In his earliest mythological writings Tolkien set his stories in The Cottage of Lost Play upon the isle of Tol Eressëa. Here Littleheart was an elf, and gongwarden.

The Gong with which he summoned the children was called Tombo. It was sounded once to call the children to the hall of eating and drinking, and three times to call them to the Room of the Log Fire for the telling of tales.

Other early ideas were that this gong was sounded by Littleheart upon Eärendil's the ship Wingilot on the Shadowy Seas, on his voyage to find Kôr and that the sound of Tombo woke the Sleeper in the Tower of Pearl upon the Twilit Isles.

Tolkien's ideas changed and evolved over 60 years of writing. Some were abandoned and others shelved indefinitely. These are some of them. More of Littleheart can be found in HoME Vols I and II, The Books of Lost Tales.