He may have removed the fairies but Tom and Goldberry are still there. Tom found Goldberry in a river and he sometimes refers to her as the riverwoman's daughter. Who is the riverwoman? Another unclassified being we know nothing about. Anyway I still find this quote intriguing.
Quote:
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They were born before the world and are older than its oldest, and are not of it, but laugh at it much...
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It makes too much sense to be ignored, at least Tom and Ungoliant has to be of their kind. In which case Tom would be able to contest with the great powers, but never would since unlike Ungoliant he isn't concerned with a full belly or what is going on in the world at large. It's not in Tom's nature to fight, he is wholly neutral and just observes and studies everything as it is. So while he probably could make short work of Sauron, power really never plays into it since he isn't concerned with that or what is happening to innocent people in far away lands.
Anyway it's very interesting that Tolkien chose to include a being like Ungoliant in the Lord of the rings, a very minor major comment indeed.