Long before the awakening of Elves and Men, the Vala Yavanna, giver of fruits, planted
the first seeds to populate the world with growing things, creating vast forests and
wondrous gardens.
However, she soon came to fear what the Elves, Dwarves and later Humans might destroy, learning
that they would need to cut down forests and rip apart soil in order to survive and build
their settlements.
Approaching Manwe, king of the valar with her concerns, it was decided that when the
Children of Iluvatar awoke, a new form of life would as well, with tall, tree-like beings
created to serve as Shepherds of the Forest, protecting Yavanna’s creations.
The males of the species became known as Ents and were devoted to the vala Orome Lord of
Forests, watching over the trees of the middle earth, while the females were known as Entwives,
devoted to Yavanna, tending to smaller plants, and grasses.
Some of these being would then pair off and live their long lives together, producing
children known as Entings.
Protecting wildlife, like the ancient trees known as Huorns, it is believed they started
to take after each other, with Ents becoming more treelike, while in turn teaching the
forests the art of speech and movement.
And while the Huorns were mostly known as dark trees in deep woods, gnarled and unmoving,
they had minds of their own, able to fall upon their enemies with deadly strength.
Over the long years of their lives some Huorns were known to become long-brooding, and black-hearted
such as Old Man Willow, a sentient tree by the banks of the Withywindle River, who grew
angry and resentful against the children of Iluvatar, as they continued to cut down trees
and destroy forests.
And so he would sing songs of enchantment in order to lure nearby travellers so he could
consume them with roots and branches.
In those early years, as the Ents roamed the vast forests of middle earth, they came into
contact with the Elves who taught them how to speak, imparting a desire to learn new
things and expand their knowledge.
Although they developed their own language, it was rumbling lengthy and long-winded, and
so once introduced to other languages, Old Entish was reserved for important discussion,
while New Entish was created for everyday conversation.
According to the Ent Treebeard, possibly the Oldest living being in all of Middle Earth,
the race of Trolls, created by Melkor in the First Age, were made in mockery of the Ents,
just as the Orcs were a twisted, corrupt version of the Elves.
Although the Ents largely avoided the conflicts of other races, they did join the legendary
hero Beren Erchamion at the Battle of Sarn Athrad, helping to destroy the retreating
Dwarves of Nogrod, who had recently sacked the city of Menegroth, killing their king
and stealing a precious jewel known as a silmaril.
Spending much of their time in the lands of Eriador, which were once completely covered
by a vast ancient forest, long years of war and migration eventually resulted in fundamental
changes to the shapes of continents and the landscape of their territory.
And so the realm of the Ents in Middle Earth grew smaller over time until all that remained
of their ancient homeland were small pockets of woodlands like the Old Forest near the
Shire and fangorn forest, east of the Misty Mountains, where their dwindling population
retreated.
For thousands of years, the old Ent Treebeard, also known as Fangorn watched over the forests
while his mate Fimbrethil tended to her gardens, but when the Entwives decided to journey east,
and create a great garden beyond the river Anduin, their race suffered further tragedy,
as they became separated from their husbands and were never again reunited.
Unfortunately, when the last alliance of men, elves and dwarves, prepared to march against
Sauron at the end of the second age, the Dark Lord pre-emptively sent his armies to destroy
the Entwives and their garden, leaving only a desolate desert known as the brown lands.
The ultimate fate of the Entwives is unknown, though many believe they likely perished with
their garden, while some hold out hope that a few escaped and fled into the wilderness.
One such hope, rests on the word of Samwise Gamgee, who claims his cousin Hal saw a walking
tree north of the Shire, as Treebeard once remarked how much the Entwives would have
loved the fertile fields and forests of the Hobbit homeland.
However it is also possible Sam’s cousin simply saw a wandering Ent, or a Huorn, who
were known to populate the Old Forest nearby.
In the Third Age, when the wizards came to middle earth, Saruman the White became a friend
of the Ents, but in time grew vain and cold, directing his orcs to cut down the forests
to feed the furnaces of Isengard.
When the War of the ring erupted throughout the western lands of middle earth, the free
peoples once again attempted to fight against the rise of Sauron.
Although Saruman was supposed to be one of the leaders opposing the Dark Lord, he instead
made a temporary alliance with him, betraying his former allies in the hopes he might one
day wield the mighty ring of power.
However, in the year 3019 of the Third Age, Treebeard encountered two small hobbits, wandering
through the forest, fleeing from orc pursuers.
Meriadoc Brandybuck and Peregrin Took tried to inform Treebeard that the felling of their
trees was growing worse every day, but the Ents were well aware and so summoned an Entmoot,
to discuss the issue.
Treebeard then took the hobbits to his home of Wellinghall, a great ent-house where they
made Ent-draughts from river water, the only sustenance the creatures needed.
When Merry and Pippin drank of this mysterious liquid, they grew over 3 inches and became
the tallest hobbits in history.
After a lengthy discussion at the Entmoot, which the Ents considered a quick conversation,
it was decided that the few of them who remained would go to war in defense of their forest,
the Last March of the Ents.
Emerging from Fangorn, they charged against Saruman’s forces in the battle of Isengard,
defeating his garrison and releasing the river to flood his furnaces and workshops.
At the same time, the Ents sent the Huorns to help the humans of Rohan at the Battle
of the Hornburg, destroying the enemy army as they attempted to retreat into the forest.
Surrounding the tower of Orthanc, they held the White wizard as a captive for a time,
with Saruman growing frail and pitiful as a prisoner.
However he was still a powerful being, and used the magic of his voice to convince the
Ents to free him, praying on their distaste for keeping living beings in captivity.
Yet Saruman would never again rise to levels of power and authority he once held, and with
the war against Sauron won, Isengard was given over to the Ents by King Elessar of the Reunited
Kingdom, and there created a new forest called the Watchwood, and a realm known as the Treegarth
of Orthanc.
Having survived into the fourth Age, Treebeard continued to lead his people for many more
years, still longing to one day be reunited with his beloved Entwife.
Although Ents lived for a very a long time, they were not immortal and so in time those
that remained likely grew still and quiet, losing their conscious minds to become simple
trees.
However, according to Galadriel the Lady of Light, the Ents would one day return, possibly
after the final defeat of Morgoth and the end of the world, when the lands of Arda were
restored to their former glory.
In her own words they would see the Ents again, but Not in Middle-earth, nor until the lands
that lie under the wave are lifted up again.
Then in the willow-meads of Tasarinan we may meet in the Spring.”