Skip to content

EntsThe lovable Ents. The most ancient of peoples of Middle Earth. They were the shepherd of the trees, and, like their wards, they were trees–but mobile and with the gift of speech. They were slow to jump to conclusions or to judge, a trait we'd expect of an intelligent tree. But when they reached a conclusion–like they concluded that Saruman's Isengard must be crushed–the results were like an earthquake. Gentle and loving giants, but with a sure sense of right and wrong. It's no coincidence that Tolkien gave Ents such a lovable place in Middle Earth lore. Tolkien loved trees and loathed those who destroyed them with no good reason–like Saruman's evil servants had been destroying the trees around Isengard. Tolkien once told a friend about a childhood incident: “There was a willow hanging over the millpool and I learned to climb it. It belonged to a butcher on the Stratford Road, I think. One day they cut it down. They didn't do anything with it: the log just lay there. I never forgot that.” You wonder whether Tolkien's account of the Ents destroying Isengard in payment for the wanton destruction of their wards stems directly from that childhood incident. It doesn't really matter because the lesson is clear: Nature is a gift, a high gift of God. If we wantonly destroy nature, we violate our fiduciary duty–our duty as stewards of God's creation–and re-payment is sure to come.

Comments

Latest