Fangorn/ Treebeard

Ents

Fangorn/Treebeard  by Varda-(Valar)
Images of Fangorn

Fangorn/Treebeard

by Varda-(Valar)
one of the first articles, probably 1998

    Fangorn is the first of the ents. He would have awakened as Fangorn when the first elves did. He would have been a "spirit called from afar" by Yavanna to dwell within an olvar, which sounds as if he would originally be a Maia spirit of Yavanna. Like Gandalf, his memory of times before his life in Arda could have been lessened or removed, leaving only his mission. It could be assumed that when the time of ents was done, his Maia spirit would return to Yavanna in Valinor and resume all memory.
    In the Lord of the Rings, the idea of Fangorn being a Maia seems to have been dropped, although he and the other ents still serve as Yavanna's Shepherds of the Trees. Perhaps Tom Bombadil, instead, is such a spirit called from afar by Yavanna.
    Fangorn, in the Lord of the Rings, still led the ents in Fangorn forest, although they had not seen the entwives in a very long time. The two hobbits, Merry and Pippin, awakened them like young entlings to their original purpose, their tiny selves starting a chain of events affecting the history of the world. Because of the hobbits' news, Fangorn called a meeting, an entmoot. From there, the ents went out of their hidden places and stopped the destruction of the trees by the cruel industries of Saruman's Orthanc. The ents punished the perpetrators of the crime by flood and the tearing down of buildings with their own hands, destroying the enterprise. This took Saruman out as a great power in the War of the Ring, leaving him to work only lesser mischief.
    The huorns, dark ents, influenced by the entish activity and herded by them, also marched a different direction and punished the hated orcs for their destruction of trees, incidentally benefitting the human forces besieged at Helm's Deep. Since those forces included the one who would distract Sauron's forces from the Ring Bearer and later lead the entire Fourth Age, Aragorn, their action had far-reaching consequences.

References: LotR, Silmarillion
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Images of Fangorn:

Image Treebeard's face. Artist: Alessandra Cimatoribus. Rolozo Tolkien site   
Image Treebeard's face. Artist Peter Xavier Price. Rolozo Tolkien page
Image: "Treebeard". Artist Tony Carrillo. fan.TheOneRing.net 
Image: "Fangorn Forest". The forest with the river running through it. Artist Alan Lee. Rolozo 
Image: Merry and Pippin walking through Fangorn Forest. Artist Ted Nasmith. Rolozo
Image: "Welling". One of Fangorn's homes, Welling Hall, where he brought the hobbits. Artist Ted Nasmith. Rolozo 
Image of Treebeard chatting with Merry and Pippin at his home, ent draughts. Artists Greg and Tim Hildebrandt. Rolozo Tolkien  
Image: Treebeard feeding and speaking with Merry and Pippin at Welling Hall. Picture for ICE (Iron Crown Enterprises') MERP. Artist Angus McBride. Rolozo
Image of Treebeard with Merry and Pippin. Artist: Rodney Matthews. Rolozo Tolkien page
Image of Treebeard carrying Merry and Pippin. Artist Frithjof Spangenberg, from the Rolozo Tolkien page
Image: "Searching Fangorn Forest". Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli search for Merry and Pippin. Artist Peter Xavier Price. Rolozo
Image: Entmoot, Fangorn speaking while holding the hobbits. Artist Ted Nasmith for Danbury Mint Plates. Rolozo
Image: "Entmoot". The hobbits watch the entmoot, up close. Artist Darrell Sweet. Rolozo  
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