Fangorn's Lore: The Old Lists of the Ents
- Miriam Ellis
- Sep 20
- 3 min read
People-centric stories can be so moving, but they are only one strand of all that is going on in Middle-earth. For an expanded view of diverse life, perhaps no other section in J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings can compete with Treebeard's exhortation:
"Learn now the lore of Living Creatures!"
Though he begins with the free peoples we come to know and love, he goes on to name a host of other creatures - most of whom we never get to directly encounter in the story. The list Treebeard learned in his youth fills in so many blanks in the Middle-earth ecosystem, connecting the Third Age back to the creation of the kelvar - the animals. These are the sorts of beings who inhabit the woods, meadows, waterways, and mountains the main characters pass through.
In painting this scene in which Treebeard strides about Fangorn Forest with Merry and Pippin in his arms as he proclaims this roll-call of nature, I hoped to capture wonder. I feel that nature comes alive to the little hobbits in a new way here. The wood is alive, with purposes of its own, and it is filled with scurrying, swimming, walking, flying, and leaping life. The hobbits are just a small part of the great busy-ness, despite the urgency of their quest.
I have attempted to portray the marvel of them hearing their huge, lore-keeping guardian filling the scene with others who have a stake in the fate of Middle-earth. The hobbits look with wide eyes as the living tableau is kindled in their thoughts by the powerful lore-master. This painting includes every species Treebeard names. I would love it if you would get out your copy of The Lord of the Rings, turn to the "Treebeard" chapter, and find each of the beings in this painting as you read the list. It's a painting that might even help you memorize that section of the tale. I could wish that all of us might be instructed to learn the lore of living creatures in our own childhoods.
I've come to see the time that Merry and Pippin spend with the ents as a special idyll apart, not unlike the sojourns at Rivendell and Lothlórien. Temporarily safe, the hobbits look about them and learn, if they are paying attention.
I wonder if Sam had ever mentioned to these friends that his cousin Hal had seen something like a walking elm tree in the Northfarthing. The account is laughed away at The Green Dragon. Merry and Pippin certainly would not laugh after their days with the ents. They would have had the privilege of resting in Wellinghall with its spring-like atmosphere and falling curtain of water.
They would have witnessed Entmoot, and strolled about with Quickbeam, who sings and sways in the presence of special trees. What do you think the hobbits learned from the Tree-herders? What do you learn when you spend time in nature?
In an upcoming painting, which I have previewed on my Patreon, I have explored the idea that Merry, at least, paid heed to what he learned in the forest of Fangorn, but for now, I hope you'll take pleasure in this tribute to the beautiful environment of Middle-earth. My heart longs for humanity to share the world more respectfully with all creatures great and small. Human stories have their place, but the stories of others are all around us if we stop to look and learn.
