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Who are the youngest and oldest characters or people of Middle Earth?

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  • Who are the youngest and oldest characters or people of Middle Earth?
• Who are the youngest and oldest characters or people of Middle Earth?

• Who are the youngest and oldest characters or people of Middle Earth?

  badlands > November 17th, 2023, 07:33 PM

  How old or young are they?

• RE: Who are the youngest and oldest characters or people of Middle Earth?

  ZehnWaters > November 18th, 2023, 01:41 AM

  Well "youngest" fluctuates. At any given moment the youngest could change. All of the Valar and Maiar came into ME at the same time so they could be considered the "oldest". Outside of Valinor, in the later ages, it's Círdan (assuming no older Avari are left), or Tom Bombadil

• RE: Who are the youngest and oldest characters or people of Middle Earth?

  Alvin Eriol > November 18th, 2023, 01:01 PM

  We've discussed "who's the eldest" before.
  
  It largely hinges on the allowed "universe" of candidates. Any Ainur, in one sense, are older than Arda or time itself. One could stipulate that their current incarnations are a particular number of years old, though, such as the Istari. Treebeard is clearly one of the Eruhini-by-Eru's-adoption, Incarnates, and therefore he and Círdan (who participated in the Great Journey and therefore was at least some 10,000 y.o. as of the WotR) arguably could be the oldest Eruhini to whom we're introduced, and maybe the oldest in JRRT's mind still living in their original corporeal forms.

• RE: Who are the youngest and oldest characters or people of Middle Earth?

  Michael > November 24th, 2023, 11:36 AM

  Maybe defining oldest/youngest in the context of when their main story occurs would be helpful. Excluding Bombadil, there can be many candidates.
  
  Thingol and Melian would be the oldest named characters in Doriath at the time of its fall. Cirdan was probably nearly as old as Thingol. I might be able to look that up in The Nature of Middle-earth but I've got a busy schedule today. Will try to remember to come back to this discussion.
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