Was Old Man Willow an Ent ? Huorn? and... - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

littlemanpoet · 09-19-2002, 07:43 AM

On one hand I don't like "tying down" all of the beings and subcreations in LotR to such categorizations. Perhaps JRRT did not mean it to be so; yet, if one considers the nature of "huorn", Old Man Willow seems to fit it.

My hesitation arises from a sense (a kenning?) that everything near the Shire, such as the Old Forest and Tom Bombadil, have a strong flavor of "Fae" about them (this is also true of The Hobbit all the way to Laketown), whereas once you get into the great big world of Middle Earth, that Fae touch seems to give way to a more immense, grandiose Quenyan feel. I don't know if I'm finding the right words.

I wonder if anyone else senses this difference? I suppose I really ought to have started a new thread, but you got me thinking....

09-19-2002, 07:43 AM	#2
littlemanpoet Itinerant Songster Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: The Edge of Faerie Posts: 7,066	On one hand I don't like "tying down" all of the beings and subcreations in LotR to such categorizations. Perhaps JRRT did not mean it to be so; yet, if one considers the nature of "huorn", Old Man Willow seems to fit it. My hesitation arises from a sense (a kenning?) that everything near the Shire, such as the Old Forest and Tom Bombadil, have a strong flavor of "Fae" about them (this is also true of The Hobbit all the way to Laketown), whereas once you get into the great big world of Middle Earth, that Fae touch seems to give way to a more immense, grandiose Quenyan feel. I don't know if I'm finding the right words. I wonder if anyone else senses this difference? I suppose I really ought to have started a new thread, but you got me thinking....