someone has mentioned this yet but all your theories are good but i have one of my own. You see Eru had the Valar sing to make Arda but even to the Valar not all was revealed to them by Eru, so perhaps Eru whose vision was Arda already had a being in it that the Valar could not concieve. Although the Elves were the first children of Iluvatar, perhaps Tom was the first being to enter into it. and his naiveness could be due to his pure goodness and because he has such a strong will that the Ring and Sauron, including Morgoth had no power or sway over him whatsoever. And yes it is quite ironic that he just pops up out of nowhere to save the Hobbits twice. So perhaps he is an entity of Arda or perhaps he is Eru embodied while in the Earth, wishing that the Hobbits finish their quest to save his beloved creation and all that are in it! [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]