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The One Ring Forums:
Tolkien Topics: Reading Room:
When I compiled all the references to trees in the Shire, I was surprised at the length of the quotes.:
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Curious
Half-elven
May 2, 7:56pm
Views: 188460
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When I compiled all the references to trees in the Shire, I was surprised at the length of the quotes.
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I had to work to keep it as short as it is in my post.
I agree that Tolkien's specificity about flora is part of what makes his world building special. I actually think he spends more time describing trees and other flora than he does describing characters. After all, he never does tell us the color of Legolas's hair.
In his illustrations, too, Tolkien seems more comfortable drawing landscapes than characters. I wonder if that affected his prose descriptions.
But the degree of specificity Tolkien uses really does give us a sense of place. And the flora changes appropriately as the characters through different terrains and climates.
I also love Tolkien's description of the evil and warped plants in Morgul Valley, which unlike Mordor is not a desert. It's much creepier than a desert.
Surely Bilbo and Frodo are not the only hobbits to ever meet with the elves. So I can see someone long ago founding Woodhall near the elves' wood hall, and making sure no hobbits disturbed the elven camp in the woods above the town. In return, perhaps the elves blessed their harvests.
In Letter 241 Tolkien expresses his sense of outrage at the treatment of a huge poplar visible through his window. His foolish neighbor was about to have it felled. Tolkien loved the tree and was anxious about it.
He spoke of the tree as if it was a friend, and I really think Tolkien thought of trees as his friends. And if the trees of the Shire have any sentience at all, and have been protecting the hobbits all these years, that's all the more reason to mourn their destruction.
But it's true that Tolkien never actually says the trees of the Shire are awake. It's only implied when you realize that they are awake pretty much everywhere else -- awake and malevolent in the Old Forest and much of Mirkwood; awake and benevolent in Rivendell and Lothorien; awake and angry at orcs in Fangorn Forest.
I think the English may appreciate trees even more than Americans, because they have so few of them. 33.2% of the U.S. is forested. 13% of the U.K is forested, and that's more than double what it was in the early 20th century.
Much of that U.K. forest is in Scotland or the far north of England, too, and not near Oxford, where Tolkien lived. There are patches of woods near Oxford, but none of them are extensive by American or even Scottish standards.
(This post was edited by Curious on May 2, 8:01pm)
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Edit Log:
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Post edited by Curious
(Half-elven) on May 2, 7:57pm
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Post edited by Curious
(Half-elven) on May 2, 8:01pm
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