Entwife
One of Middle-earth's great mysteries is, simply put: what became of the Entwives? Treebeard recounted their "strange and sad" history to Merry and Pippin, longing apparent in his ancient, powerful voice. While Ents cherished trees and mountainsides and the deep woods, Ent-maidens loved and tended the lowland grasses and meadows, and especially the gardens and fields they planted and tilled. When the Darkness fell, Entwives fled across the Anduin and were rarely visited by their slow-moving mates. After the Darkness receeded, Men came to learn the ways of the Ent-wives, and the fields stood golden with corn. Forgotten were the Ents who lived in the mountains and distant vales. With the coming of Sauron, the scorched fields lay in waste, and the fleeing Ent-wives disappeared. Surviving Ents like Treebeard searched relentlessly for their rosy-cheeked, golden-haired mates, but no Ent-wife was ever found. Some believe that Fimbrethil and at least one other Entmaiden survived the wars and ravages of the Second and Third Ages, interpreting Trebeard's wistful remembrance of Wandlimb as an oblique reference not to Fimbrethil but to a second and fleeter Entwife.
The Legacy of the Entwives[]
It was said that in the early times the Entwives taught agriculture to the Hildor.This was still a tradition among the Men of the east.Particularly the Dorwinrim and the Danan Lin had preserved ancient tales that stated that their forefathers were once the pupils of the Earth Maidens or the three mothers, servants of the Earth-Mother.These tales seemed to have had their roots in the Ancient Gardens of the Entwives in the region later known as the Brown Lands.Both peoples were the descendants of tribes that once lived in the brown Lands or near their borders and later fled from wars either to the lands west of the Anduin or the coasts of the Rhûnaer.An ancient Tale of the Danan Lin told of the Seeress Suenes receiving a vision of the three Earth-mothers appearing burnt and seemingly dying.
Return of the Entwives[]
In the White Dwarf Magazine Issue 87 ICE Author Graham Staplehurst published an Adventure in which a group of Ent-wives returned out of the East in the Taurëfantô (an enchanted, Noah's Ark-like vessel that moved across dry land) in order to implant an enchantment that would redress Sauron's curse upon the Brown Lands.The Adventure was however never officially considered part of the MERP Canon.
Other Names[]
- Earth-Maidens
- Enadai
- Nólenorolvar
- Onodwyn
- Unada
The Yavannen[]
Similar as the male Ents communicated with the Huorns or Awakened trees, the Entwives communicated with and took care of the Yavannen, believed to be servants of Yavanna in the shape of short hedges, bushes or beds.
Speculations[]
The Entwives may have been enslaved by Sauron to create the fabulous Eastern Gardens.
Entwives of Renown[]
Ashlimb Braiglad Caniruth Cordofoneth Dorollin Elmlimb Fimbrethil Firiel Lenhwest Loblolly Merillif Neldorlas Palebirch Rhosthorn Silloth Singalote