I don't have swine flu

[dsrtao]

But I have a wicked sinus headache which I suspect is from millions of trees trying to mate inside my head.

Does Tolkien discuss gender issues among the Ent? I vaguely recall something which didn't make sense phytobiologically.

Comments

[jenwrites.livejournal.com]

I'm not a prude, but I too draw the line at plants trying to have sex in my nose. Bleech.

[dsrtao]

It's a violation of consent, I think. Being used as a "place"...

[zonereyrie.livejournal.com]

They're not actually having sex in your nose.

It is more like tree bukkake.

You're welcome.

[dsrtao]

Erm. Thanks.

Ents

[cvirtue.livejournal.com]

Not much. Treebeard says that the male ents liked the forests, and the females liked gardens, and they lived apart except for when they didn't, and a long time ago the Entwives left, and so there have been no more entlings.

If he says anything else about it in the Simarillion and all the other ancillary material, I don't know about it.

[woodardp.livejournal.com]

Pretty much that all the Entwives are gone, and have been for a long time, which is why there are no Entlings and the Ents are dieing out.

[dsrtao]

Today I learned that trees can be male, female, hermaphroditic simultaneously in the same flowers, hermaphroditic at different times, or hermaphroditic in different flowers at the same time.

[metageek.livejournal.com]

And that's just their biological gender. Things get really confusing when different flowers on the same tree disagree on how to present.

[cvirtue.livejournal.com]

And wear buttons such as "bee positive!"

[metahacker.livejournal.com]

1. Ents ain't trees.
2. Be careful out there! Did you hear about the fellow with a fir tree growing in his lung?

[dsrtao]

What is the ontological status of an Ent, then?

[metahacker.livejournal.com]

It's pretty ambiguous, as with most of the races of Middle Earth. I mean, Gandalf and Saruman are in a category/species that seemed to only be populated by 'Wizards'.

But IMHO too much has been made of how tree-ish Ents are; I can't see wood-creatures that can move and bend and whatnot. (Belief: unsuspended.) I always figured them more for tree-herders, and no one's mistaken a Highlander for a sheep. Well, maybe in dim light.

On the other hand -- treants, the D&D creation ("we're not infringing!"), are Plants, and so much more tree-like. Likewise the ones in the movie looked pretty Tree-ish. The modern conception is of Ents as animate trees, like the ones from Narnia. I just think it's inaccurate. :)

[learnedax.livejournal.com]

Yeah, but there's some serious talk about ents sleeping and basically turning to trees. I think they even say that plain old trees can wake up and become ents, although how this fits in with them coming from entlings is unclear.

They're pretty tree-like, if they're not officially trees. A close relationship.