The Encyclopedia of Arda - Chestnuts (original) (raw)
A name that can apply to any of several kinds of trees, but the type described in The Lord of the Rings, based on descriptions of their leaves, appears to have been the horse chestnut, or a close relative. These are tall, broad trees that grow leaves divided into five lobes. When the Three Hunters reached the edge of Fangorn Forest, they camped beneath a tree said to have been like a chestnut, with leaves resembling fingers, that seemed to reach out towards the warmth of their fire. There were indeed Ents within Fangorn that seemed connected to chestnuts, too, described as having splay-fingered hands that recalled the shape of a chestnut leaf, and short thick legs.
Chestnuts also grew outside Fangorn Forest, at least as far to the north of Hobbiton in the Shire, where they were at one time numerous (the famous Party Tree may have been one of these, though its identification is uncertain). These chestnut trees were all felled during the occupation of the Shire during the War of the Ring, and though Sam Gamgee replaced these trees after the War, it is not recorded whether the saplings he planted grew into chestnut trees.
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- Updated 3 January 2013
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