[Inderjit Sanghera]

On Beorn, in Of Dwarves and Men(HoME 12) we learn that a lot of the Marachain tribes dedcided to remain in Mirkwood or in between the River Carnen and the Sea of Rhun, where in the Problem of Ros(HoME 12)we learn that many men, of whom the Edain are descended from made a camp, on opposite sides of the water. So evidently, Beorn is a Mandescended from the Marachian tribes who entered Mirkwood during the Mannish march to Beleriand. In The Hobbitwe learn

If you must know more, his name is Beorn. He is very strong, and he is a skin-changer

So he is a skin-changer, but later on Gandalf mentions some 'confusion'abotu what people thought Beorn was;

I cannot tell you much more, though that ought to be enough. Some say that he is a bear descended from the great and ancient bears of the mountains that lived there before the giants came. Others say that he is a man descended from the first men who lived before Smaug or the other dragons came into this part of the world, and before the goblins came into the hills out of the North. I cannot say, though I fancy the last is the true tale. He is not the sort of person to ask questions of.

So Beorn was evidently a anamolie, people(Who were these people I don't know, perhaps the Woodmen and the Elves of Thrnaduil) were unsure as to what Beorn was, a man or a bear. He has several 'animal like' characteristics he can converse with them for example and is evidently a shape-shifter. But Celegorm knew all the tounges of animals-does that make him a animal? No, this was a special skill of Beorn.

Gandalf also stipulates;

At any rate he is under no enchantment but his own

Beorn is dead- He appeared in The Hobbit. It was then the year Third Age 2940 (Shire-reckoning 1340). We are now in the years 3018-19 (1418-19). Though a skin-changer and no doubt a bit of a magician, Beorn was a Man

Letter #141; Letters of Tolkien

So Beorn was a man, but a magician, who may have gathered information on shape-shifting from Radgast who was a 'changer of hues' and who Beorn knew well, or maybe through his own experiments or knowledge of magic.

Aslo on anamolies/enigmas in general, Tolkien says:

Many readers have, for instance, rather stuck at the Council of Elrond. And even in a mythical Age there must be some enigmas, as there always are. Tom Bombadil is one (intentionally).

Letter #141; Letters of Tolkien

Also in the Adventures of Tom Bombadilwe hear about how Tom 'wooed' (or kidnapped, as the case was) Goldberry from her mother the 'river-woman' (hence iver-womans daughter') claiming she would find no lover in the murky depths of the River.

[ August 17, 2003: Message edited by: Inderjit Sanghera ]