Posted on 11/27/2002 11:43:32 AM PST by JameRetief
He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water
Why did the Ents end up in Fangorn Forest? How, and when, did they make the trek across Middle-earth to the southern end of the Misty Mountains? And why did they move all the way down there? Fangorn tells Merry and Pippin that he once wandered through the willow-meads of Tasarinan. "Willow-meads" is a curious turn of phrase. Trees don't grow in meadows. But Tolkien loved to scatter willows around Middle-earth, along with rivers and lakes. And willows do grow beside rivers and lakes.
The willow has long been used as a symbol of regret and lost love in English literature. As Fangorn sings about his youth in Beleriand, he begins with the Willow-meads of Tasarinan (Nan-Tathren on the map of Beleriand, a region between the Mouths of Sirion and the Gates of Sirion, to the south of Doriath). When Frodo and Sam wander through Mordor, and they are thirsty, Sam thinks wistfully of willow trees beside rivers where they had stopped on their journey. And as Theoden leads his Riders of Rohan out of Harrowdale, they pass willow trees along the Snowbourne river.
The most poetic description of the willows in Middle-earth is probably Voronwe's description of Nan-Tathren for Tuor in "Of Tuor and his coming to Gondolin":
"...In that land Narog joins Sirion, and they haste no more, but flow broad and quiet through living meads; and all about the shining river are flaglilies like a blossoming forest, and the grass is filled with flowers, like gems, like bells, like flames of red and gold, like a waste of many-coloured stars in a firmament of green. Yet fairest of all are the willows of Nan-Tathren, pale green, or silver in the wind, and the rustle of their innumerable leaves is a spell of music: day and night would flicker by uncounted, while still I stood knee-deep in grass and listened. There I was enchanted, and forgot the Sea in my heart...."
For all its beauty and bliss, however, Nan-Tathren seems never to have attracted a permanent Elven population. Tuor and Idril led the exiles of Gondolin to the region and stayed there for a while, holding a feast and making songs of regret and sorrow for Gondolin, and to remember the courage of Glorfindel. But they did not remain long in the region.
Fangorn's song for the hobbits says he would stay in Nan-Tathren (Tasarinan -- he preferred to use Quenya) in the spring, and from there he passed east to Ossiriand, to wander through the elm-woods. In the autumn he would wander into Neldoreth, one of the forests of Doriath, and from there he would pass north into Dorthonion for the winter.
One can easily infer that the Ents got around Beleriand during the First Age, but one must also ask how or when. Doriath was supposedly impassable, although the Sindar could pass freely in and out. Perhaps Melian, knowing who and what the Ents were, allowed them to pass through her girdle freely. But the old Ent's song may not really depict a pattern or route that he followed through all the centuries. It certainly seems doubtful that any Ents would have wandered up into Dorthonion after the Dagor Bragollach, when Sauron led an army from Angband into the region.
In all likelihood, the Ents must have retreated to Ossiriand. There, allied with the Green-Elves and perhaps some of the Feanorians, they would have helped to keep the region free of Morgoth's power. The Ents were thus available to help destroy the army of Nogrod as it returned from Doriath, although the story of Doriath's destruction was never fully developed for The Silmarillion. Why should the Ents help to destroy a Dwarven army? Tolkien gives no reason, though it may be supposed that in the sack of Doriath many trees would have been destroyed, awakening the anger of the Ents.
Ossiriand would have become crowded early in the Second Age, however. Not only did the Green-elves live there, but also many Sindar and Noldor, and for a while even some of the Edain dwelt in the region. The Ents must have retreated east over the mountains to Eriador just to find some peace of mind. Of course a few Sindar had preceded them, but there were already many Nandorin Elves and Men, too.
Fangorn speaks of a time when a huge forest extended from the Misty Mountains to the Mountains of the Lune (the Ered Luin): "Those were the broad days! Time was when I could walk and sing all day and hear no more than the echo of my own voice in the hollow hills. The woods were like the woods of Lothlorien. only thicker stronger, younger. And the smell of the air! I used to spend a week just breathing."
The Ents seem to have liked their privacy, their quiet time in the woods. So they naturally avoided the clutter of civilization. Even the Elves were great builder of cities, and Cirdan's mariners were tree-hewers who needed wood for their ships. Most likely the Ents weren't too happy with the Falathrim or any Elves who made extensive use of wood.
On the other hand, the Entwives were very organized, and at some point in their wanderings they split off from the Ents. It's impossible to say when the separation of Ents and Entwives began, but most likely it happened after the Ents settled in the woods which became Fangorn Forest. And when did the Ents settle in that wood? Probably around the time that the Sindar were migrating toward the east and establishing kingdoms in the Vales of Anduin. "The Boundaries of Lorien" (Appendix C to "The history of Galadriel and Celeborn" in Unfinished Tales) says that "legend reported that Fangorn himself had met the King of the Galadhrim in ancient days, and Fangorn had said: 'I know mine and you know yours; let neither side molest what is the other's. But if an Elf should wish to walk in my land for his pleasure he will be welcome; and if an Ent should be seen in your land fear no evil.'"
Why would there be a need for Fangorn to set some limits upon the Elves, and to divide the lands? The answer must be that the Ents experienced some friction even with the Elves, and that friction had to be over the use to which trees were put. The Elves of Lorien used trees much as most other people did: they built houses, and made furniture, and built boats. The Ents must have realized at some point that they couldn't contain the Elves and Men in Eriador, so they withdrew to the southern woods and established an enclave where trees could grow free and wild.
But Fangorn also tells Merry and Pippin that there were places in his forest where the trees were ancient, some even older than he, and the shadow had never been lifted off of them. The shadow, or darkness, to which he refers seems to be from Morgoth, not Sauron. Fangorn does speak of a time when the Elves began fleeing over Sea. That can only refer to the period after the War of the Elves and Sauron. But since he himself had walked in Beleriand, and recalled Tasarinan, he was older than that war. Hence, the trees which were older than he had been alive for centuries, perhaps millennia, before Sauron invaded Eriador.
Also, if the Ents were present in Eriador when Sauron burned the forests, it follows that they would have recalled the catastrophe and opposed Sauron directly. Instead, Fangorn only knows that the forests were destroyed. He and his people seem to already have been dwelling near the end of the Misty Mountains when Sauron invaded Eriador. So the Ent migration must have occurred prior to the War of the Elves and Sauron, and therefore it seems logical that the Ents sought out a land where they could accomplish some good (lifting the ancient darkness from the trees, or keeping the evil trees from hurting innocents and spreading their evil) as well as establish a refuge where trees would be guarded and nurtured.
For their part, the Entwives seem to have dwelt in or near the southern Misty Mountains from the earliest days. Fangorn tells Merry and Pippin that the Entwives crossed Anduin "when the Darkness came in the North". The event to which he refers can only be the return of Morgoth to Middle-earth, and the establishment of Angband. Morgoth's power extended throughout Middle-earth, but after the Noldor returned to Middle-earth he began to concentrate his attention in Beleriand. So there must have been a brief period when Morgoth found the gardens of the Entwives and threatened or harassed them.
But the situation with the Entwives raises an interesting question: what were they doing there in the first place? The answer must be that Fangorn Forest represents not only the last refuge of the Ents in the Third Age, but also the land of their origin. Fangorn says that the Elves originally woke the Ents up and taught them language. The Elves could have done this in Cuivienen, but Fangorn never mentions Cuivienen, and Ents are not ever associated with Cuivienen, either. Also, the Great Journey marks the beginning of true Elvish expansion and curiosity. It may be that some of the Eldar, or perhaps some of the Nandor, woke the first Ents soon after the Elves crossed Anduin.
When the Elves passed away to the west, or dispersed throughout other lands, the Ents must have gone forth to learn more about the world. The Entwives stayed home, and the eventual estrangement of the two Entsexes began early on. The Ents returned to the Entwives from time to time, but the two groups gradually drifted apart. Eventually, the Entwives moved across the Anduin. The passage would have been most easily accomplished at the Undeeps, and the Entwives settled in the lands south of Greenwood the Great, and due east of their original forest. They would have been close to both Elves and Men, but they could have remained relatively unmolested.
In the Second Age, as the Ents retreated eastward toward the ancient homeland, they found the ancient woods infested with evil and the Entwives gone. But they stayed in touch with the Entwives for a while. The final separation must have been the result of the War of the Elves and Sauron. The Ents watched as the world churned in turmoil around them. For Sauron not only invaded Eriador, he sent armies marching north from Mordor to destroy the Edainic peoples of Wilderland, as well as any Elven realms he could reach. Most likely, the Ents remained in Fangorn Forest for the rest of the Second Age. They paid little heed when the Last Alliance of Elves and Men marched south against Mordor. But one day Fangorn decided to visit his old love Fimbrethil, and passing east across the Undeeps he came to a land which had been devastated by war. The Entwives were gone, and their gardens had been destroyed.
And so began a quest which may have lasted 1,000 years. Every now and then the Ents would venture forth and ask people if they had seen the Entwives. Of course, the Ents never found the Entwives. When asked about them by a reader, Tolkien replied:
I think that in fact the Entwives had disappeared for good, being destroyed with their gardens in the War of the Last Alliance (Second Age 3429-3441) when Sauron pursued a scorched earth policy and burned their land against the advance of the Allies down the Anduin (vol. II p. 79 refers to it). They survived only in the 'agriculture' transmitted to Men (and Hobbits). Some, of course, may have fled east, or even have become enslaved: tyrants even in such tales must have an economic and agricultural background to their soldiers and metal-workers. If any survived so, they would indeed be far estranged from the Ents, and any rapprochement would be difficult -- unless experience of industrialized and militarized agriculture had made them a little more anarchic. I hope so. I don't know. (Letter 144)
The Ents' search for the Entwives inspired many songs and tales, and even Aragorn seemed to know something of the Ents' long search, for he told Fangorn that new lands would be open to them. Fangorn by that time held little hope of finding his beloved Fimbrethil again, and he may never have left his woods in the Fourth Age. The Ents seem to have been content to remain in the wild wood, and to watch over the Treegarth of Orthanc, to ensure that evil never returned to the region.
Of course, people are quick to point out that Ents or Ent-like creatures dwelt near the Shire. And when Fangorn questioned Merry and Pippin about their homeland he concluded that it would be a land suitable for the Entwives. But there were no Entwives in the Shire, and it's unlikely they ever dwelt there. Sam's famous walking tree, which his cousin Hal reported to him, could indeed have been just that. The trees of the Old Forest were able to move around, as Frodo and his companions learned when they lost their way amid the angry woods. But there were no Ents in the Forest. Just ancient trees like Old Man Willow and other curious, unnamed perils. Trees could wake up on their own, for unexplained reasons. Fangorn described the process for Merry and Pippin:
'The trees and the Ents,' said Treebeard. 'I do not understand all that goes on myself, so I cannot explain it to you. Some of us are still true Ents, and lively enough in our fashion, but many are growing sleepy, going tree-ish, as you might say. Most of the trees are just trees, of course; but many are half awake. Some are quite wide awake, and a few are, well, ah, getting Entish. That is going on all the time.
'When that happens to a tree, you find that some have bad hearts. Nothing to do with their wood: I do not mean that. Why, I knew some good old willows down the Entwash, gone long ago, alas! They were quite hollow, indeed they were falling all to pieces, but as quiet and sweet-spoken as a young leaf. And then there are some trees in the valleys under the mountains, sound as a bell, and bad right through. That sort of thing seems to spread. There used to be some very dangerous parts in this country. There are still some very black patches.'
In a letter to The Daily Telegraph Tolkien
explained the difference between forests in Middle-earth. An article had associated gloom with Tolkien's woods, and he took exception to the comparison:
With reference to the Daily Telegraph of June 29th, page 18, I feel that it is unfair to use my name as an adjective qualifying 'gloom', especially in a context dealing with trees. In all my works I take the part of trees as against all their enemies. Lothlorien is beautiful because there the trees were loved; elsewhere forests are represented as awakeningto the consciousness of themselves. The Old Forest was hostile to two legged creatures because of the memory of many injuries. Fangorn Forest was old and beautiful, but at the time of the story tense with hostility because it was threatened by a machine-loving enemy. Mirkwood had fallen under the domination of a Power that hated all living things but was restored to beauty and became Greenwood the Great before the end of the story.
It is difficult to think of Beren enraptured by the beauty and grace of Luthien in a gloomy wood, or of Finrod looking upon Beren's sleeping ancestors in a forbidding forest, wicked and full of hate. The woods of Doriath, Ossiriand, and even the Shire are friendly, open places. Their inhabitants may be insular and protective of their lands and lives, but they are not consumed with malice. The Old Forest, and Fangorn Forest, inherited some patches of evil from the days of Morgoth. But whereas the Ents returned to Fangorn to cleanse or watch over their ancestral woods, the Old Forest was left to gnaw itself with malice, at least until Tom Bombadil decided to settle down nearby. Gandalf noted at Elrond's Council that Bombadil was "withdrawn into a little land, within bounds that he has set, though none can see them, waiting perhaps for a change of days". Bombadil told Frodo and his companions that he, Bombadil, could not leave his land, because he had to watch over it. The evil from the Old Forest and the Barrow-wights had become so great that Bombadil felt compelled to keep it in check.
But though the Barrow-wights were sent to infest the ancient mounds of the Dunedain by either Sauron or the Lord of the Nazgul, why did the Old Forest become dark and menacing? Tolkien notes that the woods held "the memory of many injuries". What were those injuries? We can only be sure of a few. Sauron's burning of the forests of Eriador may have started the slow process. Somehow, a few places like the Old Forest and Eryn Vorn survived the destruction of the war. But whereas some of the Gwathuirim (men related to the Dunlendings and the Men of Brethil in Beleriand) retreated to Eryn Vorn, and undoubtedly gave their love to the woods as best men were able, no men retreated to the Old Forest.
Thousands of years later, men did take refuge in the Old Forest. In the war of 1409 in the Third Age, the realm of Angmar overran Cardolan. The Dunedain retreated westward from their homes in the South Downs. Some of the Dunedain held out in the mounds of Tyrn Gorthad, but others fled into the Old Forest itself. There the fighting was fierce, and perhaps many trees were lost or injured. A similar retreat may have occurred when Angmar finally destroyed the realm of Arnor. Many of Arnor's people were destroyed, but some fled into hiding. The Old Forest may have provided such a refuge. And centuries later, the Oldbucks crossed the Baranduin river from the Shire and colonized a strip of land adjacent to the Old Forest. The hobbits and the trees came into conflict, and Merry says there was indeed a battle of sorts. The Hobbits burned many trees and nurtured the High Hay to be a barrier between their land and the forest. But Hobbits still occasionally ventured into the Old Forest. There may indeed have been a few more incidents.
With no Ents to watch over them, and with Bombadil only holding the evil in check, seeking neither to destroy nor dominate it, the Old Forest seethed with malice and "the memory of many injuries". Some of the trees grew Entish, as Fangorn put it. And undoubtedly every now and then some of them went wandering out into the wild lands. Maybe they found a nice plot of land and settled down. Maybe they were destroyed by fearful two legged creatures, or worse. But as there was little hope of the Ents' finding the Entwives again, so there must have been little hope of reconciling the Old Forest with the two legged creatures. Eventually, even Bombadil would have to give up and move on.
If there were a people who retained much hope of anything for trees, it would be the Elves. Fangorn noted that the Ents and the Elves had grown apart. But in the late Third Age and the early Fourth Age Elven culture was substantially different from that of the previous ages. The mighty Eldarin civilizations had been reduced to a few enclaves. The Silvan Elves of Mirkwood were the largest, most powerful group. And many of the Noldor had either gone native, so to speak, like Galadriel, or were only tarrying in pleasant memory of times gone by, like Gildor's folk. When Legolas and Gimli visited Fangorn Forest after the War of the Ring, it may be that a final phase of friendship and understanding began between the Ents and Elves, and even between the Ents and Dwarves.
But such truces or renewals of friendships could only be temporary. There are no hints about what became of the Ents and Entwives, save perhaps in an Elvish song Fangorn cherished enough to share with Merry and Pippin. The song attempted to represent the division of the Entish folk, but Fangorn noted that it was "Elvish, of course: lighthearted, quickworded, and soon over." After depicting the estrangement of Ent and Entwife, the song offers a hope of reconciliation. Together we will take the road that leads into the West, and far away will find a land where both our hearts may rest.
The West can only be Aman, and as such represents an Elvish hope, or wistfulness. Galadriel, in her parting with Fangorn, warned him that they would not meet until "the lands that lie under the wave are lifted up again." She did not hold out the prospect of any Ent passing over Sea. And there shouldn't be any. Iluvatar created the Ents to watch over the trees of Middle-earth. In Aman they would not be needed, though perhaps their spirits, after they died, might have been gathered there by Namo. There is really nothing of Entish mysticism in any of Fangorn's discussions with people. We don't know if they gave thought to an afterlife, or to spiritual concerns. But they were rational incarnates, as Tolkien put it, and they understood regret, loss, and even hope. So perhaps, when Elrond, Galadriel, Gildor, Frodo, Bilbo, and Gandalf set sail over Sea at the end of the Third Age, just as Sam, Merry, and Pippin watched them fade into the distance on the Straight Road, there were ancient eyes looking out from the trees, bidding silent farewell to ancient bonds and friendships.
And maybe, just maybe, the Elves and Hobbits planted willow trees in Lindon and the Shire, along the grassy riverbanks, in memory of the mighty ancient woods and their proud shepherds. Even the Entwives should have liked that, though nothing would compare to the beauty of the willow-meads of Tarasinan in the Spring. A vanimar, vanimalion nostari. Namarie!
Author: Michael Martinez
Published on: April 20, 2001
Michael Martinez is the author of Visualizing Middle-earth
Your Daily Tolkien Ping! Coming from many sources, these articles cover many aspects of Tolkien and his literary works. If anyone would like for me to ping them directly when I post articles such as this let me know. Enjoy!
11) He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water by Michael Martinez
There will be no Daily Tolkien article tomorrow.
Have a Happy Thanksgiving.
This reviewer gave it five stars...
First Review Of The Two Towers!
Excerpts:
"THE TWO TOWERS supasses all levels of expectation, and in the process it makes everything that THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING achieved look tame by comparison."
To describe Gollum - "It's the most impressive use of CGI characterisation ever seen."
To describe Helm's Deep - "Forty-five minutes of monumental action, staggering in every way, from the stunt work to the sheer scale and audacity of what's been attempted."
"Get ready to witness the War of the Ring, because nothing you've ever seen before compares to it. It might be worth ensuring that there are no unpleasant sticky substances on the cinema carpet by your feet, because that's where your jaw is going to be ending up when you get to the siege of Helm's Deep..."
"It's an all-out frontal assault on audiences, leaving them reeling with disbelief at what they're witnessing."
"...just rockets forward, firing on all cylinders with no shred of material you could accuse of being superflouous, let alone boring, on screen."
"Tolkien purists will moan in some quarters - vital bits are missing, sections have been left out for inclusion in the third film. Still, none of this really matters when it comes down to the fact that THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS is a certifiable epic."
Of the people that have seen the movie (industry insiders, movie spies, etc.) everyone seems to agree that The Two Towers is even better than The Fellowship.
Even with the changes that were made in The Fellowship, I was very happy with the movie. It was far better than I anticipated a movie based upon the book could ever be given the limitations of the medium. If you enjoyed the first movie, I wouldn't worry too much over the changes Jackson might have made. He has shown that he is able to make great decisions when changes to the story are called for. I anticipate no less as the second and third movies are released.
The Magazine is not impressed, and are standing by 'The Insider', but the more I think about it, the more fishy it seems. New Line will be lifting the ban on reviews on Sunday/Monday when the first real screenings begin.
So expect lots of reviews from then on, real reviews. The first will probably by the HTF once again, they were with FOTR, and they've posted a message on their site within the past 48 hours telling us to expect a review early next week.
 Ring Ping!! |
Tolkien discusses this at some length in the Second Age tales published in Unfinished Tales.
The two chief Numenorean foundations in the area were on the river Gwathlo (Greyflood) - the harbor Lond Daer (or Vinyalonde) at the mouth of the river, and Tharbad, farther up the river where the old road used to cross. From here they harvested timber far and wide in Eriador.
I am surprised that the usually thorough Martinez does not treat this development.
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