 | |
| Race | |
| Huorns | |
|---|---|
| General Information | |
| Origins | Trees and Ents |
| Locations | Fangorn Forest |
| Affiliation | Ents |
| Physical Description | |
| Distinctions | Semi-sapient, tree-like creatures |
| Gallery | Images of Huorns |
Huorns were creatures much like Ents. However, although they were sentient and capable of feeling and perceiving things, they did not appear to be fully sapient.
History
The origin of the Huorns is unknown. It is not clear if Huorns were Ents that had become tree-like, or trees that had become Entish. Perhaps both varieties existed, though the Hobbit Meriadoc Brandybuck believed the former was true.[1] Either way it is obvious they were part way between trees and Ents.[2]
In the Third Age, the Huorns lived in Fangorn Forest,[1] though it is possible that the trees of the Old Forest, especially Old Man Willow, were Huorns as well.
During the War of the Ring, Huorns were aroused by Treebeard to destroy Nan Curunír.[1] Gandalf saw the shadow of these Huorns, as he rode with the host from Edoras to Hornburg.[3][4] Directed by the Ents, the Huorns also helped the Rohirrim to fight the Orcs at the Battle of the Hornburg.[1]
Characteristics
Huorns had great power and could wrap themselves in shadow. When angry, they were able to move with great speed. The Huorns further had voices, as they could speak with the Ents. When no Ents looked after them, the Huorns were "queer and wild", a threat to the Free peoples.[1]
Etymology
Huorns is a name in the Ent's "short language", given to those creatures because "they still have voices, and can speak with the Ents", according to Merry's account.[1]
In drafts texts they received other names such as Galbedirs, Lamorni and Ornómar or Ornómi, with the meaning of "Talking Trees"[5]. But it is not certain whether the name Huorns carried that meaning on.
It does have the Sindarin element orn "tall tree", and in an etymological Tolkien gave its first element as derived from hō, with a gloss of uncertain reading: it might be "speak, show" or "spirit, shadow", and could be related to other words associated with "heart".[6] So, Huorn could mean "speaking tree" or "tree with a spirit" or "with a heart". The first element might also be related to the root KHUG "bark, bay".[7].
Portrayal in adaptations
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1982-97: Middle-earth Role Playing:
- Huorns are classified as Animate Plants (Monsters). The evil, "blackhearted" ones, went away from Fangorn Forest and the protection of the Ents and settled in Mirkwood. Huorns eat living beings, and they come in as many different forms as trees do. Old Man Willow is a Huorn of the Old Forest.[8]
1995-8: Middle-earth Collectible Card Game:
- Huorn is an Awakened Plant (Creature), able to inflict one strike on a player.
External links
- Mark Fisher, "Huorns" 17 May 2003, The Encyclopedia of Arda, accessed 10 September 2025
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers, "Flotsam and Jetsam"
- ↑ David Day (1996), A Tolkien Bestiary, p. 142
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, "Time-scheme for The Lord of the Rings" (Marquette MSS 4/2/18) in Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull (eds), The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion, p. 412
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers, "Helm's Deep"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The War of the Ring, "Part One: The Fall of Saruman", "IV. Flotsam and Jetsam"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, "Words, Phrases and Passages in Various Tongues in The Lord of the Rings", in Parma Eldalamberon XVII (edited by Christopher Gilson), p. 86
- ↑ Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull (eds), The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion, p. 425
- ↑ Ruth Sochard Pitt, Jeff O'Hare, Peter C. Fenlon, Jr. (1994), Creatures of Middle-earth (2nd edition) (#2012)