Entwives where did they go

[Matthue45]

I was looking over some maps of middle-earth (the full ones) and i was wondering about entwives. I was hoping someone from the barrow-downs might be able to help me with possibilities of where they went i would really appreciate help or information on this subject. I really want to know where they went.

[Numenorean]

Hi Matt,
Treebeard claims the Entwives went in search of lush nicely ordered pastures, orchards and the like far back in the past. He then seems to allude that some/all of their new lands were scorched in the Dark Days and thats when they lost touch.
Apparently the countryside of the Shire is the sort of environment that they like, and near the start of LOTR, Sam actually says that his cousin saw a "giant, a treeman, up away beyond the Water,".
The Old Forest also has Entish/Huorn connections, with that cranky Old Man Willow and all...

[Deathwail]

Dont think anyone knows for sure.I have seen some threads on it and some folks think they went west and settled near the Shire,why it was so fair and green there,and i seen other ppl say they might of been slay by The Enemy.But in the end it never is said what their fate was or even hints to it. smilies/confused.gif

[Inderjit Sanghera]

I don't think the 'giant-tree man' mentioned by Sam is an Ent/wife because:

1. Ents hadn't been concieved.

2. There is a mention of some 'tree-men' in the 'Tale of Earendil' in BoLT 2. So it wasn't simply made up on the spot

I think that the majority of the Entwives though Tolkien mentions in one of his letters that they may have been enslaved by Sauron.

[the guy who be short]

first they went east to the brown lands. when these were destroyed. it is l ikely that they moved to the od forest. after all, all those hints, such as: the path had been lost because the trees had moved, the trees move, old man willow

[JenFramp]

this is an age old question that will never be answered..But when I get to heaven, that's the first question I'm going to ask! (and then who the heck is good 'ole Tom Bombadil)

[little_bit_odd]

If they did not find what they were looking for, they may have slowly lost sight of thier goal and 'fallen asleep' to become normal trees, like some of the ents did. They could be all around us! smilies/wink.gif

[Rumil]

As the Ents could fall asleep and become trees, would the Entwives (smaller and more orderly) become SHRUBBERY ??? smilies/eek.gif

[little_bit_odd]

Shrubbery...hmm...what about topiary? A forest of whimsical animal shapes would be creepier than Fangorn. smilies/biggrin.gif

[Iarwain]

But sam said that she (presumably she) was a willow.

Iarwain

[Nurdilion]

well,,,here's my guess.
ok. melkor tormented elves and hence came the orcs. and Treebeard says that, in the same way, trolls were made in mockery of the ents. i believe that in the time right before the Last Alliance, Sauron wished to possess as much land as possible for his strength to build. So it is possible that he wished to possess the land in which the entwives dwealt. And i think that Sauron captured the entwives and created his own race of trolls, the olog-hai. Then the question would arise: Are then all the trolls female? Well,,,would anyone really be able to tell the difference between a male or female troll. And the same with orcs. Anyways that what i think happened.

Po-ta-toes

[the guy who be short]

good point nurdilion. it is said that the olog-hai were different from other trolls, cleverer and able to withstand the sun. it is possible that they were made from the entwives.

[Ainaserkewen]

ok what really happenecx to the ent-wives is they all went to the shire forest because they say that they see them in the old forest by the shire. Thus, treebeard was correct in assuming that ent-wives would like the shire.

[Knight_Link]

My guess; the Entwives are somewhere around the Old Forest or somewhere in the Shire. I haven't read the books in awhile, but I seem to remember something about either Pippin or Merry saying something about who they had seen trees like Treebeard in some of the forests in the Shire...Can't really tell you for sure, though. smilies/eek.gif smilies/smile.gif

[MLD-Grounds-Keeper-Willie]

ok what really happenecx

Please refrain from stating your opinion as fact. I also belive that they went to the Shire but there is no clear referece to back up that they actually did.

Very interesting point Nurdilion, very interesting...

I have a question. When ents/entwives fall 'asleep', does this mean that they would petrify after a lengthy given period of time?

[the witch king]

Well morgoth 'made' trolls, as Gothmog (the balrog) had a troll guard. who knows, Sauron may have mixed the two togeter! nasty!

[Lalaith]

Here is a quote from one of Tolkien's letters which I think is interesting:
What happened to them is not resolved in this book. ... I think that in fact the Entwives had disappeared for good, being destroyed with their gardens in the War of the Last Alliance (Second Age 3429-3441) when Sauron pursued a scorched earth policy and burned their land against the advance of the Allies down the Anduin. They survived only in the 'agriculture' transmitted to Men (and Hobbits). Some, of course, may have fled east, or even have become enslaved: tyrants even in such tales must have an economic and agricultural background to their soldiers and metal-workers. If any survived so, they would indeed be far estranged from the Ents, and any rapprochement would be difficult - unless experience of industrialised and militarised agriculture had made them a little more anarchic. I hope so. I don't know.
[The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, 179 (#144)]

[Estelyn Telcontar]

http://www.barrowdowns.com/images/skwerlz04.jpg

Some of the theories here are hair-raising and have nothing to do with a serious book discussion. Unless anyone has something well-founded to add, this will be moved to the Novices and Newcomers forum.

[Lalaith]

Far be it for me to quibble with a mod's decrees - your decision is of course law - but could I make a plea for my quote from Tolkien's Letters to be considered as serious book discussion?

[Estelyn Telcontar]

Lalaith, your quote is the only reason this thread is still here and open...

[Melhilion]

Ok

If the entwives lived neer the Shire then the orcs that enslaved hobbiton must have came across the entwives and after reading the two tower i have learned that the ents are very big and very strong. So whatever forces came up against them it must have been something large.

[Lalaith]

*bows to ghosted princess*

Thank you.
I think there are other references Tolkien himself made to the issue, I shall try to find them when I have time.

[Melkor89]

I think the entwives were used by Sauron to create trolls. Trolls were supposedly a mockery of the ents.

[Inderjit Sanghera]

Trolls were around way before the Entwives dissapeared. Or do you mean Olog-hai?

[Dunlondion]

I also think that they went somewhere west of the shire. altough at the time of the war of the ring I think they may have died out or close to it