🌳Ents and the Oldforest

[faila]

are the ents in any way related to the trees of the old forest? What about the ents that are almost tree like (i forgot the name) Could it be possible that the old forest is the female ents thats ran away?

 

[BlackCaptain]

Good questoin, and while i dont feel like looking it up right now, i dont think they are. And the EntWives went eastward, past the Anduin many years ago. The forrest of Mirkwood is almost the same as the Old Forrest, only much Bigger, cuz both have trees that are eirie, and the Fangorn has trees that actually move... Even though im more skilled in Wizard Lore, i know a couple things about trees, and i can tell you, that there is most definately not a relation between these two forrests...

 

[Celebthôl]

No there are no Entwives in the old forest, Treebeard even says so i cant find the qote right now but one of the hobbits mensions the old forest and treebeard says its bad etc!

 

[Lhunithiliel]

I think that the Old Forest (the Shire), Mirkwood and Fangorn were once long ago one huge forest. It is said somewhere in the books . I think it was Treebeard who was explaining this and also I think Tom Bombadil too said a few things about it... Unfortunately, it's too much work to go and find the right quotes just right now. Sorry!
But still, no Entwives at the time of the events in the LOTR! They had gone away to the valleys and occupied with the pastures, the corn-fields, and the orchards... And what happened to them has been one of those unsolved mysteries that has been discussed years and years.

 

[Aulë]

I read somewhere that they were destroyed in one of Sauron's wars, which created the Brown Lands.

 

[Lantarion]

The Brown Lands were the former site of the gardens of the Entwives, rather than an actual forest.
I also recall the quote.. Something like "In those days a squireel could travel from Fangorn to Eriador without touching the ground." So yes, they were all linked, and I personallly believe that Ents did live in the Old Forest; the Onodrim were placed all over Middle-Earth (and elsewhere of course), and I'm sure they were spaced out all around the wide woods.
And as for the exact question, "are the ents in any way related to the trees of the old forest?", yes. The Ents (aka Onodrim, Shepherds of the Trees) were Maiar sent to Arda to protect Yavanna's trees and other growing things from the axes of the Dwarves, the evils of Melkor, and anything else that might harm them. And Fangorn himself lived in Beleriand before its downfall:

In the willow-meads of Tasarinan I walked in the Spring.
Ah! the sight and smell of the Spring in Nan-tasarion!And I said that was good.
I wandered in Summer in the elm-woods of Ossiriand

It goes on, talking about Dorthonion, Neldoreth and other places. So I think it possible that if Treebeard himself wandered as much as between Beleriand and the M-e over the Ered Lindon, I'm certain that there were many Onodrim all over the world.

 

[Eriol]

I also recall the quote, but I think the squirrel went from the Old forest to Dunland, not Fangorn... Yes, they are close, and it probably does not matter. I don't think Fangorn and this big primal forest were connected, however. Rohan is a somewhat drier country (to account for the prairies and grass as opposed to forests). Why is it so? I don't know how "ecologically accurate" is middle-earth, but in our planet, these "drier areas" are a result of the wind patterns, which in turn are a result of a) position on the globe (deserts and savannas are usually close to the tropics, while the Equator is heavily forested) and b) the effect of mountains (the Death Valley, for instance, is "in the shade" of the Rockies and do not get the rain that comes from the Pacific).

This may all be useless in the fantasy world of ME, but if it is not, I would think that that spot between the two big chains (Misty and White) would not sustain a forest. The rains would go over it without actually falling, and the rivers of the area do not drain large basins. Perhaps a wooded savanna?

I always wonder about the huge deforestation provoked by the Númenóreans in Eriador, and the effects it had on the climate of the area. It should be warmer (the shores of Eriador are close to what was Taur-nu-Fuin, which was described as similar to a tropical forest -- tangled and full of different creatures).

 

[Eledhwen]

WOW!

There are people on this forum whose arboreal knowledge I can only bow to. The world was so captivated by Tolkien's Middle Earth that he often got letters from experts asking him just such questions - which of course he could not answer (eg: botanists wanted to know what genus of plant athelas belonged to). I'm just posting to say that, though I can't add to this discussion, I am really enjoying reading the posts. I would love to read a thread of a Think Tank of Tolkienologists who, like Eriol, are experts in various fields (eg: geology, oceanography, etc) and could discuss Middle Earth from their professional standpoint. It would make interesting reading - and would be educational to us hewers of wood and carriers of water.

 

[Eriol]

Why, thanks, I'm flattered . I have a lot of questions I would like to ask to some geologists, for instance, about the mountain ranges of M-E. Did Melkor and Aulë use ordinary methods -- plate tectonics, for instance -- to raise the mountains, or brute force (i.e. magic). Can someone on TTF answer this question?

 

[GuardianRanger]

What does the Atlas of Middle Earth have to say? (I just got it for Christmas, I haven't read it yet.) I believe there is a book on the creatures of Middle Earth....I wonder about plants.