[zifnab]

I have always been curious about Ents and their beginning. Im no expert(of course or I wouldn't have ask this), but when did the Ents come about?

Here are some quotes from Fangorn/Treebeard in The Two Towers:

Learn now the lore of Living Creatures!
First name the four, the free peoples:
Eldest of all, the elf-children;
Dwarf the delver, dark are his houses;
Ent the earthborn, old as mountains;
Man the mortal, master of horses:

"Some of my kin look just like trees now, and need something great to rouse them; and they speak only in whispers. But some of my trees are limb-lithe, and many can talk to me. Elves began it, of course, waking trees up and teaching them to speak and learning their tree-talk. They always wished to talk to everything, the old elves did. But then the Great Darkness came, and they passed away over the sea, or fled into far valleys, and hid themselves, and made songs about days that would never come again. Never again.

Now I have only read through half of the Silmarillion but it seems to me, that the Ents should have been mentioned. Maybe they are and Im rushing into this question, but my curiousity got the better of me.

Were they "created" by Eru/Iluvatar or the Valar or by something else and when? This may be a silly question with a simple answer but I seem to be at a lose at the moment!

Thanks!