John Ronald Reuel Tolkien's Middle-Earth

The land created by author John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, Middle-Earth, has an abundance of trees. Trees fill much of the maps of Middle-Earth, from vast, sprawling forests to single trees or small groves throughout the entire land. There are solitary trees, and trees that can walk, talk, reason, and feel emotion. Some of the trees in Middle-Earth act apathetic, mindless or cruel, while others present themselves as kind and powerful. However, the trees that are called cruel, and even evil are not inherently bad. The trees were warped and scarred by the actions that surrounded them as they grew. Middle-Earth and its inhabitants taught these to trees to fear and hate, to lash out when they could. Trees that could have been neutral or even benevolent

Despite this belief, she conceded that the Old Forest's hate is not unjustified or the malice completely thoughtless (Finseth 40-1). The Forest is wrathful, yes, but not evil. Wrath is an emotion or a reaction. A person who is struck may react with anger, and that anger may cause him to act irrationally. Actions done in anger, including actions that result in destruction, may be categorized as evil. However that does not mean that the person, or in this case the tree, doing the action is evil. There is not necessarily a clear distinction of

In fact, it has been said that there is no doubt that Old Man Willow is malevolent, and perhaps evil. The first time Old Man Willow is introduced, he attempts to lure four hobbits to their deaths, one of which is the main protagonist of the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy. Attempted murder is not to be taken lightly and is not a sign of goodwill by any stretch, but one has to look at the history. Once again going back to the hobbits relationship with the Old Forest, it can be brought up that the hobbits burnt and hacked away at parts of the Old Forest. Also, Old Man Willow is, as his name states, old; chances are he remembers the hobbits' cruelty towards the Forest long ago. Any animal or human that has been repeatedly injured will strike out against what has caused them harm. Here Old Man Willow is no different, he simply reacts on instinct, which is not evil but part of nature. He is a characterization of the independent strength and nature of trees that has been turned to malice (Hazell 74). Tolkien again defends both Old Man Willow and the Old Forest when he writes that, "Cannot people imagine things hostile to men and hobbits who prey on them without being in league with the Devil!"(Tolkien 228) Old Man Willow is not evil, just as an animal that has gone mad due to abuse is not evil but formed by what has been done to