Where are the Ents from?

[Bruce MacCulloch]

Weren't the Ents just one of the things that, like ole Tom, were just there?

No.

Read "Of Aulë and Yavanna" in the Quenta Silmarillion.

'Nay,' he [Manwe] said, 'only the trees of Aulë will be tall enough. In the mountains the Eagles shall house, and hear the voices of those who call upon us. But in the forests shall walk the Shepherds of the Trees.'