shirleytwofeathers

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Treebeard (Sindarin: Fangorn) is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth fantasy writings. The eldest of the species of Ents, he is said to live in the ancient Forest of Fangorn and stands fourteen feet in height and is tree-like in appearance, with leafy hair and a rigid structure. His motto is, “Don’t be hasty.”

Fangorn Forest lies next to Isengard where Saruman the White resides. In the The Two Towers he meets with Meriadoc Brandybuck and Peregrin Took, two Hobbits of the Shire known also as Merry and Pippin. Treebeard is known to have a strong hatred of Orcs, and, after Saruman’s betrayal of the Ents, of Saruman as well.

Spirits were sent by Eru Ilúvatar to inhabit the trees, which the Vala Yavanna had created along with other plants or olvar. The Vala longed for their protection since Morgoth or Melkor was destroying the trees and olvars, which could not defend themselves from him. The Ents were created by Ilúvatar at the behest of Yavanna as the Shepherds of the Forest or Tree-herders. Entwives were also created for the Ents, but, in the Second Age, were driven out by Sauron.

Treebeard is the oldest of three remaining original Ents. He is said to have once roamed all of the forests in Middle-earth, which included the Misty Mountains, Mirkwood, and the Blue Mountains. After the loss of the Entwives by the end of the Third Age, he and the remaining Ents dwelt in the Forest of Fangorn. This led the remaining Ents into isolation and all information from the outside world was cut off. The arrival of Merry and Pippin shifted Treebeard’s attention to take action against Saruman for hacking down his trees. He led the Ents to war against Saruman and his Orcs. Treebeard later realised that while Saruman had learned much from him, the Wizard had shared no useful information of his own.

“One felt as if there was an enormous well behind them, filled up with ages of memory and long, slow, steady thinking; but their surface was sparkling with the present: like sun shimmering on the outer leaves of a vast tree, or on the ripples of a very deep lake. I don’t know but it felt as if something that grew in the ground — asleep, you might say, or just feeling itself as something between root-tip and leaf-tip, between deep earth and sky had suddenly waked up, and was considering you with the same slow care that it had given to its own inside affairs for endless years.”  

Treebeard had been friends with Saruman. It is described in The Two Towers that Saruman travelled with Treebeard and had talked with him on various subjects of concern. Saruman gathered information from Treebeard about the Forest of Fangorn; its inter-twinning paths were of particular concern to him. Saruman later abandoned Treebeard, choosing to stay in Isengard and build an army for Sauron.

After Merry and Pippin’s meeting with Treebeard, Treebeard called a meeting of the Entmoot — which lasted three days — who then decided to call an attack on Isengard and Saruman. Since Leaflock and Skinbark were the oldest of the Ents along with Treebeard, they refused to fight, however, Treebeard thought he was going to his doom during “the last march of the Ents.” Treebeard hoped that some of the younger Ents would come instead of just the two, and, during the night he spread the word. They later launched an assault on Isengard.

After Treebeard ordered the Ents to march to Isengard, the Ents felled Saruman’s walls and destroyed every object in and around Isengard; the Tower of Orthanc could not be breached, but Saruman was trapped within. Treebeard stopped the attack on the tower when he realised their efforts were in vain: the tower was too strong. The Ents were ordered to unleash the waters of the River Isen, which flooded Isengard. When Merry and Pippin departed Treebeard he requested them to watch for the Entwives. At one point in the book, Tolkien gives hints on the whereabouts of the Entwives. It is speculated that they were spotted by Samwise Gamgee’s cousin Hal in the North Farthing. However, this may or may not be conjecture:

“But what about these Tree-men, these giants, as you might call them? They do say that one bigger than a tree was seen up away beyond the North Moors not long back……But this one was as big as an elm tree, and walking — walking seven yards to a stride, if it was an inch.”  

In the Years of the Trees where the Ents were thriving in 1495 Morgoth had re-established his realm in Middle-earth. With this the Entwives had moved across to the east where Anduin lay. Treebeard’s Entwife Fimbrethil was driven from her land and the two were separated forever. This may have been the dominant cause of the loss of the Entwives and the loss of the Entings.

The Elven-realm Lothlórien was situated near the North of Fangorn Forest and Treebeard had met the Lord and Lady of the Galadhrim of Lothlórien, who refer to him as “Eldest”. This marked the time the Ents and the Elves would be separate. Treebeard had in addition met Galadriel and Celeborn. Over time the Ents and the Elves separated and the Elves had nothing more to do with the business of Ents.

source: Wikipedia

This was posted on my old blogger blog on Monday, December 21, 2009. It’s pretty funny, and relevant to something else I’m going to post, so I’m sharing it here. The “ask a fictional character widgets” mentioned are no longer viable… I wish they were. Looks like I might have to make some of my own. But that’s for another time. Anyway, here it is:
question-mark-chair01_2263
In case you weren’t paying attention, I posted a whole bunch of silly widgets and other stuff on facebook, Gypsy Magic, and yes… here too. Suddenly it occurred to me that maybe I was just fooling around and maybe I should get busy and go Christmas Shopping. But I didn’t want to stop, I thought maybe… who knows… what I’ve been posting might actually have some value.

So I asked Tony Soprano if anyone was even going to read a single one of my facebook posts today and he had this to say:

I doubt it. — You don’t shit where you eat. And you really don’t shit where I eat.

Hmmmm… have I been posting shit on facebook all morning? I decided that maybe I should ask Buffy if Tony Soprano was right. Here’s what she said:

Yes, without a doubt. — If I was any more open-minded about the choices you two make, my whole brain would fall out.

When I quit laughing so hard that I spit coffee out my nose, it occurred to me to ask Tony Montana what he thought about the whole thing and he said this:

It’s hard to say. — I got ears, ya’ know. I hear things.

LOL… too funny!!! I love these widgets!! Those question mark chairs are cool too!

Every year, I sit down and watch The Lord of the Rings Trilogy from start to finish. I think about my life, and about who I would be if  that movie was my real life – what character I’d be playing. Then I think about who I would WANT to be, what role I would elect to play if I could just figure out how to do it.

So, I watched Lord of the Rings – and once again, I’m electing to “be” Aragorn. It would really be helpful if I was a man, a man in great physical shape, someone strong and cool looking… and it would be even more helpful if I was Viggo Mortensen… yes,.. it would be extremely helpful if I looked like this guy and could actually ride a horse!

aragorn

But… no… It’s just me, Shirley. Trying once again to be more than I am. Ok, that’s not exactly true. It occurred to me yesterday that the reason I have this deep seated desire to BE Aragorn is because I am Aragorn in my heart, and to see a vision of the inner me unfolding in a successful way… well… it draws me.. And it’s frustrating as hell because my vision of my inner self and my vision of my outer self are so irreconcilably different. And the failure of my life is so unbearably present.

It’s as if what Eowyn feared the most has already come true for me:

Aragorn: What do you fear, my lady?
Eowyn: A cage. To stay behind bars until use and old age accept them and all chance of valor has gone beyond recall or desire.

Maybe instead of consistently picking Aragorn – I should set out to be Bilbo. Old and done. I could do that one quite easily, I think. Not happily. But easily. And I don’t because the Aragorn inside me will not allow it. I guess I’m a fight to the death kind of person with no great battle to fight in… or something… so I end up just flailing around, flapping my gums, treading water, and posting shit on facebook.

I was looking for clips of the movie and found this one called “It’s My Life.” Wow. Yes! That’s what I want. Action, adventure, courage, meaning! I want to be a hero.

Remember that awesome speech at the Black Gate? Yeah! I want that kind of a life. I want to live/give my life that way. And it just seems impossible. What is the quest? Where is the fellowship? Who has the ring? Is there a Mordor? And did Sauron already win the war? Where is my lost love? Who is my family? What is my destiny? Where the heck is Sam??? Right now when I need him? And is the desire to be Aragorn the Ring I have to take to Mordor?

And who have I been this last year instead? Well, I think I’ve been a pretty credible Ent. A lot of bla bla bla… and I think I’ll leave that for another post. So… the day travels on, snow falls, the sun fades… and it’s time now to engage in the stuff of my real life such as washing dishes, starting up a frozen car so it won’t forget how, and I don’t know… bla bla bla…

By the way: This post was migrated from my blogger blog (shirleytwofeathers.blogspot.com) and was first published on 1/03/10.

Wow and wow!
I would follow that man into … well… anywhere!

Here’s the actual speech:

Hold your ground!
Hold your ground!

Sons of Gondor, of Rohan, my brothers,
I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of me.

A day may come when the courage of men fails,
when we forsake our friends
and break all bonds of fellowship,
but it is not this day.

An hour of wolves and shattered shields,
when the age of men comes crashing down,
but it is not this day!

This day we fight!!
By all that you hold dear on this good Earth,
I bid you stand, Men of the West!!!

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I think it's time to go shopping... maybe even buy some really cool stuff at my online shops!!

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