What Trees Have To Do With Stories

Trees are rather typical to find in fantasy, though not the first subject thought of when broaching the subject of literary elements.  There are many other things that might be considered for an assignment such as this, and the subject of trees has been chosen because of its unlikeliness. 

            Think of a few famous stories.  In classics such as The Hobbit, the protagonist matures and changes primarily after he enters a forest – full of trees.  The first glimpse we see of Narnia in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is a forest.  In more modern literature, Harry Potter’s first conscious encounter with his ultimate enemy takes place in a forest.  The wand he grows so attached to is made of wood (the type of tree from which a wand is made is always distinguished) and becomes another link between Harry and his enemy.

Trees – though seemingly insignificant but for their ability to create a vibrant setting – are important in fantasy.  When a tree is present – when wood is present – something is about to occur.  A change in a character or circumstance, or oftentimes both, is about to make itself apparent. 

There is evidence of this significance in our most ancient of recorded fantasy.  The Epic of Gilgamesh is governed by two trees at either end of the world.  More accurately, Gilgamesh’s greatness is measured by the distance between the trees.

The circumstances within the story are partly dictated by the trees.  Though Gilgamesh has multiple quests and tasks to complete, his accomplishments serve to further him on his ultimate quest – getting from one cedar tree at one end of the world to its twin on the other side.  One cedar is guarded by the giant Humbaba, who is overcome by Gilgamesh and his companion, Enkidu.  Gilgamesh and Enkidu win this victory near the beginning of their friendship, and the battle solidifies it.  They cut down several of the trees in the forest, in addition to the largest, which they fell for use as a gate for one of the gods.  The other cedar is located in a garden reminiscent of Eden, where the trees bear jewels for fruit.  By this time, Enkidu has died, and Gilgamesh searches and searches for eternal life.  The tree in the garden is linked to the underworld, but Gilgamesh finds that Life is not accessible to humans; it is reserved by the gods for the gods. 

The first tree in the cedar forest is ultimately the beginning of Gilgamesh’s adventures.  It is the beginning of his and Enkidu’s friendship, and it stands at one end of the world.  The other is its opposite.  It stands at the other side of the world.  It is found after Enkidu’s death – Gilgamesh’s friendship is seemingly over.  (Later, the gods take pity and create a way for Enkidu to rise, but the story’s climax is this encounter with the tree in the garden.)  The tree is also linked with death – which is obviously an end.  The two trees are opposites, and they serve as a beginning and an end to Gilgamesh’s epic story. 

In one of the oldest samples of modern fantasy, George McDonald made trees characters in his story.  Unlike the inanimate trees in the Epic of Gilgamesh, the trees in Phantastes are alive and have agency. 

In Fairy land, there are many different kinds of fairy. Trees were a certain breed of fairy.  As with all things, there were good fairies and bad among the trees.  This is seen in the instance in which the protagonist, Anodos, comes across a little cottage early in his time in Fairy land.  Four strong trees guarded the cottage against the evil Ash Tree and the Maid of the Alder Tree.  These two villains are persistent throughout Anodos’ travels.  However, it is seen again that there are indeed good trees, because not long later, Anodos is protected and comforted by the Beech Tree. 

Trees take and incredibly important role in this fantasy.  Not only are the trees active characters, the entire adventure is set in a forest.  Anodos enters the forest one way (a bit naïve) and leaves changed (grown up).

The Hobbit, a well-known, popular classic, makes use of the element of trees as well.  The most notable is the journey through the dark forest of Mirkwood. 

Bilbo Baggins used to be a hobbit that disliked discomfort and adventure.  However, he found himself in the middle of an adventure in a forest full of spiders.  Before this point, he had simply been another member of the venturing party – a burglar.  It was this time in Mirkwood that transformed him into something else.  Whether it was his physique (small and light), which allowed him to climb above the treetops, or purely the luck of having a magical ring, Bilbo became a leader in Mirkwood.  First, when the party of dwarves became lost, Bilbo was able to make some sense of it all.  Then, when the dwarves became captured, Bilbo was able to use his ring, which allowed the wearer to become invisible, to sneakily release the dwarves and coordinate an escape.  The circumstances within the wood required something new of Bilbo. The dwarves began to look to him as a leader – something he had not experienced before.     

In the sequel series, The Lord of the Rings, trees, as they did in Phantastes, take on agency.  The Ents were an ancient race of trees that found two small heroes, Merry and Pippin, and took them before the White Wizard.  This may seem insignificant, but Merry and Pippin were terrified.  They knew the White Wizard to be a terrible enemy of theirs.  However, the White Wizard was not what they expect.  Instead, he was the resurrected version of Gandalf the Grey, a rather important figure.  It is not insignificant that the first moment the reader realizes that Gandalf is no longer dead takes place in a forest.  It has already been established that forests are places of change.  A transition from death to life is certainly a change. 

The Ents’ agency is important as well.  It is they who destroy and capture the previous White Wizard, Saruman.  Had they not done this, the fight to overcome the dark Sauron could have taken much more time and many more lives. 

Trees are an integral part of “The Chronicles of Narnia.”  Without them, much of what occurred in the seven books would never have come to pass… Of course, as Aslan says in The Horse and His Boy, one can never know what would have happened.  It is not for us to know.  Let us settle for “the events likely would have never come about.”      

In the first chronological installment, The Magician’s Nephew, the in-between place by which lesser magicians must travel through to reach other worlds is a forest.  Rather than an internal change taking place within the protagonists, Digory and Polly, they are physically moved across worlds.  This forest is the beginning of their travelling between worlds, and ultimately the beginning of humans’ involvement in Narnia.  Later, after they had reached Narnia and after it has been created, Digory and Polly travelled far north to find a tree located within a garden.  This tree bore fruit that would heal – if it were given, not stolen.  The evil queen, Jadis, had beaten the children there and had taken and eaten of the fruit.  This fruit did, or undid, something within her.  Her previously evil self became more so, and she would not die until centuries later.  However, Aslan, Narnia’s creator, had given permission for Digory to take a fruit, and as it was not intended for him (it was for his mother) and he did not steal it, nothing unfortunate happened to him.  He took the fruit with him when he returned to England and, once his sick mother had eaten it and been healed, he planted the seeds.  It grew into a rather peculiar tree. 

In the next installment, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, the tree made another appearance.  Although the fruit of the tree in the garden was the cause of Jadis’s long life, the wood of the tree Digory grew from the fruit became a means to restore order and good in Narnia.  Unfortunately, the tree Digory planted in England had been chopped down, and with the wood, Digory had fashioned a wardrobe.  Yes, it was this wardrobe through which the four Pevensie children found themselves in Narnia.  The tree that enabled Jadis, or the White Witch, to live long and imprison Narnia also became the way for Narnia’s rightful kings and queens to restore goodness.

In more recent fiction, trees take significant roles as well.  In the popular Harry Potter series, the significance of wood is not apparent until later in the story, when patterns can be detected.  In the first volume, the Harry’s (the protagonist) first (conscious) encounter with his enemy, Voldemort, takes place in a forest.  The Forbidden Forest, to be exact.  The Forbidden Forest appears regularly in Harry’s time at Hogwarts; in almost every book, Harry and his friends find themselves sneaking to it. 

Though wands are not trees, they are made of wood, and wood comes from trees.  The type of wood from which a wand is made is significant.  Almost every time Harry encounters a new wand, emphasis is put on what type of wood it is made from.  Interestingly enough, there is something more important about Harry’s wand.  It is the twin of his enemy’s.  It is yet another link between the two, and serves to remind the reader of the similarities between Harry and Voldemort. 

As seen before, time in forests and woods is self-altering.  Harry returns to the Forest in the last volume to face his enemy, Voldemort.  It is at this time that Harry makes a sacrifice – the ultimate one, in fact.  Harry gives his life to destroy the evil part of Voldemort inside him, give his friends the chance to kill Voldemort for good, and in the process to save his loved ones.  He does it in the same place they encountered each other seven years before, the Forbidden Forest.  He manages to kill the part of Voldemort inside him, but decides to return to continue to fight. 

Not only does this reminisce of Gandalf’s surprise return from the dead, Harry’s story seems to come full circle.  It ultimately ends where it ultimately began – but then it begins again. 

Why is it that so many different stories mirror each other?  Why is it that a reader can see reality and truth so evidently in some of these stories?  Could it be, suppose, that they do not mirror each other, but one True Story?  And because they reflect the same Story, they appear to be the same?  The True Story is as it sounds – true.  It is also ancient, because it begins at the beginning of time.  It has not ended.  Yet, records can be found foretelling what will come about in the end of time.  As a result, conclusions can be drawn from this Story. 

It begins with a tree – the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil (which, interestingly, parallels with the tree in the garden north of Narnia).  Millennia pass, and the Story reaches a climax.  This climax takes place on a cross – a torture device that would be made of wood.  (This could be compared to Harry Potter’s death by wand – a specific wand made of a specific kind of wood.)  Millennia pass once more, and a conclusion is reached.  The Tree of Life is found in the midst of the end, and at this time it is given freely (similar to Aslan’s gift of the fruit to Digory Kirke). 

Now that it has been established that all fantasy mirrors the True Story somehow, one must wonder what is so spectacular about trees that they would be near the center of stories.  In fact, one can only wonder.  It could be the consistency. Trees can live for centuries.  It might be their usefulness; trees are essential to life in that they provide a means of warmth and shelter.  Or, it could be because of the oxygen they produce – which is life for humans.  One can only wonder, but regardless of the reason, they signify something important that can easily be drawn straight from the pages of truth.