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Ents are a species of sentient beings in J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy world of Middle-earth who closely resemble trees; their leader is Treebeard of Fangorn forest. Their name is derived from an Old English word for "giant".
The Ents appear in The Lord of the Rings as ancient shepherds of the forest and allies of the free peoples of Middle-earth during the War of the Ring. The Ent who figures most prominently in the book is Treebeard, who is called the oldest creature in Middle-earth. At that time, there are no young Ents (Entings) because the Entwives (female Ents) were lost. Akin to Ents are Huorns, whom Treebeard describes as a transitional form of trees which become animated or, conversely, as Ents who grow more "treelike" over time.
Tolkien stated that he was disappointed by Shakespeare's handling of the coming of "Great Birnam Wood to High Dunsinane hill"; he wanted a setting in which the trees would actually go to war. Commentators have seen this as wish-fulfilment, as he disliked the damage being done to the English countryside in his lifetime. Scholars have seen his tale of the Ents as a myth, mostly without analysing it. Corey Olsen interprets the song of the Ents and the Entwives as a myth which warns of the dangers of apathetically isolating oneself in nature, whereas the Ents' song "In the willow-meads of Tasarinan" is a lament.
Inspired by Tolkien and similar traditions, animated or anthropomorphic tree creatures appear in a variety of media and works of fantasy.
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