[Child of the 7th Age]

Lathriel -

I agree with you. Whatever their failings, the Entwives were not Saruman. As I've argued before, the estrangement between the Ents and Entwives was something that could be laid on both the genders, and was not solely the fault of the Entwives. Tolkien's whole tone in describing the rift is one of sorrow rather than condemnation. Moreover, Tolkien's loving depiction of the Shire shows that he was not insisting all land be kept in a "virgin" state but accepted the fact that there would be places like the Shire where loving hands would tend the earth.

I did notice one other thing in the chapter which brought a smile to my face. In one part of Pippin's narrative, he uses the term "misty, moisty morning" to describe Isengard. I knew I'd heard those words somewhere before and then I remembered the nursery rhyme:

One Misty Moisty Morning

One misty moisty morning,
When cloudy was the weather,
I chanced to meet an old man,
Clothed all in leather.
He began to compliment
And I began to grin.
How do you do? And how do you do?
And how do you do again?

Or here's a slightly different version:

One misty, moisty, morning,

When cloudy was the weather,

There I met an old man

All clothed in leather,

All clothed in leather,

With a cap under his chin.

How do you do?

And how do you do?

And how do you do again?

So in our search for great and mighty sources, let's not forget the humble nursery rhyme. It's not the first time that JRRT made the link between hobbits and nursery rhymes. (Remember Frodo at the Prancing Pony.)