What happened to the entwives?

[@Thealmightysanchez]

The way that Tolkien talks about his world - as if he’s not making it up, but rather channeling some truth from some distant world and he’s just a messenger - has always been so enchanting to me. I love that there’s things he “does not know” about his own fantasy story, when he could easily just make something up that ties it all up in a nice package. It makes it feel so much more real

[@Essdyn]

This is too true. And it carries over to his writing too. His descriptions truly make it almost like he's recounting and describing history and real places

[@apathyreview3964]

So the entwives willingly deserted the ents. That's sadder.

[@Secondary_Identifier]

If you're not setting playback speed to 0.25, you're not getting the true Ent experience.

[@BLOODKINGbro]

Slow and steady grace

[@ebransc09]

Still too hasty

[@firemanjoe9491]

That was highly enjoyable.

[@KaneAsIAm]

Haha. I lasted maybe 20 seconds.

[@sunstarsseekersanctuary4241]

OMFG lol.

[@danielh377]

The disappearance of the Entwives still troubles me as if it really happened.

[@thelandlord111]

Just like everything else disappeared, the entwives taught us the joy of gardening, the dwarfs the joy of forging, and the elves the joy of arts. It is the age of man.

[@NPC-bs3pm]

@@thelandlord111 Yeah.. but now where are all the human maidens? 🫤"equality without distinction" they shouted - before they went away to learn new things What is a w0men? We (of Western society) ask ourselves now a days🤨

[@rikk319]

@@NPC-bs3pm Humans aren't meant to live in segregated, separated groups. Ents/entwives should have remained together. The longer people are apart/don't share information, the more distance/distrust/misinformation they experience.

[@gbf111]

@@NPC-bs3pmjesus christ got touch some grass mate

[@NPC-bs3pm]

@@gbf111 May i ask YOU what is a "w0men" ?

[@enoughothis]

I love the dichotomy between the Ents and the Entwives. The Ents are herders and the Entwives are gardeners.

[@hillbillypowpow]

It gives me the sense that the entwives are more compassionate and less implacable. Less rigid and more willing to bend to their situation. The ents possess physical characteristics to mirror their mental and emotional characteristics, and there are many types of wood with a wide range of properties, like pliable but strong Ash wood

[@chris2kai12]

Almost like the old English life, and by that I mean post war to mid 90s.

[@CreationBrosZone-km5be]

Don't ye worry: if Amazon has any say in the matter, the Ents will be non-binary and no-one will get lost. Oh, and some will be in wheelchairs.

[@saraha8219]

It almost seems like an allegory for humanity's shift from hunter-gathering to agriculture.

[@archmage_of_the_aether]

​​@@saraha8219absolutely. with the implicatation that the Entwives were among us throughout our history of agriculture, [slain by the Green Revolution and modern agribusiness in the 1970s and 80s, RIP]

[@ncc74656m]

I could see it as an allegory on loss, grief, and even denial. Perhaps they really are truly gone for good, we certainly have more evidence for that than their continued existence. Treebeard's response - the almost angry denial that they are not dead - that's not uncommon for someone in denial of the loss of their loved ones.

[@Glitsch99]

Inpersonally think that they are not dead but still gone for good, many pointed out the living trees already and i think it likely that the entwife eventually rooted down so to spek and became no more then spirited trees, whitch would make it all the more sad ..

[@demondelaplace5161]

I think that the theme might be that dealing with loss without certainty of death can be as hard or harder than grief. Many people go missing and never get found. In war, from unhappy homes, or just on the way to school or work. The plight of those left behind is awful.

[@iainballas]

Ents: "Thank you, kind Elves, for teaching us to speak." Elves: "Of course, great shepherds of the forest! What do you wish to say?" Ents: "Can you please be quiet and let us sleep?" Elves: "...."

[@BenBebbington]

"What message have you for us, oh wise ones?" "KEEP THE CHUFFING NOISE DOWN! BLOODY KIDS!"

[@ESparkAster]

I mean to be fair with how slow the Ents talk they'd probably rather not be constantly badgered by their Elf neighbors. It sucks enough here in regular Earth with regular Human neighbors.

[@user-vr2rq5hl6l]

The Entwives had a ladies’ night out and, since there were so many of them, they haven’t yet finished their introductions.

[@DrFranklynAnderson]

That’s it. That’s my head canon.

[@Agustin_Leal]

Cuz women talk too much 😅

[@user-vr2rq5hl6l]

@@Agustin_Leal Hah! That combined with Ents talking so very slowly, as in the Entmoot taking many hours just for introductions.

[@Raggmopp-xl7yf]

A hen(t) party? lol

[@TheBenjdude]

I think this is combined with several large groups who went to use the restroom together and... they will just never return...

[@2forked737]

That was really quite emotional at the end there

[@remobrown9011]

Yeah it got kinda heavy there for a sec.

[@pewpewsalote8802]

I love when Tolkien says he doesn't know, it just adds so much richness to the world. It makes it feel even more real than if he were to know everything about his world.

[@childofpersia1213]

Like Tolkien’s solider friends, the entwives are “missing in action” - they’re not considered “dead.”

[@Glitsch99]

That may just be the words He had in mind while writing about the Entwifes. But i think IDGs conclusion, that we are missing the point if we are wondering, is not true Tolkien gave us a hint that there is at least one moving tree close to the shire and he never said 'the entwifes? Oh yeah, no the are all dead' so in my option wondering where they went and hoping to some day see them, even tho we wont nor will the ents is the point, the same kind of feeling returning soldires have when they come home to wayt and see how is left, alwas hoping so see one more familliar face and wondering where the others went, what ways the they had to go and where they rest now...

[@Voice_of_p]

@@Glitsch99Thank you i understand it a little better now.

[@BierBart12]

Made me realize; he must've been processing his experiences from the war through a lot of the writing of the lotr world's history

[@donwald3436]

You mean they sent Dear John letters to the soldiers but they were never delivered lol.

[@NicholasHEADSHOT]

It never ceases to amaze me how someone that witnessed do much horror and experience so much loss has gone to create one of the most optimistic tales, where the great evil that longed to dominate and reshape the world was defeated not by military genius or "heroic sacrifice" but by friendship, camaraderie and the will to go on, in the name of all the beautiful things in this world. The songs, the food, the trees and the fields.

[@Nonsense116]

I feel like much of tolkien's stories have a strong element of grief in them. Many modern stories have a hero who saves the day and all is like it was. I like how tolkien sets this up in such a way that some things can't be fixed. Some things have irreparable consequences. It makes the story more colorful and real.

[@dublintales6311]

I think that was rooted in Tolkien's own tragic youth. He lost both his parents before he was ten and then as the video said most of his friends in WW1. He even said that the central theme of the LOTR was 'death'.

[@demondelaplace5161]

Tolkien, as a soldier, knew that even if the good guys win, the world is worse off than if there was never a war. Not to say evil shouldn’t be opposed, but rather that even the best possible war against the worst possible foe is terrible. In a way The Lord of the Rings is a steelman argument for war: Is war worth it with an objectively evil foe and objectively good allies. Tolkien’s answer to that is “Yes, but for the unlucky few on the front lines, barely.”

[@clb2c4e26]

There is plenty of modern fantasy literature filled with drama and angst. Take a look at Robin Hobb for instance is that's your cup of tea. Just as there are plenty of older stories where the hero saves the day at all is like it was.

[@ThyCorylus]

"It is a fair tale, though it is sad, as are all the tales of Middle-earth" Strider, the Ranger

[@Glitsch99]

Honestly one of my most pondered questions in LotR, i love the ents and treebeards description of the entwifes and i feel soooo sorry for all the ents ...

[@JacktheRah]

It's so weird how we can get so emotionally attached to talking trees.

[@The-Mstr-Pook]

It surprises me that Yavana creator of the Ents did not or does not intervene to save her created children. Aule protected the Dwarfs, but they never go extinct until the forth age. If some wives remain, why doesn't she get Manwe to send eagles to seek them out and send them to Fangorn to the Ents can rub leaf and branchs to get some new seedlings.

[@Glitsch99]

@@The-Mstr-Pook that is an interesting question, and i just read up on her just to not miss anything but actually i rhink you gave the awnser yourself, the creation of the ents where in direct response to the creation of the dwarfs, because Yavanna had the forsight that all things living in the earth needed protection from the dwarfs. So i guess if they enter the world togethere they also should leave it togethere, Yavanna migh have forseen that the age of the Dwarfs is almost at an and let her creation fade out as well (givin that ents live far longer that fading neded to start sooner) that would fit nicely into the working of Eru Ilúvatar, both dwarf and ent had forfilled there part both in the world and in Erus plans, so they move on out of middle earth and Arda itself...that would be in line with Tolkiens kind of writing Thanks for your inputt, was a good question to thunk about

[@marbellaotaiza801]

Anyone who's estranged from a loved one, specially if she passed away during that time, can more than sympathize with the Ents: you can actually feel their pain...

[@joygernautm6641]

It really is a reflection of modern culture to be honest. Modern men are lamenting the fact that young women no longer want to get married, and have children. That they are choosing to not date and just follow their own path.

[@pmsdgy1325]

That's what I think touched me most when I read the books as a child. That things don't always go back to how we remember or like them to be. It's a bittersweet melancholy.

[@bluegum6438]

Everything is always changing. All we have to do is decide what to do with the time afforded us.

[@andrewhazlewood4569]

I thought from the first time I read LotR that the Entwives might be the awakened trees in the Old Forest.

[@WealthyJester98]

My thoughts exactly

[@usotsuki5]

I'm always frustrated that Merry & Pippen never raised the possibility with Fangorn or with each other. Early portions of the Fellowship even describe the trees of the Old Forest as moving about and wanting Hobbits to stay where they were put. "Old Man Willow" seems very ent-like, and the whole point of the Hedge on the east of Buckland was to keep the forest at bay. I was hoping this video would at least mention the possibility, but at least the "walking ent" of Sam's tale was discussed.

[@JesseStratton-tj3vl]

I always suspected the shifting trees in the Old Forest were Huorns and Old Man Willow an Ent that has gone very treeish. Since Fangorn Forest and the Old Forest were once part of the same huge forest, they could have been isolated there once the trees in between were cut down.

[@WillFredward7167]

In light of the points rasied in this video, I start to suspect that the creatures in the old forest were likely not ent-wives but huorns. It’s possible that if the hobbits made the connection and talked to Treebeard, it might only have gotten his hopes up😢

[@michellechouinard4958]

I doubt it though... Entwives left the forest because they preferred cultivated land.

[@guillermodiego819]

Along with Tom Bombadil, the Ents are my favorite characters in LotR. The song of the Ent and the Entwife is so heartbreaking. To me, it's what turns LotR into more than just a story of adventure and war. Thanks for the video!

[@m1dn1ght5un]

This video and the one you made about Christmas in Middle Earth really does showcase your talent for writing. You present your thoughts eloquently, with a sensitivity often lacking from other similar channels. I thoroughly enjoy your content. Please keep making more.

[@TheDarkElder]

Tragedy made story. Alas, poor Ents, they shall forever mourn what is lost as they slowly turn into trees themselves.

[@TheLifeOfKane]

I'm still hoping Tolkien gives us a follow-up series about entwives and Sam and Frodo's love story

[@thomasparsons9866]

I’m re-reading the lord of the rings for the first time in a while. I remember the Entwives and how tragic it was, lost. But when I got to Treebread recalling searching for Fimbrethil, I just imagined him calling again and again across various lands and even among towns in desperation. I really began to tear up.

[@helikos1]

I really do like how with Tolkien's attitude to his works is seemingly of a chronicler. Apart of the world of works not it's omniscient creator. Tolkien knows less that Eru. It's humbling.

[@henrikg1388]

Great point. Sadly missing from an otherwise excellent video. I don't know about being under some divine providence, but many misses the fact that Tolkien treated much of his works as having a life of its own in some ways. That's why he almost never gives completely definitive answers, but "I think" or "I don't know".

[@BodywiseMustard]

A part, not apart

[@helikos1]

@@BodywiseMustard Thanks for highlighting a typo :/ I'm sure you never make any mistakes when you type.

[@ekb9845]

The tail of the Ents and the Entwives is almost a tragedy seeing as they're really not that far apart. Too bad Merry and Pippin never talk to Sam or his cousin about it

[@Stupidfoxboi]

My headcanon is that in the 4th age some extra motivated ent went out and found then in the old forest... maybe even quickbeam, or some other, hasty, newcomer.

[@RHCole]

Yes! That's my thoughts too 😁

[@thomasparsons9866]

I like to think, keeping the tragic theme of the Ents, is that some Entwives were found, but none from before Sauron burned their garden. Those from then were lost or became tree-ish. It may be small comfort to the older Ents like Treebeard but at least some comfort.

[@hariman7727]

The remaining ones are with Tom Bombadil.

[@Dothreban]

I was weeping by the end of this video. Made me think of things I've lost that were dear to me and for the things I know I will lose in the future.

[@jayc9857]

Oh my word, this is one of the only times I've heard someone use "scorched earth" correctly. Thank you for that, ha.

[@michellechouinard4958]

Thanks for making this video. My thought is that there might be actual Ents in the Old Forest. That forest is related to Fangorn, supposedly. And I think if the Entwives were there, they'd have made themselves known to the Hobbits. The Entwives liked agriculture, so they wouldn't have hidden in the woods, but would have been involved with the farmers. If anyone knows for sure if there are Ents or Entwives in the Shire, though, you might ask Farmer Maggot. I bet he knows. Unrelated: I just love the CGI for the Ents in the LotR. It makes treebeard's eyes look like blobs of dried tree-sap, or tiny pools of trapped water. Such beautiful detail.

[@The_Scattered_Man]

It has always been MY favorite theory (whatever Master Tolkien may say) that the Ents and the Entwives DID indeed meet again ... perhaps after some message from Merry and Pippin of the rumors of "walking trees" near the Shire. But, to maintain the sadness of the tale, even *I* imagine only a few Ents, though perhaps even Treebeard himself, coming to the area around the Old Forest. (Probably after many years of considering the question.) Arriving to find themselves grown too old, too tired and too estranged from each other for any great and joyous reunion. Given by all their journeying, in the end, merely a last chance to sadly say "good-bye" and "We are sorry things did not work out differently." in the long, slow language of the Ents sighing among the trees and the gardens... Then parting a final time, never to meet again within the circles of the world.... 😔

[@ghostdreamer7272]

That would somehow even be sadder

[@rogerdudra178]

Greetings from the BIG SKY of Montana. I seem to have read all 5 books about every 10 years from 1970 till the movies where made. A good story and a good moral lesson.

[@TheFifthIdiot]

I love that these stories are still being discussed, and new videos are made on a regular basis. Keep up the good work!

[@Matthewwithers33]

One of the things about Tolkien is how he was okay with leaving questions unanswered 😊 therefore giving his story a bit of magic (ex: Tom bombadil, entwives missing)

[@TheLifeOfKane]

Tom Bombadil... true OG

[@lilitharam44]

I like Galadrial's conversation with Treebeard at the end. How she "sees" the next time they would meet and the entwives, I imagine, would be there then.

[@Dr_Cole]

I’ve heard this telling several times but this was the best. Both the details of what is, and is not, known but also the meaning behind the Entwives being lost. Thank you.

[@Ralph_Roberts]

I like to think Aragorn and Arwin's son sets off on an adventure to collect any palantirs remaining and tracks down the ent wives. I enjoy picturing a couple ents in a garden in Minas Tirith's courtyard telling stories to the children of the nobles and stuff.

[@thatflanneldude]

I enjoy your rationalizing and pondering of Tolkien's world. It always comes across as insightful and respectful. Growing up I fell in love with the movies and the books shortly after. I'm currently enjoying Andy Serkis' rendition of the audiobooks - a treat to revisit Middle Earth with. Anyways, thank you for creating these videos!

[@deusexaethera]

You know what would be great? A video about what exists down in the "forgotten south".

[@padmewan]

Thank you for not lessening the sting of this sub-tale. To ask is, indeed, to miss the point. I will add that this sense of loss, of longing for the past, is one of Tolkien's great legacies to fantasy literature -- for good or ill, because nostalgia is a dangerous force often harnessed against progress of all kinds.

[@majorpwner241]

"Progress" will see the human race extinct. Why? Because we couldn't handle the harsh realities of nature? Because we wanted a little more comfort than we already had? I've lived long enough to know that things never get better in the long run. Tolkien was right about the horrors of industrialization and the loss of green and growing things.

[@hasmas5951]

This is exactly what I felt when reading the books my first time. All of what treebeard was saying seemed like hopeful wishing. And I felt like Tolkien was saying that the world will go on without the ents and that the march is their last act they will do to fight the darkness

[@ProtoNeoVintage]

At 45 years old I became a father for the first time. I promised myself that, even in this modern age with all it's distractions and foolishness, i would give my son a childhood like i had growing up. I have come to realize that time is gone. Lost in the mists. Even Scouting America, would still a fine and admirable organization, is not the same group i belonged to. I understand the sadness of the Ents, and the desire to believe these things are not gone but simply "lost" somehow.

[@Nerfherder117]

Sometimes I’ll be laying out under a tree having a good time, then suddenly get sad wondering what happened to the entwifes

[@Mckenzie-sq6fw]

Idk how you do it, but somehow you answer the questions that are on my mind several times in a row now. Ty

[@graemerigg4029]

Most likely they are in the gardens of Lorien on Valinor.

[@texantompaine4509]

For me, the ents and ent-wives represented the two existant states of nature. The untamed, wild, and free - where nature can grow large, overtake, be brutish and violent at times - the masculine, i.e. the Ents. And the harmonious balance where it is nurtured, cared for, beautiful and bountiful, the feminine - i.e. the Ent-Wives. In this regard, the Ent-Wives disappearing means that the other beings of middle earth lost the knowledge of harmonious balance with nature...an almost Garden of Eden-esque state. Another commentary by Tolkien, perhaps, on the negative side of the growth and industrialization of Man in our own world. Yes, we've grown and mastered the forests and hills and mountains and oceans (or think we have)...but we've lost the harmony, the beauty, and the balance. The mutually beneficial relationship with nature we once had long, long ago. It's what Tolkien seemed to be saying in my opinion, anyways. Best nerd channel on youtube! Cheers!

[@michellechouinard4958]

I love this perspective, thank you for sharing!

[@J040PL7]

It's more like, the ents wanted to preserve the forest, while the entwives wanted to regrow and create new forests. Sort of like how men protect society while women bring new life into it. Sadly without the ents, the entwives probably either died without protection or got enslaved and encarcerated.

[@majorpwner241]

An excellent and astute interpretation.

[@Debba521]

I liked that Sam had mentioned hearing a story about a possible Ent sighting. As the male Ents apparently never made it as far north as The Shire, that sighting was more likely an Entwife. Being female, they'd have been smart enough to know that trouble was coming and returning to Fangorn might not be the safest option, or even feasible. They'd also have been smart enough to know that heading East wasn't wise either, so they went north. I figure they ended up north of The Shire. Either that or they were given a safe OUT if things got bad. Prolly doesn't hurt to have a Vala on your side. 😊

[@Eloraurora]

I want to say that the _type_ of tree seen walking is a hint to possibly being an Entwife, because elms are associated with fertility and pastoralism.

[@patrickfrost9405]

If that wood survived the scouring...

[@IGhengisKhanI]

Isnt the forest where tom bombadil lives also rumored to have walking trees?

[@ArthurEld19]

The end of this video really shouldn't have choked me up the way it did. I've known the ents for decades. Never saw how I related until just now

[@humzakhalid7902]

when i clicked on this video with the whimsical and curious title i didnt expect to be saddened and deeply depressed by the funny slow side charecters of a fantasy story being in denial and actively looking for their beloved partners:'( thanks a lot ROBERT

[@CedarRose7]

I was surprised how sad i felt while watching the triolgy when Treebeard talks about how they lost them. Cus it's just fiction. But I wished that they could be reunited.

[@Glitsch99]

It is not 'just' fiction, it is a world we all parttook in, we laught with the hobbits, we feared for the rohirim, we whitnest the crowning of a new king and the departure of the elves and we griefed with ents, just becaus the charakters arent real dose not mean their storrys and hardships are irrelevant, we are humans and whe have empathy

[@ens0246]

I love the conclusion to this video. I was worried there was an answer but there isn't. I'm glad to see that my interpretation and yours is the same 😊

[@Kilthan2050]

I and my 9 year old love LOTR & Tolkien’s writings in general. She has requested i reader the Hobbit, LOTR, and the Silmarillion twice. She has asked about the entwives each time we read it. We talked about this and i read her the part of Tolkien’s letter about their being lost. I explained how i miss the people i’ve lost in life, but i won’t find them again here, but in Heaven, one day, i will see them again. I said it would have probably been so for the Ents and Ent wives. Whatever fate awaits then after the end, maybe at they time they will be reunited.

[@ParaSytius]

Would love to see Raymond E. Feist covered and his world of Midkemia.

[@Phonk-vo4oi]

I always love the idea Treebeard was just messing with people and made stuff up to stunt progress and punish them for hurting trees.

[@LeeDPT]

Wow that was a good description and reason why. I loved the ending!

[@Martin4Mary4Ever]

This is surprisingly your most impactful video yet. Aye, it makes me love Tolkien and his work even more

[@lastofgiants]

That's fascinating. I also remember the Old Forest the hobbits crossed through, where Old Man Willow, Tom Bombadil, and River Withywindle lived. I wonder if it is a garden an ent wife once lived.

[@AFlyingCoconut]

I never knew the part about Tolkien losing all but one of his friends in the War, and now I suddenly realize that Frodo going to the Undying Lands due to the injury he sustained, is metaphorical of the wound Tolkien likely carried with him until the day he too would depart to those lands

[@CynthiaWarren]

As Frodo says, "It must often be so, Sam, when things are in danger; someone has to give them up, lose them, so that others may keep them." Whatever happened with the Entwives, they gave up the lands they loved so that other Peoples would have a chance to keep their lands.

[@earthknight60]

Old Man Willow is also an indication that something Ent-like is taking place around the Shire.

[@davidwhite1645]

It is a story of Love and lost loves. Of slow separation and irreconcilable difference in wants or needs of the one over the other.

[@iowaredneck9416]

The shire is his version of heaven on earth. The wives are lost, but perhaps a fleeting memory of them remains in the shire… so Tolkien

[@jakedixonmusic]

“Perhaps the entwines are still out there somewhere” is actually kind of a scary notion

[@SparklingDracs]

The sense of loss in the LOTR is one of the things that makes it so rich. It can be so sad even when there’s very few deaths amongst the main characters (unlike the potter books which have to shoe horn loss by killing characters all over the place). I always thought it was a special talent of tolkiens to weave it in so carefully into the story’s fabric. Anyway, this was an excellent and moving analysis Robert and I appreciate it very much

[@KabirChattopadhyay1991]

"Shoehorning of loss" is an excellent way of putting it. I feel the Potter books, skillfully written as they are, never "evoke" so much as they "dictate" about the magical world. Which is why, despite the backstories and the history (particularly in the three final books), the history never seems personal. Professor Tolkien had an incredible skill at evocation without being too overt, which is why re-reading LOTR still breaks my heart in places witbout even knowing why I feel so sad.

[@anni.68]

"I've tried to keep the spirit of what happened in my own hasty way" 😄😄😄

[@AlphaCentauri24]

LOTR video finally. Thank you!🤘

[@elzilchoco]

I really love this channel. Such a great mix of intellectual and emotional interpretation, and fantastic writing

[@random22026]

Tolkien's wisdom is unceasing. And this channel deserves for more subscription than it currently has. Top job, Robert. 👏🏻👏🏻

[@alonsogabriel9336]

I like the probability that some went to the shire while some fled south and then east. Some also probably died when Sauron came upon them, but its nice to hope that a number of them are out there alive.

[@jdatkin8601]

This was a really beautiful video, I do enjoy your content. I am going to add something though. It's OK to miss the point some times. I know Tolkien confirms they are lost and there would be no reunion in the histories but I for one still hold that in distant lands to the east and south, Entwives still garden and take care of nature. One day, in the great wilds far from humans, an ent or two may find themselves planting their roots next to trees that seem familiar, even if they don't know why. Perhaps, in time, their roots entwine, the mycelium connects and both ent and entwife awake pleasantly surprised. I know it is soft, but it's what I like to imagine.

[@moif]

Jeez. Thank you. Watching your videos is like therapy sometimes. Thank you.

[@janys6502]

When Treebeard was introduced I was like what the hell? Then, end of the chapter, Im in love with him and wishing he could reunite : (

[@thewakersci]

Very timely as I re-read The Two Towers, currently on The White Rider chapter.... Thanks. 🌳

[@backonlazer791]

I have a theory, though perhaps it would defeat the point to the story you gave at the end. Regardless, it goes something like this: After Sauron burned their gardens the entwives fled. Despite the entwives being powerful, no doubt about that, perhaps they are not as quick to anger as the ents. I doubt they would join the fight against Sauron nor would Sauron chase them down and waste a large portion of his army in the effort. In their grief they would move away from the war, it matters not were, and build new gardens. Perhaps more hidden from view this time as to prevent the tragedy from repeating. Fear and sadness from the loss of their old gardens that still grip the hearts of the entwives prevents them from seeking out the ents. While the ents were free to make the journey that most likely took them years unless there was something rushing them, the entwives are most likely unwilling to do the same out of worry for their new gardens. I feel this explanation might make the entwives feel heartless but I think their priorities might just differ from those of most humans. We already knew how important their gardens were to them, important enough to separate from the ents, so this is just another step on the path that branches off.

[@adreabrooks11]

You commented, regarding the entwives, that "to wonder where they are is to miss the point." I might argue that to wonder where they are is *exactly* the point. The sorrow of the ents hinges on the hope that they might be out there somewhere, and wondering where they might have gone. The ents travel and call, but they get no reply. To wonder is to feel their devastation most acutely.

[@CaptainChard]

I always took the missing entwives as a sign that the magic was leaving the world; a foreshadowing of the age of man

[@PaulusN-p3m]

Great analysis! Thanks for explaining Tolkien's world. You're true to his ideas is my feeling.

[@marbellaotaiza801]

Beautiful video, specially the ending.

[@thenerdfaraway]

Robert, you do such a wonderful job with your videos. I think Tolkien himself might have liked this one, because you showed the applicability within a timeless work. I'm reminded again and again of why Tolkien is my favourite author when I watch these.

[@jordanvickaryous-remenda876]

I like to imagine that some did survive and are living out the days in the beauty of The Shire

[@TexasTimeLord]

The Entwives are near the Shire. Sam's cousin Halfast saw what he thought was a giant elm tree (that did not belong in that forest) moving. Treebeard even said that the Shire sounded like a place the Entwives would like Too bad Sam never told Merry or Pipin, or talked to Treebeard himsel,f to make that connection

[@ZetaFuzzMachine]

2:40 out of context goodness: Feel free to imagine "baby Groot". That's what I did

[@Scientist_Salarian]

That was one of the most intelligent, well-spoken analyses I’ve ever heard regarding a Tolkein subject. Well done!

[@QueenMonny]

This is my first video and I've just subscribed. Brilliant analysis. Thank you. Edit: The only part you didn't mention was what entwives look like. Treebeard doesn't know. Their natures and duties seem to have shaped them into something quite different from an Ent, to the point that Treebeard doesn't know what they look like anymore. So even if they did survive and migrate away from the brown lands, it's unlikely they'd be recognised as Entwives anyway. So the moving tree that Sam mentions was probably not an Entwife but more likely an Ent still searching for them. Given what we know of their natures (and what Treebeard said about them becoming bent and browned by the harsh sun), Entwives are probably more bush-like in appearance than an Ent.

[@XianHu]

I think it’s also important to note that although there will probably be no reunion between the ents and the entwives, there still is a tiny bit of hope that they may. The possibility isn’t 0%

[@dokenboken5542]

I never looked past my own and my brother's opinion on the matter. We both, at the end of reading the main trilogy assumed that the Ent's would travel to the Shire and at least find the trail of the Entwives there.

[@Flower-ld4su]

Just so beautifully narrated, thank you 💛

[@BruceBoyde]

Oh hey, I'm early! I just discovered your channel about a week ago and have been loving it.

[@vanimamoonbeam5249]

My goodness my dude, you are very good at this. Thank you!! 💚

[@nathaniellong4281]

Tolkien's letter about the Entwives being enslaved reminds me about the logistics of feeding his army. The Sea of Nurn(or is it Nurnen?)in southern Mordor provided the farmland he used, along with human and orc slaves, to feed his armies. With the Entwives knowledge of agriculture, I could see him enslaving some, or all of them, and using them along with his orc and human slaves to work his farmlands.

[@brucemooney1277]

Houuum hom! Now, now. Do not be so hasty. Hehe. Treebeard is my favourite character in the whole lore 😛

[@barbarabauling7513]

Great video. One of the saddest part of the whole of the Lord of the Rings was that the Ents had lost their Entwives. I've always hoped that they would eventually be found. I can't bear that they would all be dead.

[@J040PL7]

The alternative would be enslaved by the men of the East, it would make a good storyline in saving them, but I don't see how they'd make that relevant enough to make it happen 😅

[@BrunoCaruso-wz7pg]

considering how Tolkien loved nature, to the point Arda/Middle-Earth is in fact a world where Eru´s song is directly reflected on how beautiful the forests, the fields, the rivers and the mountains are, and oppositely Melkor/Morgoth/Sauron´s influence is directly reflected on how much decay and destruction they made with their dark work and mockery against Eru´s and the Vala´s creation, it isn´t really that much of a surprise that the very beings who existence were based uppon making nature even more beautiful found their demise by the hands of the things (Sauron, the orcs, the goblins, the uruk-hai, whatever) that have a craving for fire, metal, violence, darkness and death

[@MaesterTori]

I also know loss. I'm in therapy right now, and I am trying to remain hopeful, but I am increasingly afraid that I, too, will never be whole again. And like Frodo, I honestly don't know if I can keep going in this world if not, or how long I should force myself to live on with this emptiness inside.

[@michellechouinard4958]

God bless and heal you, my friend. 🙏

[@DaniF-0621]

Please don't give up, i know that is just words and i'm a completely extranger but i do mean my words

[@johnwilkinsoniv1746]

As always I appreciate your thoughtful investigations. So happy you addressed the conversation between Sam and Sandyman. I have always wondered if an entwife was seen by his cousin or, if perhaps, this was an ent who was wandering in search of them. Interesting that this area of the shire borders on the last fringes of Beleriand, where a remnant of the Sindar dwell - a folk who might appreciate both ent and entwife. I had also thought that some entwives might have been taken by Sauron, and poisoned by his machinations to spawn trolls, similar to the initial creation of the trolls in mockery of the ents by Morgoth. But your speculation that some might have been enslaved to improve the agricultural production of the lands Sauron had under till (around Lake Nurnen perhaps) is a provocative theory. They might have done so for half an age before (perhaps again) succumbing to the conditions of slavery, which must have been intolerable to their free spirits. I also have wondered if Bilbo's poem about Aragorn might imply something about the entwives - "not all those who wander are lost". Finally, perhaps some comfort might be taken in Galadriel's parting words to Treebeard, where she tells him they may meet again, but only when the lands that lie under the wave are lifted up again, in the willow-meads of tasarinan. While the raising of Beleriand and Nan-Tathren might seem a fanciful thing, Galadriel is not known for speaking fancifully, although this may be a reference to some kind of reset or replay of history on a cosmic scale that she has some insight into. If the land can be so raised, couldn't the entwives be found? Cheers! JW

[@analoghabits9217]

i remember reading somewhere that sauron endeavored to subliminally encourage the entwives' different interests from the ents & made the brownlands particularly attractive to them.

[@johnt.inscrutable1545]

Love your hasty videos!!

[@Catpain_Tailspin]

In an irony and a little less common fact, the voice of treebeard in the movies is voiced by the actor who plays gimli.

[@tyrport]

Maybe The ent wives heard about a new In n Out burger place. Still in line waiting for service.

[@AegisAuras]

“I miss my entwife, Tails. I miss her a lot…”

[@TurinTurambar98]

The Treebeard chapter, though not a chapter I was initially fond of, has grown in my estimation to one of the most beautiful portions of The Lord of The Rings, and perhaps across the lore itself. I just came off reading the Treebeard chapter again before I found this video, and hearing the Ents' longing to be with the Entiwives was so emotional. I sincerely hope that Aragorn sent men to every forest to track the Entwives when he became king. Or Merry and Pippin at least ask Tom Bombadil.

[@CoperliteConsumer]

Gosh how if haveloved to see lil entlings frolicking about the shire at the end. Alas such a thing i suppose was a different era, some casualties were enviable.

[@istari0]

I wonder if some were enslaved by Sauron and used to grow crops near the Sea of Nurn.

[@Hans293]

I was thinking maybe they died defending their gardens from Sauron.

[@griffiththechad9483]

I like to think that the Elves taught the Ents to speak because they wanted therapists. That’s why they were always yapping away to the Ents.

[@KenS1267]

I always thought ents didn't only survive in Fangorn. If Old Man Willow was not an ent or huorn he was something very close. There could have been pockets of old forest with a few ents all along the Misty Mountains or even farther away. A few surviving entwives might have sought refuge almost anywhere

[@timbotron4000]

Tolkien definitely wasn't an annihilationist in his eschatology so i imagine neither is Eru. The Eldar almost certainly had a place in Arda Healed