That is interesting, Boro.
If ever there was a case of Tolkien saying "Right! Enough! I've had it; I'm away for my supper and I don't think I shall come back!" it is with Beorn. He'd obviously been at pains to fit the worlds of
The Hobbit and the legendarium together. Imagine the stramash when he realised how difficult the Bombadil question was. By the time he'd remembered Beorn he'd grown quite exasperated and curt, hence: "Yeah, Beorn's a man. He's a giant, and he's a bear, but yeah, he's a man. Get over it."
