The Theme of Trees

[Nurvingiel]

I just returned from an Art Exhibit of the great Canadian painter Tom Thomson (who inspired the Group of Seven), and like many things in life, I took my new found knowledge and applied it to Lord of the Rings.

Throughout his career, Tom Thomson has the theme of trees in his beautiful oil paintings. The theme evolves and changes, but it is always constant. He also started the Lone Tree type of theme that has become a symbol of Canadian culture, for example, his paintings The West Wind, and my favourite, Jack Pine.

In LOTR, we can also find this changing theme to represent certain elements of the book. I said in another thread that you can find anyting in LOTR, and the tree theme is one of them.

For example, I noticed that forestry comes up a lot. Ents are the Shepherds of the Trees, in other words they are Stewards of the Forest - you could say they are Foresters. After the Scouring of the Shire, Sam is also a forester - planting trees for the sustainability of the Shire's forests.

Men, Elves, Hobbits, and Ents all have an important tree or trees in their cultures. Men have the White Tree of Gondor (a lone tree theme). Obviously Elves value trees highly since they live in the forests. Lothlorien has rare mallorn trees, and the Elves of Mirkwood stay there despite the fact that Sauron had a fortress in the southern part.

I feel like there's loads of other themes and symbolism but I just can't put my finger on them.

What are your views?

[Lizra]

On another forum, I said my favorite thing about Middle Earth was all "The Trees". :) I'm with you on this theme! You mentioned some that I did.

Trees, trees, everywhere.....trees of note! Ents and hourns, the "Party Tree" in the Shire, the Lothlorien trees and their flets, the White Tree of Gondor, Old Man Willow, hobbits hiding from wraiths under gnarley tree roots, the Mallorn reborn in the Shire, the two trees in The Silmarillion, the cutting of the trees as Saruman's downfall, climbing the trees to escape the wolves in The Hobbit. The main "Tree theme" I see is that there is always hope for life (and "good") to sprout anew. When great trees die, there is always the hope of a seed or shoot to bring forth life anew. There is always hope, do not despair.

[Nilore]

Trees are great.

[Artanis]

Nurvingiel and Lizra, i like what you're saying. Good observations. :)

[Dolenloteiel]

Those are very good observations, I agree. I believe that the trees are a part of a big symbolism in LOTR. The trees are the protectors. They house the elves of Lorien, who are the guardians of M-E. The orc pursuit into Lothlorien, and the snatching of the Fellowship into the trees show how important they are. (the trees not the fellowship ;)) The hobbits hiding under a tree root to escape the Nazgul, also protecting. The ents, the shepherds, a living example of protecting nature. Middle Earth, is in itself a character in LOTR. It helps those who need it, Tom Bombadil for example, and it ends up harming those who harm them.

[Huan]

The hobbits hiding under a tree root to escape the Nazgul, also protecting.

Ah! That is intriguing.

[Shadowfax]

Originally posted by Nurvingiel
Canadian painter Tom Thomson (who inspired the Group of Seven) I believe Tom Thomson was part of the group of 7, not just an inspirer.

Oh, and yeah, trees are great, they're so beautiful, and especially in LotR as symbols of beauty, protection, and life!

[squinteyedsoutherner]

The group of seven:

Harris
MacDonald
Lismer
Varley
Johnston
Carmichael
Jackson

First exhibit 1920

Tom Thompson died in 1917, he was the most well known of the group of artits, but had died before they became Group of Seven"

[crickhollow]

Tolkien had a conversation with CS Lewis that centered around trees--"There it stands", he said (and I am paraphrasing here). "Its feet in the earth, its head in the stars, and what do we call it? A tree. The name falls infinitely short of what the thing actually is."

[The Lady of Ithilien]

Also it is said somewhere in The Silmarillion that the Vala, Yavanna, sometimes takes the shape of a huge tree lifting its branches up to heaven.

However, with all this perfectly true talk about the wonderful trees in this book (and one of my favorite parts is JRRT's description of the different tree personalities, especially in the section on Quickbeam and the rowan tree), I feel compelled to bring up their darker side: Old Man Willow, and those dangerous patches in Fangorn Forest that Treebeard warned Merry and Pippin about.

There again is that theme of good and evil...the trees are certainly an important part of the story.

Somewhere on the Net once I came across an image of JRRT with his favorite tree -- will try to find it again and post the link here.

[Nurvingiel]

That was a great quote, or paraphrase, crickhollow. It reminds me of when Treebeard is trying to describe the stone step on the hill, and Pippin suggests "hill". Treebeard says it's too hasty a name for something that's stood there for many ages, or something like that.

In terms of the group of seven, Tom Thomson would have been part of it had he not died tragically. Then it would have been the group of eight.

[Beleg Strongbow]

I think a major theme of LotR is that green, growing things (and people and things associated with them) are good. When trees are evil, they seem to have stopped growing or aren't as green...
Am I making any sense?

[Nurvingiel]

You're totally making sense Beleg Strongbow! I think in Mirkwood, around Dol Goldur the trees are black and evil-hearted. And then there's always those creepy, black squirrels. (I think there was already a thread about the Naz-squirrels.)

This is an obvious one, but anything evil is partly defined because they destroy green, good things. Orcs cut down trees needlessly on several occasions, and Sauron made the Brown Lands where there was a beautiful orchard.

[The Lady of Ithilien]

Here it is: an Austrian pine (http://www.geocities.com/domachowski/tree.html) in the Oxford Botanic Garden (please excuse the Geocities ad link bar to the right). In a different link (http://www.csmonitor.com/2001/1127/p17s2-altr.htm) is said to have inspired Tolkien's Ents, though it reminds me more of Tree Yavanna.

[shirefarmer]

I think tolkien was really ahead of his time when he used trees and all things green for symbollism. He saw the direction we were or still are going dystroying the enviroment(his hatred for the GAS engine.)
Trees are so important to our survival, trust me trees and LOTRs are the reasons why im going to college.

[Elf Girl]

I think Tolkien made trees one of the main themes because he cares about them, also because the Elves general personality is geared towards liking trees, so they are important to the story.

[Nurvingiel]

I already said this, but Sam is a forester!

I'm in Forestry at University! shirefarmer, are you also in forestry? Conservation? What are you studying?

I love relating real life to books I love, and who says they aren't real life too!

I also think that the Ents and the Rangers can be considered Foresters, because they're stewards of the forest.

[azalea]

I was going to major in Pre-Forestry at one point in college, but it required a lot of chemistry, and I was no good in chemistry, so I went into teaching. Now I kind of wish I had gone for it, but I do love teaching. I just really liked the idea of working outdoors with trees and plants and animals. But I'm sure it's very hard work.

[shirefarmer]

actually im majoring in Horticulture but i do plan on takeing more classes in forestry
and my god tina turner is scary

[shirefarmer]

i mean after i gradueate from where i am right now :-)

[Beleg Strongbow]

Lady of Ithilien, that's a great link! An older article but great for reading through.

I think the reason for hobbits and ents having so much strength, resilience, and courage is that they are in touch with the growing world. When Saruman turns away with "a mind of metal and wheels" (Treebeard), he gains temporary strength but, in the end, he benefits less than Gandalf who enlists the help of the Ents.
But Tolkien also thought that moderation was good: Radagast lost sight of his mission because he was too concerned with wildlife.

[Elf Girl]

Excellent point about the wizards.

[Nurvingiel]

That is a great example with the wizards. I felt a bit like I walked into the circle of Orthanc coming back from class the other day.

I live in this neat, stone residence that looks like a castle and is almost as old as the university itself. It overlooks the ocean and a lovely forest. There's also a lot of trees that are planted around the property, some of which are also quite old.

Anyway, the residence ran into financial trouble so they sold some of their land. The new owners are developing it. They cut down a lovely avenue of trees, and left some logs and branches just lying about! Now they have machines moving piles of dirt and resurfacing the road.

Anyway, if I lived in a Hobbit hole instead of a stone building, I would be Sam!

(In the Scouring of the Shire, when the Hobbits first return.)

Originally posted by Beleg Strongbow
Lady of Ithilien, that's a great link! An older article but great for reading through.


What link?

[The Lady of Ithilien]

Originally posted by Nurvingiel
What link? This link. (http://www.csmonitor.com/2001/1127/p17s2-altr.htm) :)

[Nurvingiel]

Thanks! I love reading interviews with or about Tolkien! Makes me want to go have a beer at the Eagle and Child...

[Laurus Nobilis]

Originally posted by Beleg Strongbow
I think a major theme of LotR is that green, growing things (and people and things associated with them) are good. When trees are evil, they seem to have stopped growing or aren't as green...
Am I making any sense?

I've noticed that, too. Nurvingiel already mentioned the trees in Mirkwood, and if I remember correctly, Tom Bombadil says something about the Old Man Willow having "a rotten heart". I really like the symbolism Tolkien uses here, showing the "good" and "evil" trees.

I believe Tolkien must have loved trees in real life. They're present all throughout the stories, and not just as "scenery", so to say.

[Nurvingiel]

There's also the Huorns, who aren't evil. They are unpredictable and would harm good people. But they also helped exterminate some orcs. What would you make of them?

[Ornelírë Mistë]

How about trees in names?
Galadhriel- alternate name of Galadriel. ('tree-maiden'?)
Aragorn- 'tree-lord'.
Celeborn- 'silver-tree'.

I'm sure there are some more. Do those people have anything in common? Maybe?

[Anglorfin]

In the case of Galadriel, I thought I read that Tolkien didn't mean for there to be any etymological connection between Galadriel and trees. her name was descended from different meanings.

Anyway I noticed that almost everything in Tolkien's works that are described as beautiful are either trees or compared to trees. Some Elves were named because of their resemblance to trees (Nimloth for example).

Also it would be interesting to see what we can make of this connection. The Two Trees of Valinor emitted a light that was captured within three jewels. Besides the silmarils their light was also captured in the Sun and the Moon. I wonder if this is just the substance of storytelling or if Tolkien is trying to say that everything depends on the sustenance and protection that trees and plants give.

Another point, a division of Elves is based solely on whether or not they saw the light of the Two Trees.

[Ornelírë Mistë]

Originally posted by Anglorfin
In the case of Galadriel, I thought I read that Tolkien didn't mean for there to be any etymological connection between Galadriel and trees. her name was descended from different meanings.

This is true, but some people called her Galadhriel. Didn't it say so in the Sil?

[Anglorfin]

Originally posted by OrnelÃ*rë Mistë
This is true, but some people called her Galadhriel. Didn't it say so in the Sil?

I think it's in the appendices at the back of the Sil is where the etymological (sp?) evolution of Galadriel's name can be found and why it oroginally wasn't supposed to be associated with the Elvish word for tree.

[edit]I think there is a note about people associating her name with trees but it's hard to judge by context if this is an error of the readers or an assosication made by other inhabitants of Middle Earth who knew of Galadriel dwelling in a forest region.

[Silpion]

I found this in Unfinished Tales On occasional confusion of Galadriel's name with the word galadh my father wrote:
When Celeborn and Galadriel became the rulers of the Elves of Lorien (who were mainly in origin Silvan Elves and called themselves the Galadhrim) the name of Galadriel became associated with trees, an association that was aided by the name of her husband, which also appeared to contain a tree-word; so that outside Lorien among those whose memories of the ancient days and Galadriel's history had grown dim her name was often altered to Galadhriel. Not in Lorien itself. I found it interesting that he did not want to associate Galadriel's name with trees. I wonder did he think it was a pun that was going a bit to far?
Galadriel's husband is Celeborn (tall, silver tree)
Celeborn's father is Galadhon
Celeborn's brother was Galathil who is also the father of Nimloth
They lived among the Galadhrim (tree people) in Caras Galadhon (City of the Trees).
Was associating Galadriel (radiant garland) with Galadhriel (tree garland) taking the tree theme too far?

[Anglorfin]

Thanks for the reference, Silpion. That was exactly the one I was thinking of. I think there is a very simple explanation to this however. The different words just ended up sounding the same. Like in any language a few words will share either a similar spelling, rythm, or tone. if we look at it like this then "galad" and "galadh" is nothing more than a coincidental pairing which would be common in any real and functional language.

[Silpion]

Thanks, Anglorfin. Your explanation makes sense. I guess the easiest explanation is the simplest. It's just with the languages sometimes I think there is all these hidden or deeper meanings when there is none.
Back to the topic. Like others have said on this thread, trees have a very important part in Tolkien's writing. There are good trees (Ents), bad trees (Old Man Willow), unpredictable trees (Huorns), trees can be a symbol of shelter (mallorns in Lorien) as well as shelter with danger (spiders in Mirkwood), you've got the Two Trees of Valinor, the White Tree of Gondor, elves and their being categorized as having seen those Two Trees or not, elves being named with tree descriptions, the big party tree in the Shire, tree names (Celeborn=tall, silver tree or Aragorn=King Tree), Finduilas being speared to a tree, Ents wanting to reconnect with Entwives, trees as a symbol of resilience and of being shepherds/caretakers etc. The tree theme is interwoven in Middle Earth.
Trees should be important to "this" earth.

[LutraMage]

Anyone who has been there will tell you that England is a very green country, and rural Oxford is particuarly beautiful. Like everything else in this crowded island, our trees seem bundled together so that you tend not to get great swathes of the same tree, but, in our natural non-man-made forests, all types of trees grow within close proximity to each other.

I think Tolkien was inspired by this diversity and beauty. The oak and ash, the beech and horse chestnut, the holly and the pine, willow and elm. Not only do we have them all, but they grow one on top of the other.

I sometimes think that trees are amongst the most beautiful things in our landscape. Their shapes and colours sing out. And often I wonder how much life an old oak must have seen. Sometimes whole towns have grown up around trees that were saplings long before the town was first thought of. I think JRRT felt the same, and the trees in Middle Earth were given a special kind of life (different to his other imaginary creations) that had deep resonance for those of us who might not be able to talk to elves or blow smoke rings with hobbits, but who can touch the bark of trees and imagine what they must feel and think.

Perhaps that is getting too carried away....:eek:

[Lizra]

I walk around my trees (ten year old ones I planted) touching them lovingly, and singing my special tree song to them! :) They know I love them! ;) These 50 trees are tall (30 feet or higher) and ever so beautiful now, though they were mere sticks when I planted them. The tulip trees(Liriodendrons) gifted me with beautiful flowers this year. I absolutely relate to what you are saying LutraMage! Welcome to Entmoot! ;)

[Anglorfin]

Originally posted by LutraMage
Anyone who has been there will tell you that England is a very green country, and rural Oxford is particuarly beautiful. Like everything else in this crowded island, our trees seem bundled together so that you tend not to get great swathes of the same tree, but, in our natural non-man-made forests, all types of trees grow within close proximity to each other.

I think Tolkien was inspired by this diversity and beauty. The oak and ash, the beech and horse chestnut, the holly and the pine, willow and elm. Not only do we have them all, but they grow one on top of the other.

I sometimes think that trees are amongst the most beautiful things in our landscape. Their shapes and colours sing out. And often I wonder how much life an old oak must have seen. Sometimes whole towns have grown up around trees that were saplings long before the town was first thought of. I think JRRT felt the same, and the trees in Middle Earth were given a special kind of life (different to his other imaginary creations) that had deep resonance for those of us who might not be able to talk to elves or blow smoke rings with hobbits, but who can touch the bark of trees and imagine what they must feel and think.

Perhaps that is getting too carried away....:eek:


Not at all. If it was indeed part of Tolkien's intentions for us to admire trees because of his writing then I'd say on a personal level he has succeeded. Now because of him whenever I am in a forest I can't help but think of not just Elves and such but also it can put me in a calm and relaxed state because I like looking at the trees and appreciate their value.

[Fat middle]

My love for the trees and the woods is also due to LOTR, and particularly to this quote:
Haldir had gone on and was now climbing to the high flet. As Frodo prepared to follow him, he laid his hand upon the tree beside the ladder: never before had he been so suddenly and so keenly aware of the feel and texture of a tree's skin and of the life within it. He felt a delight in wood and the touch of it, neither as forester nor as carpenter; it was the delight of the living tree itself.
:cool: :cool: :cool: