Old Forest
Encyclopedia
In J. R. R. Tolkien
’s fictional universe
of Middle-earth
, the Old Forest is a small forested area which lies east of the Shire
in Buckland.
The Old Forest is one of the few survivors of the primordial forests which covered most of Eriador
before the Second Age
, and it once was but the northern edge of one immense forest which reached all the way to Fangorn forest
.
It is bordered in the east by the Barrow-downs, and in the west by the High Hay (also known as the Hedge), a large hedge which the Hobbit
s of Buckland cultivated after they cut the forest to make room for their new homes.
The Hobbits believed the trees of the Old Forest were in some manner 'awake', and were hostile. They sway when there is no wind, whisper at night, and mislead travellers deeper into the forest. When the trees grew too close to the Hedge, hobbits cut down the trees nearest and created a clearing by a bonfire. Ever since then, the trees were more hostile. Deep within the Old Forest was the Withywindle Valley, a dark, evil and malevolent place which was the root of all the terrors of the forest.
Just before the War of the Ring
, the hobbits Frodo Baggins
, Samwise Gamgee
, Meriadoc Brandybuck
and Peregrin Took
crossed through it trying to escape from the Black Riders. This is detailed in the The Fellowship of the Ring
, in the chapter called "The Old Forest." According to this chapter, the trees had attacked Buckland much earlier by planting themselves next to the Hedge and leaning over. After this, the hobbits cleared a long strip of land on the outside of the Hedge and created a large bonfire in an area that later became known as The Bonfire Glade. After this, the trees became much more unfriendly to the hobbits.
At the south-eastern edge of the forest, on the bank of the river Withywindle, stood the house of Tom Bombadil
, who rescued Pippin
and Merry
when they were trapped by a tree Tom called Old Man Willow
.
, neither the animated nor the live action version, but it is mentioned by Merry in a conversation with Pippin while they were held hostage by the Uruk-hai
in The Two Towers. It appears in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (video game)
, but the game adds a bit of Mirkwood taste by adding on large spiders that lurk in the labyrinth and on the banks of the Withywindle. This is probably to make it more of an action game atmosphere, but nowhere in The Lord of the Rings did Tolkien describe spiders in the Old Forest. Morgoth's
creatures did not really darken the Old Forest, but they did enter Mirkwood and darken it. Mirkwood
was also not inhabited by moving trees. The Old Forest also appears in Turbine Inc's "The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar" MMORPG. In this game, before a fairly recent patch, there was no map in The Old Forest, and it was like a literal hedge maze. A map was added later on, though it is still a very dark and mysterious place to visit.
J. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College,...
’s fictional universe
Fictional universe
A fictional universe is a self-consistent fictional setting with elements that differ from the real world. It may also be called an imagined, constructed or fictional realm ....
of Middle-earth
Middle-earth
Middle-earth is the fictional setting of the majority of author J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy writings. The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings take place entirely in Middle-earth, as does much of The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales....
, the Old Forest is a small forested area which lies east of the Shire
Shire (Middle-earth)
The Shire is a region of J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional Middle-earth, described in The Lord of the Rings and other works. The Shire refers to an area settled exclusively by Hobbits and largely removed from the goings-on in the rest of Middle-earth. It is located in the northwest of the continent, in...
in Buckland.
The Old Forest is one of the few survivors of the primordial forests which covered most of Eriador
Eriador
Eriador is a large region in J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional world of Middle-earth. In the Second Age, and possibly much earlier, it was largely forested, but the Dúnedain felled most of the forests to build ships. Much of it was encompassed in the early Third Age by the kingdom of Arnor, which...
before the Second Age
Second Age
The Second Age is a time period from J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth fantasy writings. Tolkien intended for the history of Middle-earth to be considered fictionally as a precursor to the history of the real Earth....
, and it once was but the northern edge of one immense forest which reached all the way to Fangorn forest
Fangorn forest
Fangorn in J.R.R. Tolkien's Legendarium, was a forest located in the fictional world of Middle-earth and was the home of the tree shepherds, the Ents. It was named after the oldest Ent, Treebeard or Treebeard after it. Tolkien did, however, state that there was confusion about the two...
.
It is bordered in the east by the Barrow-downs, and in the west by the High Hay (also known as the Hedge), a large hedge which the Hobbit
Hobbit
Hobbits are a fictional diminutive race who inhabit the lands of Middle-earth in J. R. R. Tolkien's fiction.Hobbits first appeared in the novel The Hobbit, in which the main protagonist, Bilbo Baggins, is the titular hobbit...
s of Buckland cultivated after they cut the forest to make room for their new homes.
The Hobbits believed the trees of the Old Forest were in some manner 'awake', and were hostile. They sway when there is no wind, whisper at night, and mislead travellers deeper into the forest. When the trees grew too close to the Hedge, hobbits cut down the trees nearest and created a clearing by a bonfire. Ever since then, the trees were more hostile. Deep within the Old Forest was the Withywindle Valley, a dark, evil and malevolent place which was the root of all the terrors of the forest.
Just before the War of the Ring
War of the Ring
In the fictional high fantasy-world of J. R. R. Tolkien, the War of the Ring was fought between Sauron and the free peoples of Middle-earth for control of the One Ring and dominion over the continent. The War of the Ring took place at the end of the Third Age. Together with the Quest of Mount Doom,...
, the hobbits Frodo Baggins
Frodo Baggins
Frodo Baggins is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium.He is the main protagonist of Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. He was a hobbit of the Shire who inherited Sauron's Ring from Bilbo Baggins and undertook the quest to destroy it in the fires of Mount Doom...
, Samwise Gamgee
Samwise Gamgee
Samwise Gamgee, later known as Samwise Gardner and commonly as Sam, is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium. Samwise is one of the chief characters in Tolkien's novel The Lord of the Rings, in which he fills an archetypical role as the sidekick of the protagonist, Frodo...
, Meriadoc Brandybuck
Meriadoc Brandybuck
Meriadoc Brandybuck, usually referred to as Merry, is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium, featured throughout his most famous work, The Lord of the Rings....
and Peregrin Took
Peregrin Took
Peregrin Took, more commonly known as Pippin, is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings. Pippin is introduced as a Hobbit who plays a major role as one of the companions of Frodo Baggins, in his quest to destroy the One Ring.Peregrin was the only son of...
crossed through it trying to escape from the Black Riders. This is detailed in the The Fellowship of the Ring
The Fellowship of the Ring
The Fellowship of the Ring is the first of three volumes of the epic novel The Lord of the Rings by the English author J. R. R. Tolkien. It takes place in the fictional universe Middle-earth. It was originally published on July 29, 1954 in the United Kingdom...
, in the chapter called "The Old Forest." According to this chapter, the trees had attacked Buckland much earlier by planting themselves next to the Hedge and leaning over. After this, the hobbits cleared a long strip of land on the outside of the Hedge and created a large bonfire in an area that later became known as The Bonfire Glade. After this, the trees became much more unfriendly to the hobbits.
At the south-eastern edge of the forest, on the bank of the river Withywindle, stood the house of Tom Bombadil
Tom Bombadil
Tom Bombadil is a supporting character in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium. He appears in Tolkien's high fantasy epic The Lord of the Rings, published in 1954 and 1955. In the first volume, The Fellowship of the Ring, Frodo Baggins and company meet Bombadil in the Old Forest...
, who rescued Pippin
Peregrin Took
Peregrin Took, more commonly known as Pippin, is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings. Pippin is introduced as a Hobbit who plays a major role as one of the companions of Frodo Baggins, in his quest to destroy the One Ring.Peregrin was the only son of...
and Merry
Meriadoc Brandybuck
Meriadoc Brandybuck, usually referred to as Merry, is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium, featured throughout his most famous work, The Lord of the Rings....
when they were trapped by a tree Tom called Old Man Willow
Old Man Willow
In J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, Old Man Willow is a fictional character, appearing in The Lord of the Rings. He was a willow tree in the Old Forest from which much of the Forest's hatred of walking things came. He is portrayed in the story as a tree, though a sentient and evil one with various...
.
Adaptations
The Old Forest does not appear in the film adaptations of The Lord of the RingsThe Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings is a high fantasy epic written by English philologist and University of Oxford professor J. R. R. Tolkien. The story began as a sequel to Tolkien's earlier, less complex children's fantasy novel The Hobbit , but eventually developed into a much larger work. It was written in...
, neither the animated nor the live action version, but it is mentioned by Merry in a conversation with Pippin while they were held hostage by the Uruk-hai
Uruk-hai
The Uruk-hai are fictional characters in J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional universe of Middle-earth. They are introduced in The Lord of the Rings as an advanced breed or breeds of Orcs that serve Sauron and Saruman...
in The Two Towers. It appears in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (video game)
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (video game)
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring is a 2002 cross-platform video game developed based on the first volume of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. WXP developed the game for Xbox, while Surreal developed the PC and PlayStation 2 version, and Pocket Studios delevoped the game for...
, but the game adds a bit of Mirkwood taste by adding on large spiders that lurk in the labyrinth and on the banks of the Withywindle. This is probably to make it more of an action game atmosphere, but nowhere in The Lord of the Rings did Tolkien describe spiders in the Old Forest. Morgoth's
Morgoth
Morgoth Bauglir is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth legendarium. He is the main antagonist of The Silmarillion, figures in The Children of Húrin, and is mentioned briefly in The Lord of the Rings.Melkor was the most powerful of the Ainur, but turned to darkness and became...
creatures did not really darken the Old Forest, but they did enter Mirkwood and darken it. Mirkwood
Mirkwood
Mirkwood is a name used for two distinct fictional forests in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium. In the First Age, the highlands of Dorthonion north of Beleriand were known as Mirkwood after falling under Morgoth's control. During the Third Age, the large forest in Rhovanion, east of the Anduin in ...
was also not inhabited by moving trees. The Old Forest also appears in Turbine Inc's "The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar" MMORPG. In this game, before a fairly recent patch, there was no map in The Old Forest, and it was like a literal hedge maze. A map was added later on, though it is still a very dark and mysterious place to visit.