What became of the Entwives is one of those mysteries that JRR never answered for us.

What we do know, is that they became estranged from the Ents sometime during the First or Second age, and crossed over the Anduin into the land we now know as the Brown Lands. Here they grew beautiful gardens and taught agriculture to Men. Prior to the end of the Second Age, however, Sauron burned and destroyed these gardens, turning this area into a brown and treeless land (hence its name). Whether the Entwives perished here defending their gardens, or managed to flee is open to debate.

There have been no reports of them in 3000 years, which is a long time to remain unseen, but there are many wilderness places where it is possible a tree-like being could remain hidden if they so wished.

It is possible Tolkien may just have given us a clue to their whereabouts in FotR. In the Shadow of the Past chapter, Sam mentions over a round of ales that his cousin Hal saw a Tree-man walking across the path while he was hunting in the North Farthing. Apparently this being was as tall as an elm tree and walked with a seven yard stride. Is it possible this was an entwife?

Although it seems very unlikely that the Shire could be the home of the Entwives, there are several reasons why it could be so....

Firstly, although we see the Shire as being a thriving Hobbit community, it has evaded Sauron's attention for a long while. With the fall of Artthedain, it has been a wilderness with few Men. An ideal place, then, for the Entwives to settle.

Secondly, we have in this area both the Old Forest and Tom Bombadil. Both would have been strong attractions to Entwives seeking a new home.

Thirdly, the Ents originally came from Beleriand. It is possible the Entwives decided to retrace their steps to their ancestral homes after the destruction of their gardens. The Shire would have been en route to Beleriand if they had taken that journey. Once they reached Lindon and discovered Beleriand now lay beneath the sea, they may have settled close by in the wilderness they had just come though.... the land which became the Shire.

For some reason, the early Hobbit settlers who were migrating West from the Gladden fields chose to settle in the Shire. What attracted them? Although the Entwives were not mentioned in Hobbit-lore, it may have been their gardens which so appealed to these early Hobbits. The Entwives had a love of Smaller things, flowers, fruit trees and bushes etc. I am sure the Hobbits would have been a source of pleasure to such beings. The nature of Hobbits and that of Entwives does seem to compliment each other.

But that is just my theory.... it is just as likely they were destroyed with their gardens, or that they fled and settled in the vast wilderness of Mirkwood.

For more about Ents and Entwives see Ents, Entwives, and A thought about ents.

Apparently this being was as tall as an elm tree and walked with a seven yard stride. Is it possible this was an entwife? 

 

While 'Tree-men' is admittedly suggestive, I'll just add (years later) that there would probably have to be some notable exaggeration in this story with respect to size.

An English Elm, for example, averages between 50 to nearly 100 feet tall, while Ents -- although giants to Men and certainly to Hobbits -- are notably shorter I think. Interestingly however, 'Giant Treebeard' appears to have been quite huge with respect to early notions -- well before Tolkien reached the chapter in which the Entwives were introduced...

... but Tolkien envisioned Treebeard notably smaller when he arrived at the writing of this chapter... then embiggened him a 'little' after that... but not nearly back up to 50 feet tall for instance. 

I feel such sorrow and grief about the Ents and their ladies, it brings tears to my eyes. About a year ago or longer i could not bear it any longer so wrote in our journal section my own solution to the mystery. Then i cried for half an hour but felt I had some closure anyway.

To me that is one time when great long life does not have the joy or hope or peace that one would hope for , because the thing that makes life great, in the earthly sense at least, is who you know and who you are cherished by and well when that is ripped away from you it becomes an existence with a constant heavy ache in the heart.

Talk about tender hearted. Now you have gone and done it with that gentle heart of yours. I am crying and now i can scarce see. We spend a lot of time each year trying to love and do something with the lonely and forgotten. It can happen to anyone, royalty to the poorest on earth. i remember that Judy Garland had become so lonely and alone she phoned into a talk show just to hear another voice share with her.

Your cheque is in the mail.

Brego, i agree with you about what the story of the Ents and the Ent wives represent. But i would go a little further.

 

The most beautiful thing of all this is that the Ents did not forget or quit the search for the wives. I thinks it's beautiful and sad at the same time. Sad cause, search for someone without any clue of where to begin searching or even if he or she is there is touching. Beautiful because i think that this kind of hope is the truly one, truly faith.

 

- Vince Calav.

Oh, i didn't have thought about that.. That's comforting indeed.

Thanks! I was just thinking about this and when thoughts come over me I have to tell someone! I think it is sad because I would hate to have lost someone and not have a clue where they are or what they look like. Poor ents!