Tolkien’s Treebeard and the Root Problem of Hastiness
“I spoke hastily. We must not be hasty. I have become too hot. I must cool myself and think; for it is easier to shout stop, than to do it.” – Treebeard, from JRR Tolkien’s The Two Towers
Deep in the pages of The Two Towers and mid-way through the epic Lord of the Rings trilogy, we find the hobbits Merry and Pippin rushing away into a dark forest to escape the clutches of the Uruk-hai after having been taken captive in the first book. The forest is ancient, dark, foreboding. Its name: Fangorn Forest. They’d heard the tales before, rumors of magical stirrings and strange creatures that roamed around within. It’s said that even the trees themselves move and speak.
It is in this mystical forest that Merry and Pippin are rescued by a towering, living tree who slays the evil Uruk-hai hot on their trail. His name is Treebeard, the fabled Shepherd Ent. Treebeard befriends Merry and Pippin and takes the time to recount the story of the Ents and their fading history in Middle-Earth. Merry sees these Ents as potential allies to help them in the battle to save Middle-Earth. He takes this opportunity to incite Treebeard to declare war upon Isengard and to put a stop to the horrors of the new Two Tower regime.
But Merry and Pippin are met with a seemingly obstinate Ent. Come to find out, Ents are pretty deliberate when it comes to making decisions. Treebeard doesn’t want to be too hasty, to make any ill mistakes spurred on by zealous passion in the heat of a moment. These Ents are characterized by determined patience, wise counsel, and a deliberate lack of hastiness. The Ents would need to take counsel together, which according to Treebeard, could take a while because Entish “is a lovely language, but it takes a very long time to say anything in it, because we do not say anything in it, unless it is worth taking a long time to say, and to listen to.” Tolkien sees the wisdom behind deliberate reflection before a call to action, especially when a great war is at stake.
When I read this account in Tolkien’s book, I was drawn to Treebeard’s obsession with hastiness. It radiated biblical proverbial wisdom. Tolkien saw the danger of hastiness. After all, there were many sins committed in the name of haste during the World Wars of Tolkien’s youth, some that still have repercussions to this day.
Proverbs 19:2 states, “Desire without knowledge is not good, and whoever makes haste with his feet misses his way.” Similar statements are made elsewhere, such as “The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty” and “A faithful man will abound with blessings, but whoever hastens to be rich will not go unpunished” (Prov. 21:5; 28:20). Although few biblical verses outright characterize hastiness as a terrible sin, its existence is a sure sign and warning of a greater sin: pride.
Whatever was sinful that was not also preceded by a “hastiness”? I don’t mean to say that acting swiftly is always a bad thing, but hastiness is rushing to act before measuring the consequences of those actions. Didn’t Adam and Eve quickly assume that the Serpent’s suspicions toward God were correct? They believed the first thing they heard from a strange, unwelcomed beast in the garden and hastily ate from the fruit of the tree. Didn’t David hastily decide to kill Uzziah to cover his sin before repenting and seeking favor with God? Perhaps if he would have stopped to consider the real cost of his actions and taken a moment to reflect on God’s mercifulness, he would have turned from his sin sooner. Or how about Esau selling his birthright at a moment’s notice before realizing the foolish trade he made with his brother? How about the hastiness of Judas to sell Jesus for thirty pieces of silver? How about Peter who hastily denied Jesus before realizing the betrayal he had committed?
Hastiness is the language of our current age. Get rich fast! Become skilled or qualified as fast as you can! Answer my text message now! Google it! Post it! We are quick to speak our opinion before listening. Despite our lack of knowledge of another’s life and circumstances, we assume things within seconds of meeting them. Even in our discussions and conversations, we are thinking of our ideas and responses, all while we attempt to appear that we are listening. Our lack of prayer life might betray our distaste for intentional reflection and patience. We claim we know what we ought to do before we count the cost, assess the situation, or contemplate the consequences.
We crave immediacy and instant gratification. Before we know it, we find the results of our actions and desires crashing upon us with horrifying weight and guilt. What greater sin was this but that Man demanded to know good and evil before he was able to handle it. Man demanded to be god-like before he knew what he was asking for. Hastiness disguises the danger of sin while godly reflection unveils its hidden lethality. In defense, we ought to practice patient reflection and prayer.
Hastiness might not only lead us into sin, but it can also lead us away from the ministry opportunities God would have us do. With the New Year, this temptation of hastiness is even stronger than usual. We rush to form resolutions; we say yes to more opportunities and responsibilities that we aren’t sure we can handle; we scratch out some nice-sounding goals for the year. I can’t begin to list the number of goals, habits, and resolutions I’ve written in haste only to see the foolishness behind most of them later on. I say yes to all the wrong things and in return, I miss out on the better opportunities God would have me undertake. We might have all the good intentions of making this next year productive, but if we forego a patient and prayerful attitude toward God, we may miss out on what he would have us do.
The ents of Tolkien’s world caution me to think and pray deeply about my efforts and decisions. Instead of rushing into the next opportunity that comes my way with zealous passion, I’m trying to temper that with an extra night of sleep, a focused time of prayer about the decision, and at least two or three voices from godly mentors in my local church. Yes, it’s against my human nature, but I know God would want me to look carefully at how I “walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil” (Eph. 5:15–16).
Hastiness sprouts like a diseased fungus, blossoming out of a proud heart that believes it can take care of itself. It is zeal without knowledge. It is a passionate charge into action backed by a faulty sense of security and understanding. I can think back to all the decisions I’ve made that were charged into without sound counsel and biblical wisdom. How many times did I jump into a conversation and say things I should have prayed over or sought counsel over? How many leadership decisions did I make that really produced more heartache for those under my care? If only I would have cooled myself and laid down my self-assurance and gone to God in dependent prayer. If only I would have gone to that mentor in my church and sought counsel. Sometimes I forget that decisions don’t only have immediate effects; they can produce long-lasting results for good or bad. I want to make decisions that reverberate throughout eternity. Those are the decisions God would have us make in dependence on him, not in ungodly haste.
The Ents of Tolkien’s world display a rooted nature, firm and not easily supplanted. They’ve seen the world in large spurts of time and have observed the broad scope of history and its manifestations. They’ve seen kingdoms come and go; foolish men conquer and pass away. They see the broader picture. Hastiness may be fueled by pride, but it can also be fueled by ungodly fear. It is the type of thinking that is grounded in the idea that all we have is here and now. It is devoid of an eternal perspective. It shows that we are narrow-minded and too easily short-sighted. Instead, we are called to think eternally as new creations in Christ Jesus. There is a greater narrative that eclipses our short time here. We ought to be firmly rooted in the hope of eternity, near the streams of the living water of God’s Word and bearing righteous fruit; everything displaying the vitality of a life lived in Christ. Being firmly rooted takes time. It’s not a hasty and quick thing, but it is a sure thing. And what the world desperately needs is something sure and true, something that can stand the test of time and trial. The health and vibrancy of our fruit and leaves should attract others to abandon the hastiness of restlessness and anxiety and to lay down firm roots in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Let our New Year plans and goals have that rooted and eternal perspective. Let’s make decisions and plans that will outlast this next year and echo into eternity.
Nicholas Lewis resides in the Ozarks in Rolla, Missouri with his wife Courtney and their two children. He has served in campus ministry for close to six years at Missouri S&T before becoming a healthcare chaplain for the local Phelps Health hospital and hospice departments. He also serves as a lay minister at his church, Mosaic Church, where he regularly preaches and counsels. Nicholas is a major cinephile, enjoys reading speculative fiction, drinking coffee, and playing dinosaurs with his young kids.