Treebeard, also known as Fangorn, was the oldest of the Ents still left in Middle-earth an ancient tree-like being who is a sort of "shepherd of trees". He has a very tall and stiff-limbed appearance, with bark-like skin and leafy hair.

History Edit

Treebeard was the oldest Ent who ever lived, and a general consensus has him as the oldest living being in Middle Earth itself (The Top Trumps card game lists Treebeard as being 17,051 years old), but this refers only to the children of Eru -- Tom Bombadil is also called oldest, and is an immortal spirit of some sort. He was so old, that he remembered the time of elves teaching the trees to speak, recalling how they wanted to talk to everything.

In the time when Middle Earth was a giant forest, Treebeard roamed the land, presumably with his love, Fimbrethil. But after the loss of the Entwives by the end of the Third Age, he and the remaining Ents dwelt in the Forest of Fangorn, essentially isolating them from the outside world. However, with the arrival of the Istari in the year TA 1000 of the Third Age, Saruman came to Fangorn and befriended Treebeard, and would often visit him. The two would talk, discussing various subjects, with Saruman gathering information about the forest itself, and in particular its intertwining paths.

As the years passed, more and more of the original ents began to fade away, until only Treebeard, Finglas and Fladrif remained. When Sauron's shadow began to spread across the land once more, Treebeard and the ents remained in Fangorn, continuing to tend the trees, and taking no part in the affairs of men, elves and wizards. However, they were brought into the war when Meriadoc Brandybuck and Peregrin Took escaped from Saruman's Orcs. Being the one to find them, Treebeard befriended the two, and, upon learning that Saruman was cutting down the forest for his war efforts, Treebeard called all the ents together for an Entmoot. After three days of deliberation, they decided to attack Isengard, in an event known as the Last March of the Ents.

Leading the attack, Treebeard helped to bring down its walls and utterly destroy it, save the tower of Orthanc and Saruman himself. Once Isengard was cleansed, Treebeard remained to guard over Saruman, but was ultimitely unable to keep him, due to being persuaded by Saruman's charm, and the power of his voice, to let him go.

After Aragorn was crowned king, he promised Treebeard that the Ents could prosper again and spread to new lands with the threat of Mordor gone, and renew their search for the Entwives. However, Treebeard sadly lamented that forests may spread once more, but the Ents would not, predicting that the few remaining Ents would remain in Fangorn forest until they slowly dwindled in number. However, he still held some hope for finding the Entwives, as he asked Merry and Pippin to watch for them near the Shire, and to bring word if they were to find them.

Treebeard's ultimate fate is not known. While he aged very slowly and was extremely long-lived, he was not immortal. He most likely underwent the same fate of all the Ents: eventually settling down in one place, growing roots and leaves, and essentially becoming a tree himself, ceasing conscious thought.

It has been theorised that many of Treebeard's mannerisms were based on Tolkien's friend C.S. Lewis, a loud, bombastic man known for his powerful stride and overwhelming presence.

Also he was originally a giant that captured Gandalf in earlier drafts.

Portrayal in adaptations Edit

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 serialisation.

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 plays Gimli.

In the movie "The Two Towers", the Ents at the Entmoot initially decline Merry and Pippin's request for help. Treebeard is carrying the hobbits through the forest, when Pippin gets an idea. He asks Treebeard to carry them towards Isengard, because that is the last place Saruman would look for them. When Treebeard gets close to the forest's edge, he sees the devastation wrought by Saruman's orcs. The trees have all been chopped down to serve as fuel for Saruman's war machine. Treebeard then makes a momentous decision, and calls for the other Ents. They attack Isengard and manage to flood it. In the book, Treebeard and the Ents decide to attack Saruman without any such coercion. They already most likely aware of this situation.

This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The original content was at Treebeard. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with this wiki, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License 3.0 License.

Ents