Treebeard

Treebeard, or Fangorn in Sindarin, is a tree-giant character in J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. He is an Ent and is said by Gandalf to be "the oldest living thing that still walks beneath the Sun upon this Middle-earth." He lives in the ancient Forest of Fangorn, to which he has given his name. It lies at the southern end of the Misty Mountains. He is described as being at least 14 feet (4.5 m) in height.

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

Treebeard is still at Isengard, now renamed the Treegarth of Orthanc, when a group led by Aragorn, King of Gondor, arrives after the victory over Sauron, made possible partly because the Ents had helped to destroy Saruman's forces. Treebeard admits that he had let Saruman go. 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, who gives the valley of Orthanc to Treebeard and his ents.

In-fiction origins

In Sindarin, one of Tolkien's Elvish languages, "Fangorn" is a compound of fanga, "beard", and orne, "tree", so it is the equivalent of the English "Treebeard". The Riders of Rohan called Fangorn Forest the "Entwood", the wood of the Ents. Treebeard gave it various names in Quenya, another Elvish language: "Ambaróna" means "uprising, sunrise, orient" from amba, "upwards" and róna, "east". "Aldalómë" means "tree twilight" from alda, "tree" and lómë, "dusk, twilight". "Tauremorna" means "gloomy forest" from taur, "forest", and morna, "gloomy".

Analysis

Medieval echoes

The word "Ent" was taken from the Old English ent or eoten, meaning "giant". Tolkien borrowed the word from a phrase in the Anglo-Saxon poems The Ruin and Maxims II, orþanc enta geweorc ("cunning work of giants"), which describes Roman ruins in Britain.

The philologist and Tolkien scholar Tom Shippey notes that 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", Ted Nasmith, Anke Eißmann, and Alan Lee. In Ralph Bakshi's 1978 animated adaptation of The Lord of the Rings, John Westbrook provided the voice of Treebeard. Stephen Thorne voiced the character in BBC Radio's 1981 serialization.

thumb|upright|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. Jackson's interpretation of Treebeard makes him far more suspicious of the Hobbits (as possible Orcs) than Tolkien does, and far more reluctant to go to war with Saruman until he sees the damage done to the forest.

A 6-metre-high sculpture of Treebeard by Tolkien's great-nephew Tim Tolkien received planning permission in Birmingham, where Tolkien grew up. On The Tolkien Ensemble's album At Dawn in Rivendell, Treebeard is voiced by Christopher Lee.

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In-fiction origins

Analysis

Medieval echoes

References

Primary

Secondary

Sources