Ent

Ents are a fictional race of humanoid trees from J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy world of Middle-earth. They appear to have been inspired by the talking trees of many of the world's folklores (see tree (mythology) for more information). At the time The Lord of the Rings takes place, there are no young ents (known as entings) because the entwives (female ents) were lost (see below).

Etymology

The word "Ent" was taken from Anglo-Saxon, where it means "giant". (Tolkien extracted the word from the Anglo-Saxon poetry fragments orþanc enta geweorc = "work of cunning giants" and eald enta geweorc = "old work of giants", which described Roman ruins; see Orthanc). In this sense of the word, Ents are probably the most ubiquitous of all creatures in fantasy and folklore, perhaps second only to dragons. The word Ent as it is historically used can refer to any number of large, roughly humanoid creatures, including, but not limited to, giants, trolls, orcs, and even Grendel from the poem Beowulf.

In this meaning of the word, Ents are one of the staples of fantasy and folklore/mythology, alongside wizards, knights, princesses, and dragons, although modern English-speakers would probably not call them by their traditional name.

Along with Old Norse Jotun, "ent" came from Common Germanic *etunaz.

SOURCE: Wikipedia J. R. R. Tolkien's Ents

Thanks to Tom Clive for sending us this photo of a rather unpleasant-looking tree face in the ancient woods around Jabłonna Palace - which, apparently, has a reputation for being haunted. - SOURCE

Phil Eyden took this photograph of a tree with eyes in Dover, Kent, on 16 February 2004. "Maybe I have photographed a young Ent," he suggests. - SOURCE

I just love this picture, which was sent to me by a friend and fellow Pagan. I’m not sure where he got the picture or who took it, but I find it quite appealing. It makes me think of a delightful young female tree spirit, engaging in joyful dance… - SOURCE

Jon Alsbury spotted this rather sinister-looking face while walking in Shervage Woods, on the Quantock Hills. He points out that this ancient piece of woodland has long had an otherwordly reputation, most notably as the home of a dragon (or, he writes, "a 'gurt wurm' as they do say around 'ere").

"It sits on the northern edge of the Quantocks near Holford and has several legends associated with it in addition to the story of the dragon. One of the strangest concerns Wayland's Pool which is held locally to be the place where the Anglo-Saxon smith god cooled the horseshoes he made to shoe the horses of the Wild Hunt. It's not the sort of place I would care to visit after dark!" - SOURCE

This fine melan­cholic tree face was photo­graphed in or near Ottawa in Canada, and sent to FT last June. Would the photo­grapher please get in touch? (FT has mis­laid your details.)- SOURCE

Death of a Dryad perhaps? 

"That tree looks rather like..."

No, I must have been imagining things. My mind plays tricks on me sometimes and makes me see things
- SOURCE

Well of course! Who ever heard of Trees wearing clothes?

One thing we noted right off was the trees. They were the most bizarre and un-natural trees we have seen! The trees were all normal until you hit that curve in the road.. then they were all dead and twisted into odd shapes. It was like stepping into an alternate reality. Many trees appear to have human-like features (faces, legs, arms, etc.) The trees further up the road were normal. It was only this stretch near and around the 'witch's house' that were like that. - Jennifer N

Related Articles:

• Background story to the lore surrounding Witch Road - (Archived)
• Witch (Callan) Road Investigation  by Jennifer N - (Archived)
• Witch (Callan) Road Investigation (reposted as a Photo Essay)  by Jennifer N - (Archived)

Thousands of people from all walks of life are flocking to a Malaysian village in Kampung Paya to see a "ghost tree" which has reportedly sprouted a human face which "changes everyday." The New Strait Times reported that a five-meter tall betal nut tree in the village in Kampung Paya clearly has traits resembling human eyes, teeth and nose.

Villagers, who dubbed the tree a "ghost tree," claim the face changes each day and they are selling photographs to visitors. Fifty-four-year-old Zainol Nayan was the first to notice the markings on the tree about ago but he said he did not pay much attention to it. He said the curves started to resemble a human face only about last week.

He told the Strait Times, "Since then, villagers have gathered around the tree to see for themselves and the news spread like wildfire, attracting outsiders." Another villager, Noraziah Zakaria adds "I was curious and shocked to find that the curves indeed look like a human face."

SOURCE: Wayodd.com

UPDATE: September 15, 2006

Human-like ‘Face’ on Tree

An unexplained phenomenon occured on a tree in Penang, Malaysia, resulting it to be named as the “ghost tree”. The curves on the five-metre high betel nut tree clearly resemble human eyes, teeth and a nose. The 10 years old pinang(betel nut) tree, which has a human-liked face on its trunk draws a large crowd around the tree due to their curiosity. According to NST, some of the villagers claimed that the human-like face changed every day. They claimed that the image photographed several days ago was different from the one photographed yesterday.

Two days after the news of this weird tree, some of the irresponsible visitors who believe the tree has magical healing powers had chop off the parts of its root.

Villager Abdullah Baharom, 53, said people had been cutting the roots since yesterday morning.

“They believe the roots contain healing powers or have medicinal value. Whatever it is, they should not have cut the roots. The tree will surely die if people continue hacking at the roots,” he said.

Abdullah said whoever cut the tree's roots might have done it just before dawn as there was still a large crowd in the area until 3am. He said it was fortunate only a small amount of roots had been cut from the tree.

The discovery of 2 monkey-like figures (a baby & an adult monkey) in a tree had the typical Singaporean scrampering to Jurong West vicinity, in the hope of striking it lucky with 4D numbers by praying to the Tree

The female face is in the open space between the tall trees with the lower branch forming the mouth. - SOURCE

As an environmentalist, it may be a bit cliché (or just really obvious) that I like trees.  They’re just cool – how old they can live to be, how many different shapes and sizes they come in, and the way they can evoke so many different moods depending on their texture, leaves, the way their branches curve or how they’re lit at different times of the day.  I’m also a big fan of old school classic (I’m talking 1965 and earlier) horror movies, and the uniquely eccentric vision of Tim Burton, so naturally I love creepy trees.  There’s just something about them.  Here are some of the coolest creepy tree pictures you’ll ever see.