[Osse]

what one must take into account regarding the old forest, was that Tolkien had written the first part of the fellowship without any clear idea where ultimately the book would go, as he states in his letters (rough quote) "The books started as a sequal to the hobbit, another adventure story, but soon became much more." It is unclear whether or not he intended by adding the references to Huorns and the old forest later in the series to indicate that what the old forest contained were indeed huorns. I am of the opinion that Old Man Willow certainly was one or was perhaps a forest sprite (?) Tolkien is quite vague on the manner of sprites and spirits which is most unlike him and unakin to the rest of his creations which are thorough and indepth. Tolkien himself states in his foreword to The Fellowship that he is still not happy with certain aspects which make his world incomplete.

Thanks for this post...it opened my mind; i had not previously thought about the old forests tree-inhabitants in depth before.