Which Tolkien-created people are known as the Ents in The Lord of the Rings?

In J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, the Ents are known as tree shepherds.

The Ents are ancient, tree-like beings who protect and care for the forests of Middle-earth. Their name comes from an Old English word meaning giant, and Tolkien’s description connects them with the broader tradition of trees and nature possessing awareness. The Ents speak slowly and deliberate carefully before acting.

Treebeard, or Fangorn, is the most prominent Ent in The Lord of the Rings. Merry and Pippin meet him in Fangorn Forest and help bring the Ents into conflict with Saruman, whose industrial destruction of the surrounding woodland has enraged them. The Ents’ assault on Isengard is one of the story’s major examples of nature resisting tyranny.

Ents are sometimes simply called tree-men, but that phrase can blur important distinctions. Tolkien also wrote about Huorns, mysterious tree-like beings associated with Fangorn Forest. Entwives are the female counterparts of the Ents, though their fate is presented as a loss rather than a continuing society.