Entwives

Entwives are a fictional group within J. R. R. Tolkien’s legendarium, the female counterparts to the Ents. Like the Ents, they are ancient tree-people of Middle-earth, but the Entwives are described as more inclined toward cultivation and nurturing of gardens, orchards, and fields, whereas the male Ents are more concerned with the walking and safeguarding of forests. In the lore, the Entwives and Ents once lived in harmony in and around Fangorn Forest, but their ways diverged over time.

Cultural and social notes indicate that the Entwives pursued a more domestic and agrarian life. They are said to have cherished cultivated landscapes, tending crops and fruit trees, and guiding the growth of settlements and gardens. This difference in temperament and occupation contributed to a separation between them and the Ents, who remained closely tied to the wildening of trees and the forest itself.

Disappearance and fate are the most striking aspects of their story. In The Two Towers, Treebeard recounts that the Entwives vanished long ago and that the Ents have not seen them since. Their exact fate, and where they may have gone, are left unknown; various theories have arisen, including the possibility that they moved south or were lost amid the wider upheavals of Middle-earth, but no definitive location or outcome is established in the canonical texts. The Entwives’ absence remains one of the enduring mysteries of Tolkien’s lore.

In summary, the Entwives represent the complementary, garden-making aspect of the Ents, whose disappearance leaves a poignant gap in the history of Fangorn and the broader tale of Middle-earth.