Treebeard

In Tolkien's elvish language, Sindarin, "Fangorn" is a compound of fanga, "beard", and orne, "tree", so it is the equivalent of the English "Treebeard". The Rohirrim (Riders of Rohan) called Fangorn Forest the "Entwood", the wood of the Ents. Treebeard gave it various Quenya names in Lord of the Rings. "Ambaróna" means "uprising, sunrise, orient" from amba, "upwards" and róna, "east". "Aldalómë" means "tree twilight" from alda, "tree" and lómë, "dusk, twilight".[T 2] "Tauremorna" means "gloomy forest" from taur, "forest", and morna, "gloomy".[T 2] "Tauremornalómë" means "gloomy twilight forest".[T 3]

Sketch map of Rohan, Gondor, and Mordor in the Third Age. Only the southernmost part of the Forest of Fangorn is shown.

The Forest of Fangorn was at the south-eastern end of the Misty Mountains near the Gap of Rohan. The mountains formed the western border of Fangorn. At the end of the mountain range stood Saruman's stronghold of Isengard near the southwestern corner of the forest. To the east and south of Fangorn was the land of Rohan, and Lothlórien lay to the north and slightly east. Fangorn Forest stretched for many miles and held many paths.

Two significant rivers ran through the forest. To the north the Limlight flowed from the woods and then formed the northern border of Rohan. The river then merged into the larger Anduin. In the south, the Entwash spread deep into the forest arriving from Methedras, a mountainous region located near the Misty Mountains. The river then flowed through Rohan to the Anduin River. The valley of Derndingle was located to the south-west. There was a path where the Entwash passed into a region called Wellinghall with the home of Treebeard, the shepherd of the forest.

Fangorn Forest was said to be humid, and trunks and branches of many kinds of tree grew thick allowing little light to penetrate. Huorns also lived deep within in the forest, like Ents but more discreet. The Ents and Huorns drank from the river Entwash, and from it the Ents brewed their legendary drink, the Ent-draughts.

As told in The Silmarillion, Ents were created in the Elder Days. They were created to be the "Shepherds of the Trees" and protect trees from the anticipated destruction that Dwarves would cause. Further details are provided in The Lord of the Rings, where Treebeard recounts to Merry and Pippin how the Ents were "awakened" and taught to speak by the Elves of that time. Treebeard also says that only three Ents remain from the Elder Days: himself, Finglas (Leaflock) and Fladrif (Skinbark). He tells the hobbits of the time when he could walk through the woods of Middle-earth for days. He sings a song about roaming the woods of Middle-earth, naming regions of Beleriand which were destroyed in the war with Morgoth and now lie "beneath the waves." He partly contradicts Gandalf by saying there are valleys in Fangorn forest where the Great Darkness, the period of Morgoth's rule before the arising of the Moon and Sun, never lifted and the trees are older than he.

The description of Treebeard is perhaps the most detailed of all the characters in The Lord of the Rings. The text reads:

"They found they were looking at a most extraordinary face. It belonged to a large man-like, almost Troll-like, figure, at least fourteen foot high, very sturdy, with a tall head, and hardly any neck. Whether it was clad in stuff like green and grey bark, or whether that was its hide, was difficult to say. At any rate the arms, at a short distance from the trunk, were not wrinkled, but covered with a brown smooth skin. The large feet had seven toes each. The lower part of the long face was covered with a sweeping grey beard, bushy, almost twiggy at the roots, thin and mossy at the ends. But at the moment the hobbits noted little but the eyes. These deep eyes were now surveying them, slow and solemn, but very penetrating. They were brown, shot with a green light."[T 1]

After meeting Merry and Pippin, Treebeard learns that they think that Gandalf is dead. Apparently he knows otherwise. He then takes them to a place that he says might be called "Wellinghall" in the Common Speech. There the hobbits tell him their adventures and Treebeard learns of Saruman's treachery.[1] When they are finished, Treebeard says,

"Well, well. That is a bundle of news and no mistake. You have not told me all, no indeed, not by a long way. But I do not doubt that you are doing as Gandalf would wish. There's something very big going on, that I can see, and what it is maybe I shall learn in good time or bad time. By root and twig, but it is a strange business: up sprout a little folk that are not in the old lists and behold! the Nine forgotten Riders reappear to hunt for them, and Gandalf takes them on a great journey, and Galadriel harbours them in Caras Galadhon, and Orcs pursue them all down the leagues of Wilderland: indeed they seem to be caught up in a great storm."[T 1]

Treebeard muses, "I must do something, I suppose." Saruman used to walk in Fangorn forest and talk to him, but on reflection he says that although he told Saruman many things, Saruman never told him anything. He realizes now that Saruman is plotting to be "a Power" and wonders what evil he is really doing: why has Saruman taken up with Orcs, why there are so many Orcs in his woods, why these Orcs are able to bear sunlight, and he is angered by trees being felled "to feed the fires of Orthanc."[T 1][2] He overcomes his anger and then, thinking aloud, begins to make plans for the next day. He also tells Merry and Pippin about the Entwives. The critic Tom Shippey writes that Fangorn's explanations are "authoritative and indeed .. 'professorial'. They admit no denial."[3]

When the hobbits awake in the morning, Treebeard is not there, but he soon arrives and announces that he has been busy, and they will drink and then go to Entmoot. Entmoot, he explains to Pippin, is not a place but a gathering of Ents. Treebeard carries them to the place where the Ents meet. This gathering lasts three days. The Entmoot ends with all the Ents shouting, and then singing a marching song and striding to Isengard with Treebeard in the lead. During the march, Pippin notices the Huorns following.

The Ents arrive at Isengard as Saruman's army is leaving, and they wait. After the army leaves, Treebeard bangs on the gates and shouts for Saruman to come forth. Saruman activates Isengard's defences, and the Ents attack. They reduce the outer walls to rubble and destroy much of what is inside the walls. Treebeard than calls an end to the attack and the second part of the Ents' plan begins: they divert the river Isen and drown the entire ruined fortress. Saruman is left in the tower, surrounded by water and watchful Ents. After imprisoning Saruman, some of the Ents (including Treebeard) and Huorns keep watch.

Later a delegation led by Gandalf arrives at Isengard and, except Gandalf, are amazed that it has been destroyed. Treebeard promises Gandalf that Saruman will remain in the tower.

In The Return of the King, Treebeard is still at Isengard when Aragorn, now King of Gondor, comes there after the victory over Sauron. Treebeard let Saruman go a few days before. Gandalf gently chastises him saying that Saruman might have persuaded Treebeard to let him go by "the poison of his voice." Treebeard delivers the keys of Orthanc to the King. Finally, Treebeard says farewell to the elf-rulers Celeborn and Galadriel "with great reverence" and the words "It is long, long since we met by stock or by stone". Shippey notes that these words echo a line in the Middle English poem Pearl, "We meten so selden by stok other stone"; where in Pearl the mention of stock and stone means in earthy reality, Shippey writes, it fits the Fangorn context well, since Treebeard's "sense of ultimate loss naturally centres on felled trees and barren ground."[4]

Treebeard, as portrayed in Ralph Bakshi's The Lord of the Rings

Treebeard has inspired artists and illustrators such as Inger Edelfeldt, John Howe,[5] Ted Nasmith,[6] Anke Eißmann,[7] and Alan Lee.[8]

In Ralph Bakshi's 1978 animated adaptation of The Lord of the Rings, John Westbrook provided the voice of Treebeard.[9] Stephen Thorne voiced the character in BBC Radio's 1981 serialization.[10]

Treebeard (voiced by John Rhys-Davies) in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

In Peter Jackson's films The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003), Treebeard is a combination of a large animatronic model and a CGI construct; his voice is performed by John Rhys-Davies, who also portrays Gimli.[11]

A 6-metre-high sculpture of Treebeard by Tolkien's great-nephew Tim Tolkien received planning permission in Birmingham, where Tolkien grew up.[12]

On The Tolkien Ensemble's album At Dawn in Rivendell, Treebeard is voiced by Christopher Lee.[13][14]