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Was there a prophecy that the forest would move against Saruman? (hobbit.world)

submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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I'm sure I read somewhere that there was a prophecy that Isengard would stand until the forest moved against it, or something to that effect. However, I cannot figure out where I got that from.

I thought it was actually the reason why he intentionally destroyed the forest. He was trying to prevent the prophecy while actually causing it.

Yet, I cannot find any proof of this. Did I just imagine this?

The image came from here.

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

You may have picked it up from Shakespeare. In Macbeth, he is given the prophecy

“Macbeth shall never vanquished be until
Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane Hill
Shall come against him”

Macbeth takes this to mean he is safe if the forest never grows near his castle.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

That's amazing! You're right, I must have read something like the following and combined the two in my mind.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakespeare%27s_influence_on_Tolkien

In a letter, he wrote of his "bitter disappointment and disgust from schooldays of the shabby use made in Shakespeare [in Macbeth] of the coming of 'Great Birnam wood to high Dunsinane hill'". He attributed his creation of a world containing tree-giants or Ents to this reaction, writing "I longed to devise a setting in which the trees might really march to war."

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Thanks for this. I was not aware of the direct attribution by JRR, but it doesn't surprise me.

So much of English lit is inspired by Shakespeare.