The Fate of the Entwives

[Keeper of Dol Guldur]

Has anyone ever wondered what happened to the Entwives? Of course they have, we all have. There were rumors of beings, as tall as trees marching on the outskirts of the Shire, that we read of as early as chapter one. But were these Entwives? Or were they Giants, Trolls, or something else? That, remains unknown. What does not remain unknown, is what Tolkien himself mused could have indeed happened to the Entwives.

When they left the Ents, the Entwives moved to the eastern side of Anduin, in the vicinity of what would later become Dagorlad. There love was more of agriculture and of order, not the mere caretaking of trees, so they left the Ents. Tolkien thought that maybe since Sauron had instituted a 'scorched-earth-policy' on that region, since it was right near his front door, so to speak, that his orcs had set fire to and torn down everything there, and destroyed the Entwives. Any which remained would have been taken and mutilated. Or, possibly, used as slaves like so many other poor souls. Of course, not all of Mordor was harsh desert and horrid, acrid wastes. The southeast, near the inland sea was more fertile to say the least. And Sauron did have entire armies to feed. Tolkien wrote in his letters that it was possible the surviving Entwives were used as slaves in those fields, doomed to harvesting foul crops for even fouler hordes of Sauron's minions. As for how long they survived doing so, is unknown. If King Elessar had discovered any during his sieges and marches into Mordor, it is unknown. So therefore, the only way they truly live on that is certain, is through the agriculture of men and hobbits, and if there were any left at the end of the Third Age, then they wouldn't have been happy, to say the least.