Fangorn (Patreon)

Southeast of the Misty Mountains, Fangorn serves as the last natural border between Wilderland and the southern kingdoms of Men. The eerie forest watches over Isengard and Rohan under the shadow of the mountains. Its role is not to be a home for anthropomorphs but to simply exist for itself: wild, untamed nature with no submission to nature.

This demarcates Fangorn from Mirkwood and especially Lothlórien. Mirkwood is at least partially occupied by anthropomorphs, while Lothlórien is essentially an elvish garden where Galadriel plants gargantuan trees. Fangorn is the first forest we’ve covered that’s more or less completely free of elvish influence. It’s Tolkien writing nature without subjecting it to human authority, which — for all that his environmentalism is genuine and admirable, is fundamentally an anthropocentric view of the environment.

Through The Lord of the Rings, nature is largely the province of its characters. Hobbits, Men and Elves are supposed to be stewards of it. Fangorn cuts against that tendency by maintaining itself. 

As we head towards Rohan and Gondor, you might notice that these territories are where The Lord of the Rings relaxes some of its mystical tendencies. The kingdoms of Men have more in common with Beowulf or Norse sagas than the Eddas. The late Third Age and Fourth Age are distinctly the post-Elvish era, where magic more or less disappears from Middle-earth. The tradeoff of Sauron’s defeat is the passing of the Elves. While Men restore order in Middle-earth, their rule is essentially a sign of decline.

Fangorn lies in proximity to Rohan and, just as importantly, Isengard. Its relative independence from people is part of its strength. Merry and Pippin don’t know the Ents, who largely keep to themselves. Shepherds of the forest get to be themselves. 

Treebeard is ultimately the face of the forest. While Ents aren’t trees themselves (although some of them “have grown tree-ish”), they’re close enough to treeness to be non-anthropomorphic stewards of the forest. Treebeard is another “wise guiding guest character,” like a TV character who shows up early in the second season, makes occasional appearances, and plays a central role in the season finale. And he’s fine with that — his history is slowly fading, but he’s only interested in transmitting stories beyond the forest to protect his trees.  Fangorn protects itself from the world outside. Treebeard is sounding the battle cry of the repressed, as the Ents destroy Isengard. “Now at least the last march of the Ents may be worth a song,” as Treebeard remarks. Some of Middle-earth’s inhabitants have evolved beyond the need for civilization. Places in Middle-earth are often organisms — Fangorn more than most. The Ents protect their corner of creation — the most self-sustaining people in Middle-earth.