"Tom remembers the dark under the stars when it was fearless. Before the Dark Lord came from Outside."

Some might consider this a reference to Sauron, but I always felt it referred to Melkor. That makes me wonder if Tom Bombadil walked the woods and hills of Arda before even the Valar entered into it?

It is said that the Children of Illuvatar, Elves and Men, came with the Third Theme of the Great Music. What if Bombadil is not, as some have suggested, a Maiar spirit, but some being native to Arda? The First (and perhaps last) of a race that was part of Erus' original Theme? Did Illuvatar originally intend Arda to be peopled by beings like Bombadil?

I write fanfiction, so I wonderabput these things in case there's a story in it!