The Encyclopedia of Arda - Shadow of the Wood (original) (raw)
The darkness spread by the Huorns
It was within the power of the Ents to awaken many of the trees under their keeping, and when they did so, those trees could move across the landscape. This happened during the War of the Ring, when trees out of Fangorn Forest took part in the assault on Isengard and came to the aid of the defenders of Helm's Deep.
When the trees moved, they were shrouded in a deep darkness, somewhere between a mist and a shadow. These trees were known as Huorns, and the shadow that followed them was the Huorn-dark. Saruman, who suffered defeat from these beings, gave the darkness of the Huorns a different and more ominous name: the Shadow of the Wood.
The nature of the Shadow is unclear, but it was evidently significant. Saruman went so far as to ascribe it a limited kind of agency, saying of the Shadow: '...it is wayward, and senseless, and has no love for Men.' (The Two Towers III 10, The Voice of Saruman). This was part of an attempt to sway the Men of Rohan with dire warnings, so these words may simply have been lies, but they hint at a power within the Shadow of the Wood that is nowhere explained.
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- Updated 16 June 2016
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