Which forest is the home of the Ents in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings?

Fangorn Forest is the home of the Ents in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings.

The forest lies at the southern end of the Misty Mountains, near Isengard and Rohan. It is named after Fangorn, the oldest and most prominent Ent encountered by the story’s central characters. Merry and Pippin meet him after escaping from the Orcs who captured them.

Fangorn is not simply an ordinary woodland. Tolkien presents it as ancient, sentient, and inhabited by tree-like beings who can move, speak, and deliberate. The Ents’ gathering, called an Entmoot, eventually leads them to act against Saruman after they learn how his industrial expansion has damaged the natural world.

Fangorn is often confused with Mirkwood, the large forest in The Hobbit, or the Old Forest near the Shire. Those woods are important settings, but the Ents’ principal home in The Lord of the Rings is Fangorn. The forest’s name also reflects Tolkien’s interest in invented languages and layered place-name histories.