He Shall Be Like a Tree Planted By the Rivers of Water - Page 8
© Michael Martinez
If there were a people who retained much hope of anything for trees, it would be the Elves. Fangorn noted that the Ents and the Elves had grown apart. But in the late Third Age and the early Fourth Age Elven culture was substantially different from that of the previous ages. The mighty Eldarin civilizations had been reduced to a few enclaves. The Silvan Elves of Mirkwood were the largest, most powerful group. And many of the Noldor had either gone native, so to speak, like Galadriel, or were only tarrying in pleasant memory of times gone by, like Gildor's folk. When Legolas and Gimli visited Fangorn Forest after the War of the Ring, it may be that a final phase of friendship and understanding began between the Ents and Elves, and even between the Ents and Dwarves.
But such truces or renewals of friendships could only be temporary. There are no hints about what became of the Ents and Entwives, save perhaps in an Elvish song Fangorn cherished enough to share with Merry and Pippin. The song attempted to represent the division of the Entish folk, but Fangorn noted that it was "Elvish, of course: lighthearted, quickworded, and soon over." After depicting the estrangement of Ent and Entwife, the song offers a hope of reconciliation. Together we will take the road that leads into the West, and far away will find a land where both our hearts may rest.
The West can only be Aman, and as such represents an Elvish hope, or wistfulness. Galadriel, in her parting with Fangorn, warned him that they would not meet until "the lands that lie under the wave are lifted up again." She did not hold out the prospect of any Ent passing over Sea. And there shouldn't be any. Iluvatar created the Ents to watch over the trees of Middle-earth. In Aman they would not be needed, though perhaps their spirits, after they died, might have been gathered there by Namo. There is really nothing of Entish mysticism in any of Fangorn's discussions with people. We don't know if they gave thought to an afterlife, or to spiritual concerns. But they were rational incarnates, as Tolkien put it, and they understood regret, loss, and even hope. So perhaps, when Elrond, Galadriel, Gildor, Frodo, Bilbo, and Gandalf set sail over Sea at the end of the Third Age, just as Sam, Merry, and Pippin watched them fade into the distance on the Straight Road, there were ancient eyes looking out from the trees, bidding silent farewell to ancient bonds and friendships.
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