"Great trailing beards of lichen hung from them, blowing and swaying in the breeze."
The trees of
Fangorn Forest,
described in
The Two Towers III 3,
The Uruk-hai
A kind of growth most often found on surfaces such as tree trunks or rocks, while some kinds hang from tree branches in green-grey clumps (the 'beards' in the quote above). Lichens are not in fact individual living things, but a combined growth usually made up from funguses and primitive plants. Though they were doubtless as widespread in Middle-earth as they are today, they were particularly associated with deep and dense forests; travellers reported finding great growths of them in both Mirkwood and Fangorn Forest.
Notes
1 |
In British English, the word lichen is occasionally pronounced to rhyme with 'kitchen'. This is less common than the 'liken' pronunciation, but is generally considered to be a valid alternative. |
2 |
The Greek word leichen was used for tree moss or similar growths, ultimately describing something that grows by consuming its surroundings. In this sense of consuming or eating, the name is distantly related to the English word 'lick'. |
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- Updated 30 July 2025
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