towers

treebeard 633
of the singing company with beating hearts and heads held
high. Though they had expected something to happen
eventually, they were amazed at the change that had come
over the Ents. It seemed now as sudden as the bursting of a
flood that had long been held back by a dike.
‘The Ents made up their minds rather quickly, after all,
didn’t they?’ Pippin ventured to say after some time, when
for a moment the singing paused, and only the beating of
hands and feet was heard.
‘Quickly?’ said Treebeard. ‘Hoom! Yes, indeed. Quicker
than I expected. Indeed I have not seen them roused like this
for many an age. We Ents do not like being roused; and we
never are roused unless it is clear to us that our trees and our
lives are in great danger. That has not happened in this Forest
since the wars of Sauron and the Men of the Sea. It is the
orc-work, the wanton hewing – rárum – without even the bad
excuse of feeding the fires, that has so angered us; and the
treachery of a neighbour, who should have helped us. Wizards
ought to know better: they do know better. There is no
curse in Elvish, Entish, or the tongues of Men bad enough
for such treachery. Down with Saruman!’
‘Will you really break the doors of Isengard?’ asked Merry.
‘Ho, hm, well, we could, you know! You do not know,
perhaps, how strong we are. Maybe you have heard of Trolls?
They are mighty strong. But Trolls are only counterfeits,
made by the Enemy in the Great Darkness, in mockery of
Ents, as Orcs were of Elves. We are stronger than Trolls. We
are made of the bones of the earth. We can split stone like
the roots of trees, only quicker, far quicker, if our minds are
roused! If we are not hewn down, or destroyed by fire or
blast of sorcery, we could split Isengard into splinters and
crack its walls into rubble.’
‘But Saruman will try to stop you, won’t he?’
‘Hm, ah, yes, that is so. I have not forgotten it. Indeed I
have thought long about it. But, you see, many of the Ents
are younger than I am, by many lives of trees. They are all
roused now, and their mind is all on one thing: breaking