Följande är inte det slutliga formuläret, men bär den största delen av det jag vill säga, jag kommer att redigera det under de närmaste timmarna, eftersom jag hittar tid.
Tolkien adresserar Ents död i hans brev från 1944 till sin son.
So ends the Middle Age and the Dominion of Men begins, and Aragorn far away on the throne of Gondor labours to bring some order and to preserve some memory of old among the welter of men that Sauron has poured into the West. But Elrond has gone, and all the High Elves. What happens to the Ents I don't yet know. It will probably work out very differently from this plan when it really gets written, as the thing seems to write itself once I get going, as if the truth comes out then, only imperfectly glimpsed in the preliminary sketch. ....
Letter 91
Även om han säger att han kommer senare, fortsätter han aldrig med att diskutera Ents död. Några användare på internet hävdar att Ents är Maia på grund av brev 247 till Colnel Worskett
Argumentet är att eftersom de är andar skickade av Eru, måste de vara Maia. Detta skulle innebära att de är bundna till samma öde som Maia, som är omfattas här .“No one knew whence they (Ents) came or first appeared. The High Elves said that the Valar did not mention them in the 'Music'. But some (Galadriel) were [of the] opinion that when Yavanna discovered the mercy of Eru to Aulë in the matter of the Dwarves, she besought Eru (through Manwë) asking him to give life to things made of living things not stone, and that the Ents were either souls sent to inhabit trees, or else that slowly took the likeness of trees owing to their inborn love of trees. (Not all were good [words illegible]) The Ents thus had mastery over stone. The males were devoted to Oromë, but the Wives to Yavanna.”
Letter 247
Jag är emellertid oenig, från Treebeards kapitel i De två tornen , han diskuterar hur, som Ents ålder, blir de mer trädliknande. Treebeard säger om sig själv
And I do not sit down. I am not very, hm, bendable.
Och senare säger Quickbeam
He could bend and sway like a slender tree in the wind.
Treebeard verkar vidare föreslå att några bara blir mer "träd-is"
Some of us are still true Ents, and lively enough in our fashion, but many are growing sleepy, going tree-ish, as you might say.
TTT
Som en slutlig notering. En av de sista saker vi får på döden och Ents är följande passage. Men det verkar som om den naturliga döden snarare än de som (kanske) har dött i bränderna i Slaget vid Isengard
Why are there so few, when you have lived in this country so long?’ asked Pippin. ‘Have a great many died?’
‘Oh, no!’ said Treebeard. ‘None have died from inside, as you might say. Some have fallen in the evil chances of the long years, of course; and more have grown tree-ish. But there were never many of us and we have not increased.