who's the oldest?

[Lush]

Theories range from him being Earth (which although holds life, is not really alive)...

I guess that depends on what your definition of "alive" is. The definition that consists of a birth and/or creation, an existence of whatever length, and an eventual death, can apply to the Earth, I believe.

The biological definition of life, I believe, is too narrow for the likes of Bombadil.

Besides that, he's no dead tree. [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]