What begame of the Giganto-Trees?

[Hookbill the Goomba]

One of my favorite images from The Simlarillion comes early on in 'Of The Beginning of Days' just after the Lamps have been constructed.


"Then the seeds that Yavana had sown began swiftly to sprout and to burgeon, and there arose a multitude of growing things great and small, mosses and grasses and the great ferns, and trees whose tops were crowned with cloud as they were living mountains, but whose feet were wrapped in green twilight."

I don't recall these mountain-trees being mentioned again. Are we to assume, therefore, that Melkor destroyed them all? Were they in any way related to the giant trees we find in Lothlorien that the Elves built their homes on?
It is such an interesting idea, these trees like living mountains. I suspect it is a little inspired by the Yggdrasil tree from Norse mythology which connects Asguard with Midguard and Utguard.

Maybe Melkor did destroy them. But why does Tolkien mention them? Just for the effect? Perhaps it is an idea he meant to expand upon but never did. Then again, other than awe and building materials, what use, narratively, could be made of them? Were these Giganto-trees turned into Ents? I like to think so. :D

The reason I mention Ents is because of Trolls. No, I've not gone mad. Trolls are, in The Hobbit at least, said to be, as it were, made of the stuff of the mountains. Now, if the Trolls are meant to be the parody or mockery of Ents, and Trolls are made of mountains, would it be possible that the Ents were made from these Living Mountains?

We know little about the origins of any of the creatures of Middle Earth other than they are either 'awakened' or some sort of product of Melkor Inc. Yet I have always thought that Melkor's perversions are sometimes an indicator as to what the original was supposed to be / do.

Any thoughts?

[Rumil]

Hi Hookbill,

Could be they were wiped out when Melkor assailed the lamps..

In the overthrow of the mighty pillars lands were broken and the seas arose in tumult; and when the lamps were spilled destroying flame was poured out over the Earth

[Rumil]

Hi Hookbill,

another thought.

Perhaps the giganto-trees (nice term by the way;)) were destroyed in the cataclysm but ended up, as trees will, being turned to rich coal seams over the eons. Could explain the presence of the coal that Thorin et al took up mining when they were down on their luck?

[Hookbill the Goomba]

Perhaps the giganto-trees (nice term by the way;)) were destroyed in the cataclysm but ended up, as trees will, being turned to rich coal seams over the eons. Could explain the presence of the coal that Thorin et al took up mining when they were down on their luck?

Good point. I had always thought the appearance of coal something of an anachronism, like the steam train. It kind of makes sense, I suppose. A binding of the works of Aule and Yavana; the coal, made from Yavana's greatest creation, mined by the Dwarves, the greatest of Aule's. Almost poetic.

I still like the idea that they were the ents, though. :D

[Hot, crispy nice hobbit]

Maybe Ol' Tom would know something about that?

I do remember that Yavanna lamented that her trees get chopped into cupboards for anything that can talk, and then was comforted by the presence of Ents created by the Music. She then told Aule to make sure that his midgets do not take an axe to her trees, or they'd be stomped into Playdough(TM). Aule's reply made me laugh: as long as its sentient, it would need firewood.

[Thinlómien]

The fact that they are not mentioned again does not necessarily mean that they were destroyed. Who knows if these big trees survived somewhere in the Far East or South...? (Ooh, maybe they transformed into giant elephants and became known as mûmakil in the later ages... :D;))

As to Hookbill's Ent theory, it is cute, but it has its problems. As far as I know, Ents were of the size of normal trees, not giant trees and it seems unlikely that they would have become smaller in the process of developing a conscious mind and learning to speak and move.

Maybe they were originally, or became so when time passed, as hard as stone and very much like, indeed, maybe this explains the mystery of Orthanc. Maybe it was the last giganto-tree, transformed into a magnificient tower by the Gondorians. Maybe that's why the Ents took it so positively to guard Isengard.
;)

[Hookbill the Goomba]

As to Hookbill's Ent theory, it is cute, but it has its problems. As far as I know, Ents were of the size of normal trees, not giant trees and it seems unlikely that they would have become smaller in the process of developing a conscious mind and learning to speak and move.

Well, Trolls were made out of the 'stuff of the mountains' and weren't the size of mountains. One Giganto-tree = four or five ents... maybe. :D

Again, this is probably a crack-pot theory. I just saw a bit of a connection there...

[Morthoron]

Perhaps there are remnants of these great trees still in the far west of the world, where things are strange and the inhabitants are rather alien to us normal folk...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coast_Redwood

[Ibrîniðilpathânezel]

The giant sequoias (as seen through a mythical lens, of course) is what I've always thought of. Especially since the largest one is named Hyperion, which sounds suspiciously similar to Telperion. :)