In Tom Bombadil's Old Forest, Old Man Willow is a malign and fallen tree-spirit of great age, controlling much of the forest. Some specific kinds of tree are important in Tolkien's stories, such as the tall Mallorn trees at the heart of Lothlórien. Treebeard, a tree-giant or Ent, herds trees including the Huorns which are halfway between Ents and trees, either becoming animated or reverting to becoming treelike. Tolkien stated that primaeval human understanding was communion with other living things, including trees. Indeed, the Tolkien scholar Matthew Dickerson wrote 'It would be difficult to overestimate the importance of trees in the writings of J. Both for Tolkien personally, and in his Middle-earth writings, caring about trees really mattered. Tolkien's fantasy world of Middle-earth, some such as Old Man Willow indeed serving as characters in the plot. His grandson Michael took the last known photograph of him with this tree, which he named Laocoön. Tolkien loved trees, especially this black pine in the Oxford Botanic Garden, and was often photographed with them.
Trees and forests in the fictional works of J.
