Oxonmoot 2021

Seneca the Younger, in his Letters, describes a sacred grove as a “thick grove of ancient trees which rise far above the usual height and block the view of the sky with their umbrella of intertwining branches” (Seneca the Younger Letters 41.3). Fangorn Forest is clearly a sacred site as defined by Seneca, made even more sacred by the presence of the Ents. Thus, to violate it would Thus, to violate it would be a terrible act of desecration, as Lucan, in the quote from the title of this talk, suggests in describing Caesar’s desecration of the sacred grove at Massilia. After exploring the relationship between Ents and sacred groves, the second half of the paper will compare the fate of Caesar to that of Saruman, who violated Fangorn Forest. Just as Augoustakis (2006) argues that the violation of the grove echoes Caesar's death, so too Saruman’s death at the hands of Wormtongue act as fitting punishment for his violation of Fangorn.