Treebeard

By Boddah

Treebeard is the name for an Ent (in Elvish his name is Fangorn) and he is the eldest of all the Ents. He is incredibly tall and his skin is (as you guessed) made of bark, like all Ents. He befriends Peregrin Took and Meriadoc Brandybuck after they narrowly escape the Orcs and flee to his forest, Fangorn. As in nature of an Ent, Treebeard takes a really long time to conclude a decision. It is not that they have trouble making up their minds; it is they go over ever-single little detail before making a decision. This can be displayed when he always comments on not being hasty. He is never pressed for time so he never encourages others to act faster.

Treebeard is described as the oldest being in Middle-Earth, but this is contradictory to Tom Bombadil who is also called the oldest. Treebeard also says that there are trees in the Forest much older than he. Therefore, the compromise is Tom Bombadil is the oldest living thing on Middle-Earth since he does not rightly belong to a race. The Ents were created by the thought of Yavanna, the Vala of growing things, to protect her trees. Eru sent down spirits to inhabit these trees. The Ents were believed to awaken right after the Elves. Treebeard was one of the original Ents so by the end of the Third Age he is at least 10,000 years old.

In the ancient years, Treebeard walked in the woods that covered the land west of the Misty Mountain range, and at the time, Fangorn Forest was the southeastern region of a great wood. He also roamed in Beleriand and visited the willows of Tasarinan in the spring, the elms of Ossiriand in the summer, the beaches of Neldoreth in the fall, and the pines of Dorthonion in the winter. When Morgoth was released from captivity, the Entwives fled across the Anduin and this marked the era where the Ents grew apart from the Entwives. In 503 First Age, the Ents helped Beren fight the Dwarves who slew Thingol and stole the Silmaril. The Dwarves were cornered into a forest and never seen again. After the destruction of Beleriand, Men began to cut down several trees to use as boats and what not. Soon the great forest of the northwest was dwindled down. So Treebeard and the Ents retreated to the Fangorn Forest and because the Entwives were gone, the population suffered.

At the end of the Second Age Sauron destroyed, the gardens of the Entwives and those lands became known as the Brown Lands. The Entwives were never found; the Ents did try to find them but soon gave up. Late in the Third Age, Orcs from Isengard began destroying trees in the Forest and this angered Treebeard. Soon after that, he met the Hobbits, Peregrin, and Meriadoc. After the Entmoot and the long dreary hours of the Ent’s thinking, they finally struck down Isengard. Many Huorns (a race similar to the Ents) followed Saruman’s armies to Helm’s Deep where they aided in the destruction of Saruman’s army. Isengard was destroyed by the flood of the River Isen. Treebeard was left to guard Saruman in his tower, Orthanc.

Treebeard was convinced by Saruman to let him go, which he (Saruman) did. Soon after, Treebeard took counsel with Galadriel and Celeborn, the rulers of Lothlorien. When the events of the worlds slowed, it is thought that the Ents began again the search for their Entwives.