Treebeard Printable version

Known as the shepherd of the forest, Treebeard is a tall ancient tree-like being having a stiff-limbed figure, bark-like skin and leafy hair. Treebeard, also known as Fangorn in Sindarin, was the oldest of the Ents (the shepherds of the trees) in Middle-earth. He resides in the Forest of Fangorn, located at the southern end of the Misty Mountains. He led the attack of the Ents against Saruman in "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers." Gandalf referred to Treebeard as “the oldest living thing that still walks beneath the Sun upon this Middle-earth” in Chapter 5 of “The Two Towers”, and Celeborn addressed Treebeard as “Eldest” in Chapter 6 of "The Return of the King".

Fangorn Forest

On the south-eastern edge of the Misty Mountains, near the Gap of Rohan, resides the Forest of Fangorn. This forest is said to have humid weather with a large variety of different kinds of very tall, thick trees that restrict the entry of light. Both the Ents and the Huorns reside deep within the Forest of Fangorn. The river Entwash flows through the forest and is the source of the Ents’ legendary drink called the Ent-draught.

History

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The Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers, Book III, Chapter IV: “Treebeard”.[1]

Before the Third Age

Treebeard roamed middle earth with his wife Fembrethil during the old times of middle earth when it was still predominantly one giant forest. It is said that Treebeard was one of the oldest Ents that ever lived, and the oldest living thing still alive. He recalls the time when Elves were curing the Ents of dumbness (muteness) and waking up and teaching trees how to speak. After the demise of the Entwives, the remaining Ents isolated themselves from the outside world, residing in the Forest of Fangorn.

Third Age and War of the Ring

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The Lord of the Rings: Treebeard

The five wizards, also known as the Istari, arrived around the year 1000 of the third age. One of the five wizards named Saruman eventually came to Isengard near Fangorn, and became acquainted with Treebeard. Treebeard would talk with him, and Saruman would listen, learning many things he would otherwise never have known, as he gathered information useful to him in his plotting to become a Power.

The number of Ents slowly dwindled due to the absence of Entwives and lack of Entings. Only Treebeard, Finglas, Fladrif, Quickbeam, and a few other Ents young and old remained, staying in the Forest and clear of the affairs of Men, Elves and Wizards, as Saruman's shadow, power and treachery and his ravaging of the land increased. Many of the Ents had grown tree-ish through time, and only about four dozen may have remained who could or would join Treebeard in their assault on Isengard when, as noted below, the time came to deal with Saruman.

The arrival of Meriadoc Brandybuck and Peregrin Took in Fangorn Forest, and their intervention in the affairs of the Ents, drew the Ents into action. Merry and Pippin had been captured by a band of orcs who were taking them to Saruman at Isengard, but escaped into Fangorn Forest when Riders of Rohan caught and destroyed the band at the forest's edge. After their escape, they stumbled upon Treebeard, who through them learned about Saruman’s treachery and destruction of the forest in helping fuel his empire building and war efforts.

Treebeard called other Ents together for an Entmoot, which began on February 30, 3019 of the Third Age. About four dozen attended, and after three days of long discussion, they determined they should no longer refrain from taking action, and set off to war in the afternoon of March 2nd. Isengard was destroyed and flooded on March 2-3, 3019 of the Third Age, with Saruman isolated and imprisoned in his tower Orthanc. Due to Treebeard's nature and the power of Saruman's voice, Treebeard releases him on August 15, 3019 of the Third Age (1419 of the Shire-reckoning).

After the War of the Ring and Beyond

Aragorn was crowned King of Middle Earth after the war was over. He gave to the Ents all the valley around Isengard, as long as they kept a watch on Orthanc and brought him news. The peace now provided Ents the chance to grow and expand, and possibly search for the Entwives in lands long closed to them, though Treebeard does not seem encouraged about success. Yet at their parting, Treebeard reminds and requests Merry and Pippin to stay alert for any information about them and send him word.

Treebeard was not an immortal, though he aged slowly and had lived a longer life than any alive during the Third Age. No one knows what has become of him. Some speculate he settled in somewhere, planted his roots, and became tree-ish himself, ultimately returning to a tree as others had done.

Before the departure of Galadriel, she had shared with Treebeard while they were at Isengard that she "would not see him again in Middle-earth, nor until the lands lie under the wave are lifted again. Then in the willow-meads of Nan-Tathren, we may meet in the spring. Farewell!" It is not clear what Galadriel meant, but some speculate that Treebeard and the other Ents might wake up from their deep slumber after Dagor Dagorath and the recovery of the lands of Beleriand, andthey would meet Galandriel again in Nan-Tathren after their awakening.

Portrayal in Adaptations

Movie

Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings Film Trilogy

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The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

Treebeard is voiced by John Rhys-Davis,[2] who also played Gimli in Peter Jackson’s, “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" (2002) and "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" (2003). In the film, he consisted of a CGI construct and a large animatronic model. In the film "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" (2002), Merry and Pippin request the Ents to help in the war against Saruman's orcs. The Ents at first refuse, saying they had no intention of meddling with the affairs of the inhabitants of Middle-earth. But afterward, when Treebeard is carrying them to drop them off outside his forest, Pippin asks him to help by taking them toward Isengard to which Treebeard agrees. As Pippin suspected, upon their arrival at the edge of the forest, Treebeard sees the destruction of his forest Saruman's orcs have caused. Treebeard can no longer be restrained, and calls the Ents who come to join in Isengard's destruction - possibly the Last March of the Ents.
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The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

The Ents attack Isengard and pull down the wall built to dam the river, bringing a flood that ravaged the war camps of the orcs. They proceeded to attack Saruman after the destruction of his army. Treebeard and Gandalf also met at Isengard upon Gandalf’s arrival in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003).[3] In that film, Treebeard called Gandalf "young master Gandalf."

Video Games

The Lord of the Rings: Conquest

Treebeard appeared in several Lord of the Rings video game titles. In the videogame The Lord of the Rings: Conquest,[4] he is featured in both the good and evil campaigns. At the first level of the game, in the Battle of Isengard, you will be able to see Treebeard’s first appearance in the game where you must deliver Grima Wormtongue’s key to him. His other appearance occurred in the alternate timeline in which Frodo took the One Ring all for himself and a Balrog named Durin’s bane kills Treebeard. He is also a playable character in the videogame LEGO The Lord of the Rings: The Video Game in a segment where Treebeard carries the hobbits on his shoulder.

Trivia

Some believe Tolkien based Treebeard's mannerisms on his friend C.S. Lewis. In the Top Trumps card game, Treebeard is listed as 17,051 years old. The word Ents derived from the Latin word for giant. Although Ents are not immortals, they do not die. They just become trees with the absence of a conscious state. Ents are believed to only exist in the Forest of Fangorn during the Third Age.​