Companion essay: The Trees
Inspiration: my Thanksgiving binge of LoTR for the millionth time
In The Two Towers, Merry and Pippin listen as Treebeard recounts the tale of the Ents, the history of his ancient people. All the living Ents are very old, even by tree standards, because the Ent-women have been lost to the male Ents that live in Fangborn Forest. Treebeard explains that one day the Ent-women wandered off, and haven’t been seen in centuries.
A few scenes previously, when Merry and Pippin escape from the orcs into the forest, Merry remembers an old legend from the Shire: “You remember the Old Forest? On the borders of Buckland? Folks used to say that there was something in the water that made the trees grow tall, and come alive. …Trees that could whisper, talk to each other. Even move.” Clearly, this old tale is based in characteristics of the Ents. Moving, talking trees! The language of the Ents, a low-toned, slow-cadence language, may sound like mysterious voices and whispering from afar, or became distorted in memory and oral history. These trees traveled north from Fangborn Forest, but share many characteristics with those that still reside there.
A missing piece of Ent civilization? A suspiciously similar forest in an entirely different region? Clearly, this Old Forest in the Shire is home to the Ent-women. Although I am not well-versed in Tolkein’s extensive works covering the world-building of Middle Earth and its legends, I can come up with two possible reasons for the Ent schism.
- The Ent-women were wandering and got lost. As old, slow-moving beings, slow in communication and slow to decisions, this is a plausible idea. Perhaps it was a girl’s night out and they took a wrong turn home, never to return.
- The Ent-women were seeking liberation and relief from their male counterparts. Perhaps they had grown tired of the Ent-men’s laziness and innaction, or simply had enough of their company. This would mean their relocation was intentional, slow as it must have been. Indeed, the Old Forest in the Shire does not share the same level of malevolence as Fangborn – perhaps their natures were too different to reconcile.
Thank you for coming to my 11:30 pm TED Talk.
