Posted: June 14, 1999 at 14:35:03: by Michael Martinez
: I've always wondered if ents were Maia.
: In 'Of Aulë and Yavanna', after Yavanna pleads to Manwë and he
: returns with Ilúvatar responce '...the thought of Yavanna will
: awake also, and it will summpn spirits from afar, and they will
: go among the kelvar and the olvar, and some will dwell
: therein...', so are ents Maiar spirits sent by Ilúvatar that
: took treeish shapes?I used to believe this but then, upon further reflection (and reading of MORGOTH'S RING in particular) I saw that Tolkien speaks of spirits in different contexts. Sometimes he speaks of the spirits of Men and Elves, for instance. So the use of the word "spirits" doesn't necessarily imply Ainurian spirits. They are probably just spirits devised by Iluvatar for the purpose of being Ents, as the spirits of Dwarves are devised for the purpose of being Dwarves, the spirits of Elves for being Elves, etc.
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Parma Endorion: Essays on Middle-earth, Revised Edition
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