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Alfirin · 12-30-2011, 07:15 AM

A few questions, brought on by current threads.

1. Do Ents have the same "conditional" immortality as elves. That is, they are slayable but do not die of old age?
2. If they don't, what happens to them when they die? Do Entish spirits go off to an unknown place like those of men?
3. If they do, do they also eventually travel west? if so, how? do they also take ship. since they may not have to breathe (I honestly don't know if Ents breate) do the simply walk the path under the sea the elvish ships take?
4. Since older ents seem to become treeish in thier age, is the untimate fate of any ent to simple become so "treeish" that their animation and consciosness departs them, and they became for all intentent and purposes, indistinguishable from an "ordinary" tree? (I can't help but think of a parallel here with what Terry Prachett says happens when a troll gets advanaced in years.)
Some of these questions seem semi important. Since the fourth age is the age of men, and it seems that all of the other sentient races are dwindling, this would presumably include the Ent's. While Aragorn's gift to them of dominion of Fangorn in perpetuit, with a freedom to expand to other areas if Fangorn get's too small for the population is certinly noble, kind and fitting, I can't help but feel that it may also be sort of pointless, and Aragorn (depending on how much he knows of the Entish situation) may sort of know this. Without the Entwives, there can presumably be no more little Ents (Entlings?) so the population will never increase, just go down. A cynical part of my brain seems to think that, in a few centuries, if a later king changes his mind and wishes to put Fangorn to mannish use, he will find no ents around to oppose him, probably no Huorns either.

12-30-2011, 07:15 AM	#1
Alfirin Shade of Carn Dûm Join Date: Jun 2007 Posts: 435	Of Ents and Immortality A few questions, brought on by current threads. 1. Do Ents have the same "conditional" immortality as elves. That is, they are slayable but do not die of old age? 2. If they don't, what happens to them when they die? Do Entish spirits go off to an unknown place like those of men? 3. If they do, do they also eventually travel west? if so, how? do they also take ship. since they may not have to breathe (I honestly don't know if Ents breate) do the simply walk the path under the sea the elvish ships take? 4. Since older ents seem to become treeish in thier age, is the untimate fate of any ent to simple become so "treeish" that their animation and consciosness departs them, and they became for all intentent and purposes, indistinguishable from an "ordinary" tree? (I can't help but think of a parallel here with what Terry Prachett says happens when a troll gets advanaced in years.) Some of these questions seem semi important. Since the fourth age is the age of men, and it seems that all of the other sentient races are dwindling, this would presumably include the Ent's. While Aragorn's gift to them of dominion of Fangorn in perpetuit, with a freedom to expand to other areas if Fangorn get's too small for the population is certinly noble, kind and fitting, I can't help but feel that it may also be sort of pointless, and Aragorn (depending on how much he knows of the Entish situation) may sort of know this. Without the Entwives, there can presumably be no more little Ents (Entlings?) so the population will never increase, just go down. A cynical part of my brain seems to think that, in a few centuries, if a later king changes his mind and wishes to put Fangorn to mannish use, he will find no ents around to oppose him, probably no Huorns either.