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The Ents, if you remember, are mysterious tree-like creatures encountered by Merry and Pippin during their adventures in “The Lord of the Rings” by JRR Tolkien. 

Minerva tells me “Ents are very tall and strong, with rough, bark-like skin, long, branch-like arms, and deep, booming voices. They are incredibly slow to anger but can be ferocious when provoked, and they have a deep love and respect for the trees and forests that they protect.”  It would be interesting to find out whether Tolkien took his inspiration for the appearance of Ents from Britain’s Temperate Rainforests, cf Guy Shrubsole “The Lost Rainforests of Britain”.

Minerva summarises them without giving away too much of the plot.  I asked Minerva if she knows what inspired Tolkien’s depiction of the Ents and she believes they are largely his invention.  However, she says:

“For example, the idea of tree spirits and guardian spirits of the forest can be found in many cultures and mythologies around the world, including the ancient Greek dryads, the Slavic leshy, and the Norse Yggdrasil. These figures are often depicted as beings who are intimately connected to the trees and plants of the forest.

“Tolkien himself acknowledged that the inspiration for the Ents came from his childhood experiences in the countryside, where he spent much of his time exploring the woods and fields around his home. He also drew inspiration from his academic background in linguistics and mythology, and he was particularly interested in the ways that language and culture can shape and reflect the natural world.”

I’m sure Tolkien was aware of various tree spirits and so this may be true.  It is interesting that Tolkien acknowledged his inspiration came from his childhood experiences in nature.  Deep in the woods, it’s easy to imagine the presence of spirits, benign or otherwise.  I suspect Old Man Willow, who features earlier in his story is of a similar origin, although nowhere near as friendly.

Minerva also tells me, “Ents are guardians of the forests, and they are fiercely protective of their tree-wards, as they call them. They are also able to communicate with trees, and they often spend long periods of time communing with them, listening to their tales and memories.”

The Lord of the Rings was first published in 1954 and it is interesting to see how the Ents pre-date what is now known of communication between trees.  There are several books about tree communication and an autobiography of one of the pioneers of this science is a good place to start: “Finding the Mother Tree: Uncovering the Wisdom and the Intelligence of the Forest” by Suzanne Simard.

When I read her book, I noted the importance of time in our understanding of communication between trees.  The Mother Tree is a guardian of the forest and cares for her saplings.  She also cares for saplings of other species but her own family comes first.  This is effected through fungal connections between tree roots, called mycorrhiza.

Simard’s story is about her lifelong battle with the forestry industry, who do not believe that leaving ecosystems diverse results in better tree growth or indeed understand the implications of removal of the mother tree.   As animals, foresters think and act far faster than trees.  They do not consider trees sentient, like animals, because trees react to environmental changes far more slowly than humans.  We destroy forests without thinking through the implications.  We lack the insights of folklore and mythology, because they tell of tree spirits.  Tree spirits obviously don’t exist because no-one has ever lived slowly enough to encounter one.

Just imagine if there were spirits who lived faster than humans.  Spirits who could compute at billions of times a second.  Far faster than humans could ever manage.  Maybe it’s a good job they’re not sentient or maybe the fact they don’t care is what should terrify us?

This is the third of a series of posts about AI and Folklore.  I define Folklore as inclusive of religious stories and some from modern popular culture.  Minerva assists in all the posts, sometimes without attribution! 

The first post in the series is Life with Minerva.  The last post was The Sorcerer's Apprentice and the next is Golems: Self-Awareness and Power.  If you press the button marked "Follow", you'll receive notice of new posts.

As always, please comment.  As well as your insights into AI and Folklore, I'd appreciate suggestions of stories I might cover.  These could be from folktales, myths, religious stories as well as general literature. 

Minerva includes art among her many talents.  This time she's had a go at a temperate rainforest with epiphytes.  She says there's tree spirits in there somewhere.  Hmmm!