One of my favorite images from The Simlarillion comes early on in 'Of The Beginning of Days' just after the Lamps have been constructed.
Quote:
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Originally Posted by QS Chapter 1: Of The Beginning of Days
"Then the seeds that Yavana had sown began swiftly to sprout and to burgeon, and there arose a multitude of growing things great and small, mosses and grasses and the great ferns, and trees whose tops were crowned with cloud as they were living mountains, but whose feet were wrapped in green twilight."
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I don't recall these mountain-trees being mentioned again. Are we to assume, therefore, that Melkor destroyed them all? Were they in any way related to the giant trees we find in Lothlorien that the Elves built their homes on?
It is such an interesting idea, these trees like living mountains. I suspect it is a little inspired by the Yggdrasil tree from Norse mythology which connects Asguard with Midguard and Utguard.
Maybe Melkor did destroy them. But why does Tolkien mention them? Just for the effect? Perhaps it is an idea he meant to expand upon but never did. Then again, other than awe and building materials, what use, narratively, could be made of them? Were these Giganto-trees turned into Ents? I like to think so.
The reason I mention Ents is because of Trolls. No, I've not gone mad. Trolls are, in The Hobbit at least, said to be, as it were, made of the stuff of the mountains. Now, if the Trolls are meant to be the parody or mockery of Ents, and Trolls are made of mountains, would it be possible that the Ents were made from these Living Mountains?
We know little about the origins of any of the creatures of Middle Earth other than they are either 'awakened' or some sort of product of Melkor Inc. Yet I have always thought that Melkor's perversions are sometimes an indicator as to what the original was supposed to be / do.
Any thoughts?