The fate of Ents
 

This comes up in a few threads on the board but the question still hasn't been answered; what happenes to Ents when they die? Do they share the fait of men and leave Arda or are they doomed to remain in Arda until the end of the world like elves?

Is that question ever answered in the books? I am surprised that there is nothing about them in the appendixes. From what I have read in the book I am assuming that they are not immortal - they just live for a very very long time. But they could be - ya know, I am not good at answering this question, though it is something that I would like to know as well [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

Song of Ent and Entwife:

"When wind is in the deadly East, then in the bitter rainI'll look for thee, and call to thee; I'll come to thee again! [...]I'll look for thee, and wait for thee, until we meet again:Together we will take the road beneath the bitter rain! Together we will take the road that leads into the West, And far away will find a land where both our hearts may rest'" (Emphasis mine).

While this may be poetic and uninformed exaggeration or speculation, we also have:

"But Galadriel said [to Treebeard]: ‘Not in Middle-earth, nor until the lands that lie under the wave are lifted up again. Then in the willow-meads of Tasarinan we may meet in the Spring. Farewell!’ (LR, VI, 6, 'Many Partings').

Note that Tasarinan is Nan-Tathren, that was drowned along with the rest of Beleriand. That Fangorn will still be there after the remodelling of the world after (presumably) the Dagor Dagorath, the ME apocalypse, explains that at least he is immortal. We can quite safely assume this goes for all Ents, unless Fangorn is a special spirit, fay, or maybe Maia (the latter being in my eyes and knowledge rather unlikely).

[ February 17, 2002: Message edited by: Sharku ]

I assume you mean that they don't leave the circles of this world, because Beechbone at least was burned alive. [img]smilies/eek.gif[/img]

As with the Elves, immortality always only refers to the fëar (souls), not the hróar (physical bodies). I thought that was obvious, sorry for leaving it so vague.

I thought that's what you had to mean.
Just making sure. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

Sounds like a good Fan Fiction topic in the making...