The Entwives & What Happened To Them | Tolkien Explained 

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It's a testament to the power of Tolkien's creation that generations of readers have wondered about the fate of the Entwives.

I love how real Tolkien made his world feel by saying he doesn't know what happened. As if he is a historian talking about a real history.

The Ents are among the most amazing forms of life in Tolkien’s world and yet they have suffered immensely….

What a bittersweet tale. I love how Tolkein's work still has mysteries that could potentially go unanswered, it keeps the lore alive and fascinating. Every authors dream is for his writing to be so enduring time is powerless against it.

I've always thought the Entwives after having their gardens destroyed decided to make peace with the physical world and drifted into a deep sleep, becoming one with nature as they morphed back into normal trees. The Ents may have passed them by many times without even knowing it. They are a relic from the old world still clinging to the way things were, but one day they will learn to let go and make their own peace, settling into permanent sleep where they will finally be reunited with the Entwives

Fanfic idea: fourth age story in which Radagast manages to reunite the ents and entwives. Bonus feel good points this leads to him being welcomed back to Valinor.

I really like how Tolkien describes his universe as if seeing it from afar like he was watching it grow not building it maybe that’s why it’s so loved!!

I wonder how Tolkien would react to all these fans and adores of his work today? He had fans, but no it’s a sub-culture in pop-culture. I thank God for this man, and for Nerd of The Rings, for this lore and great stories

If I have never said this, I just fuckin love this channel. We all love the world of Tolkien but this channel is simply the best version or depiction of how these stories need to told from use of pictures to music to Matt graf and his team’s insane analysis, research and god damn beautiful narration. This channel is an absolute work of art celebrating the world of Tolkien. I am guy that enjoys many levels of art and If I can I would only want to meet Matt graf in my life. He is a true inspiration and biggest celebrity in my life no other person can top. Thank you so much for all of this ❤

I saw a fan theory a while ago that the entwives went on to found the Shire and protected the halflings that developed into harfoots, river folk, and hobbits. And that it’s not a coincidence no one knows where the ent wives went and that no one knows where the Shire is (besides Gandalf).

1:15 One of my favorite lines from the Silmarillon is from Aulë to Yavanna when she was granted the Ents. “They’re still going to need firewood.”

I don't know about Ents passing beyond the circles of the world like humans. They had more in common with the Elves, both immortal races with missions tied to Arda. Moreover there is what Galadriel said to Treebeard about meeting again: "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." That implies her belief in them having a role in Arda Healed after the Dagor Dagorath.

I’ve only just learned anything about Entwives beyond the fact that they were “lost”. I love the idea that they were likely fruit trees & loved agriculture & farming while the Ents loved the forests & the trees so that their interests grew apart & eventually they drifted apart physically, too. I hadn’t heard a good deal of the info in this video, especially the names of some of the Entwives. Very cool.

I always felt bad they didn’t find the Entwives.

Stellar work, NotR! For you to bring up a Quora post, it had to be something special; that was something I was not expecting. For a fan to have a special item of such regard, it must be amazing (even though it may be just a story). Keep on working, big man!

My headcanon will always be that entwives are protectors of the shire and live in/around the old forest. It is the only happy scenario and it explains how shire has been able to stay hidden for so long.

It's interesting how it seems like all the sentient beings who were not Eru's children are doomed to go extinct. All the creatures Melkor had corrupted pretty much went extinct after the war of the ring, the Dwarves (and possibly the Hobbits) are doomed to fade away, and the Ents will most likely never find their wives and will eventually all turn into regular trees.

Elrond's remark about times when a squirrel could carry a nut from Rivendell to the great sea reminded me of a saying about the pre-colonial eastern US. Something like: there was a time when a squirrel could carry an acorn from the Mississippi river to the Atlantic ocean without touching the ground. I wonder which came first.

I don't even want to imagine what it feels like to have all the women of your race gone. The loneliness and hopelessness must be unbearable.

5:29 I wonder how long the ents must have searched for someone like Treebeard to have called it 'a long time'.

Great video as usual, it's a mystery I've wondered a lot about over the years as well. I like that tidbit that Tolkien mentioned about potentially even the forces of tyranny needing to use some of the tools or expertise of the wives. That really opens up the door for a wonderful expanded universe type setting where the evil forces had captured them after burning their gardens and use them as some kind of logistical or supply resource in chains or against their will. And you would think after the war some would either break free or you can imagine a story where maybe one ent searching and searching for centuries did discover them in bondage and helped to breathe him. It's just a story that they could really dig into given the ambiguity about them.

Every video of yours leaves me in awe of Tolkien's inspired genius.

That last line from Tolkiens letter was dark the anguish in his voice was very good

Aside from the Entwives, another enigma would be the Huorns of Fangorn.

Tolkien stating heartbreak.And how the ent guys moved on.I love tolkien for this.

Amazing work as always. Thank you nerd of the rings, I like your voice acting of the Ends. Ends and their wifes is a plesent mistery for a lot of Tolkien fans. Thank again.

I’ve been going through all of your videos to see which ones I haven’t seen yet, and you bless us with this today! Wonderful

I believe Treebeard also specifically mentioned that the Entwives grew orchards of fruit trees, as well as flowers and herbs. I have also heard theories that, as the Ents looked like wild trees, such as Oak, Elm, and Ash, the Entwives may have resembled fruit trees.

I’ve got an elderly neighbor who literally looks and sounds exactly like Treebeard from the films. He’s got the same facial structure, nose, and beard. His voice is slow and deep too. Every time I see him I think, hello Treebeard 😂

I remember reading these passages of Treebeard's account of looking for the Entwives. It was heartbreaking to know how they went out to look for them for years until they just became a memory. 😢😢💔

i like how Tolkien seems to let things happen naturally instead of just forcing events in his stories to happen or how he doesn't answer every mystery throughout the lore but leaves some open ended/unsolved. you'd think it have some negative effect on the story and the world he created but it's the complete opposite because of how he wrote/built/constructed everything within it and just makes it that much more immersive. it's all beautifully interwoven together.

This is awesome. Been waiting for this for a while. Sad what happened to entwives and yet understandable.

Could you make a video about Minas Tirith? It’s Architecture and history?

The ents are my favorite species from Tolkiens world, I love the lore, thank you for this video, you have awesome content

I always just picture this guy sitting there in his room doing these voices for his videos lmao it always makes me laugh. I'm not making fun. I love these videos and all things lotr it just cracks me up that he gets so into his voices. He does an amazing gollum

I am endlessly impressed by your voice acting in your videos! Amazing job

Love the treebeard voice 😂 made me smile

I wonder if Tolkien had any idea that 100 yrs later we'd still be IN LOVE with his writings and doing theses on them.

I was literally watching The Two Towers yesterday and asked myself this question. Thanks for this video

The mystery of the Entwives is the saddest thing. I think I like Tolkien's first letter best - that "I hope so" resonates most for me. I too hope: that somehow, someday, the Ents and Entwives will meet again.

Not me crying the entire video

For a long time, I've wondered if, after the destruction of their gardens, the Entwives that were seen heading West settled in the area known as The Old Forest.

Iv just started the silmarillion and I now know I’m reading and understanding it correctly ❤ it’s quite challenging for me 😅❤ you have help me so much with learning and understanding more of tolkeins world ❤

I find it hilarious how people have been asking themselves and each other this question for DECADES, and yet nobody thought that *Tolkien just isekai'd them to Lewis' Narnia to "keep them secret, keep them safe".* 🤣

I had gotten the impression that the entwives became orchard trees, like apple, pear, cherry etc.

Can you do a video of top mysteries of lord of the rings? Like the list you had earlier, maybe ungoliant, balrogs, etc.

I think the Wives whom weren't killed found other homes except Fanghorn and just fell into deep sleep. Loved the Oxenmooot bye the way. The Astromer was great. I've been an Astronomy geek since I was a kid. I didn't realize Tolkien made it such a significant part. I'll have to go back and re-read. 🖖😁🤘🇨🇦

In Middle-earth: Shadow of War, the sequel to Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor, produced by Monolith Studios, the forest spirit Carnan strongly resembles the description of an Entwife and shares their characteristics of being a protector of life, though she's never confirmed to be one.

It would be logical for Sauron to have captured some of the Entwives to help grow crops for the Men that resided in the south of Mordor i(ie slaves and wicked Men that served Sauron). Sauron killed the rest but kept a few around Nurn.

I dont know why, but i found most of the stories from middle earth quite depresive, sad and beautiful at the same time. It is what makes my oppinion on Tolkiens world so special and different.

I would believe that unlike the Ents, the wives are more the wandering type. I am sure they are still traveling and spreading gardens. Niether Morgoth nor Sauron had total dominion over the east, north east or south. And looking at the greater land mass, there is plenty of uncharted lands.

Just started reading The fellowship to my daughter tonight. Fourth time through and still great!

No purge ever kills 100% of their target. There are always survivors who scatter in all directions.

Thank you so much for this video! I have always wanted to know what happened to the entwives.

Your videos always make a great morning watch. Thanks for this :)

Have you ever considered doing an audiobook? I have loved your videos for many years now, and I just think your voice and character voices would be excellent for an audiobook.

It's very sad, but also a reminder of the cost of war.

That was an excellent video, and something to think about. Maybe they are where the blue wizards are. Just a thought.

I think it is a lesson to all worldbuilders that even one of the best of them, Tolkien himself, didn't know everything about the world he'd created.

I have a crack theory that the Entwives are at least partially responsible for the creation of Hobbits.

Oh Tolkien, the man who wrote a masterpiece using everything around him, streams and trees. Middle earth was flat, spread out like map, then wrapped it up, rolled into a sphere. Like something similar happened in the not to distance past, hidden from us, like the timeless gap, like in Genesis 1:1-1:2. There was a civilization that was here, not human but angelic it appears. The age of Angels depensation of ancient days. (Koosees)

Man i thought i was interested but now your my sleep channel better than golf

The nerd of the rings ♥️🔥🔥🔥

Sauron's minions turned them into toothpicks!

Thanks for the great Video

Some things are better left to mysteries and imagination. I love that Tolkien himself didn't really knew or tried to come with an answers.

I think the ent wives are not to be re united in "this world". Seems Tolkein made that clear. Cool vids man!

Maybe Yavanna has something to do with the mystery regarding the whereabouts of the Entwives as she is responsible for their care.

Early in the first book someone mentioned a giant walking tree seen north of the Shire. Treebeard seemed to know nothing of ents in that area. Given that the Shire sounds like the kind of place the entwives would like. I always wondered if there were entwives up there, and the Shire might even be under their protection. Just speculation on my part.

Dude, I have to say...I love your voices you give to the characters. But how you actually try to talk slower, like an ent, is now my favorite.

i've always wondered about this separation, good topic! But I ask myself: why are the Ents, or presumably Entwives, upset about this? There's no messy divorces or custody battles in Fanghorn these days (though i assume the river-seats are all left up).

I have a love/hate relationship with Tolkien fantasy. I love the stories, but the endings always leave me feeling depressed.

What's the tree equivalent of moisturiser and tissue paper?

They are not dead, only lost. Every person who ever lost a dear one has an immediate connection to the subject. It is the way we think as we try to handle the pain of losing the ones who are gone.

Wasn't there a poem that Treebeard recited about the 'split' with the Entwives? With the final part of meeting 'again' beyond the sea? I would take that as the Entwives 'left' Middle Earth after the destruction of their gardens and went to the west to escape the 'grief' of their loss.

God being a nerd must have been so fun back then, oh i drew a map of my favorite book series. Imma show it to the creator. Oh he just dropped some unwritten lore on me

I always assumed that as Sauron and Morgoth could make nothing new, only corrupt what already was, they took the Entwives and made them into Trolls.

The ents are martyrs. I have to unfortunately agree that there will never be a reunion between Ents and Ent-wives, even if they still live.

Treebeard: "We lost the Entwives." Pippin: "So you have no bitches?"

The more I think about the more I realize that a lot of Tolkien's work hinges on the appeal to nature fallacy (for those of you who don't know thats a logical fallacy of because something is "natural" or "part of nature" then that means it's good)

Ahhh, finally discussing the fate of the entsIuts.

i think there is nomore things about lotr to post, bro posted the whole thing im proud of ya

Man, I had been curious about the Entwives for a while now, but didn’t think their story was so sad. I had dreams of Inkhearting my way into the books and going to find them. If they are gone, maybe they have spirits that have taken on kind of a mentor position, and are nurturing the living who now tend to their gardens. Like Sam.

Nice work dude thanks

I don't recall where or how I heard about the fate of the entwives but one theory is that they are in some form of stasis, reverted to their forms before attaining consciousness. In another way of putting it, the entwives are sleeping and cannot hear the calls of the ents. Again I don't remember where I encountered that theory but I would like to believe it were so.

the entdivorce was one of the worst custody battles of the first age

I firmly believe that while most of the Entwives were killed when Sauron burned their gardens, a small number of them escaped West to get further away from Sauron…and ended up in the Shire, where Sam’s cousin Hal did indeed spot one of them in an event which Sam relayed at the Green Dragon. In one of the drafts of the epilogue which Tolkien ultimately excluded from LOTR, Sam’s daughter Rosie-lass is worried about the Entwives and wonders if they will ever be found. I like to imagine that she, of all people, eventually did find at least one while walking through the woods of the Shire as a tween or adult.

I've been writing and running a LotR 5e Tabletop game since the start of 2023 and I have given the fate of the Entwives a place in that story. They've been speaking to my imagination since first watching the movies when I was 8, over two decades ago, and I'm so happy I get to essentially 'fan fic' a theory on their fate.

I like the idea that Entwives were destroyed as it gives gravitas to the destructive power of corruption/evil in the world and horrific realities of war. The fact that Sauron burnt the innocent Entwives (probably knowingly), and their gardens reinforces the true wickedness of his character.

Great video could you do the main/whole history of Arnor

Tolkien - sees a forest on a drawn map in a place that shouldn't have any trees in it, chuckles to himself and writes there "Here may be Entwives" 50 years later, another theory is born

Here's a funny question do you think if celebrimbor was still alive and wasn't killed by Sauron( but suffered years of torture) he eventually would have made more rings of power because all the pain he suffered during his long imprisonment with probably a lot of mental problems would make more of them so we could use against the dark lord

Token did like all the great myth writers did he created characters that other Myth writers could continue the story and the myths and expand the mythology but it seems like no one has because they respect the man so much or maybe too much

I love your videos! Could you do a video about the Tale of Adanel? It is a very overlooked text, but I think it is one of Tolkien's best.

What about a hobbit reffering to sentient trees in the shire? I always had this idea about the ent-wives =)

I wish I spoke Ent like you do.

Hello @Nerd of the Rings. I just wanna say great video and I liked your theories on what happened to the entwives. For me I have a personal headcannon moment that when Sauron invaded the entwives gardens Yavanna herself came in armor looking much like her husband Tulkast the champion of the valar and said, “Sauron leave my daughters alone lest you face my wrath!” Sauron then commands his army to leave them alone knowing full well of her powers from his master Morgoth and Yavanna then took only the entwives back to Valinor for safety. I think after that she commanded the entwives to stay in Valinor where they would be safe but I think during the 4th age she sends a message tell the ents and Treebeard where the entwives are now that Sauron was destroyed and they reunited with each other.

The Ents are sentient, incarnate beings, presumably with fea and hroa, and kindled with the Flame Imperishable by Eru, same as Elves, Men, and Dwarves. What we don't know, is if they are bound to Arda, like Elves (I believe this to be likely) , or if they share the Gift of Men, and they go to wherever the fea of Men go (presumeably the Timeless Halls) to await the Dagor Dagorath. That the Ents are counted among the Children of Iluvatar, seems certain to me, and no record is ever mentioned of any Ent ever serving Morgoth or Sauron. Perhaps Fimbrethil is waiting in Mandos to greet Treebeard when his time in Middle-Earth is done. As for the sighting on the North Moor by Sam's cousin Hal: I'd like to think that was an Entwife. My reasoning: JRRT spent many, many years writing and refining the LOTR stories, and there is not a single paragraph in those pages that serves no purpose in the story. He was also fond of inserting occasional mysteries into the story, and either refusing to clarify these plot holes, or simply saying "I don't know". The true nature of Tom Bombadil, Ungoliant, the Nameless Things, the Watcher in the Water, the true name of the Witch King, or detailed info on the ultimate fates of the Blue Wizards and Radagast - we know that Radagast never returned to Valinor, and we have no certain news of the Blue Wizards ever going home, yet they were Maia and therefore immortal? What happened to them as the ages passed, and the pre-industrial world of Middle-Earth gradually became our world of jet airliners, 8 billion people, the ISS and space probes to Mars, and nuclear power, that we know today? Tolkien inserted that conversation in the Green Dragon Inn regarding the Tree-Man of the North Moors for a reason, and I think It's his way of telling his readers that at least a few of the Entwives survived the War of the Last Alliance and migrated West and North to Eriador, to get as far away from Sauron as they could. The only other beings in Middle Earth that Hal might have seen "walking 7 yards to a stride", would be Balrogs, Mountain Trolls, Stone Giants, Beorn in Bear form, or Huorns, Ents, and Entwives. Hal thought it was a "walking elm tree"; if it had been a Troll or Stone Giant, or Beorn, he wouldn't have described it as "like an Elm tree". Ergo, unless Hal was drunk or stoned on loco weed instead of Southfarthing Leaf, he saw an Ent, and Entwife, or a Huorn. ""All right," said Sam, laughing with the rest. "But what about these Treemen, 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." "Who's 'they'?" "My cousin Hal for one. He works for Mr. Boffin at Overhill and goes up to the Northfarthing for the hunting. He saw one." "Says he did, perhaps. Your Hal's always saying he's seen things; and maybe he sees things that ain't there." "But this one was as big as an elm tree, and walking, walking seven yards to a stride, if it was an inch." "Then I bet it wasn't an inch. What he saw was an elm tree, as like as not." "But this one was walking, I tell you; and there ain't no elm tree on the North Moors." "Then Hal can't have seen one," said Ted. There was some laughing and clapping; the audience seemed to think that Ted had scored a point. "All the same," said Sam, "you can't deny that others besides our Halfast have seen queer folk crossing the Shire, crossing it, mind you; there are more that are turned back at the borders."

I always liked the idea that, in their time apart, with the difference in their focus, the ents and entwives may have become different enough as to no longer be able to recognize each other, the ents growing ever taller like the trees of the forests they shepherd while the entwives became ever smaller, like the flowers they tended and the insects that pollinate them. In this way they might have survived the war literally beneath the notice of the men and orcs battling above them. literally nothing to support that idea in the canon, of course, simply an idle notion that appealed to me.