Florida's Middle-Earth and Giant Oaks

These views are from the picnic pavilion at Stokes Creek.  The trails lead into a dense forest of old oak trees.  I am standing in the middle of five oak trees whose roots have grown together to make a large oak floor between them. The roots were thick and even growing above ground.  The wind blowing around me sound like tree's whispering to each other.  Once again, New Zealand has nothing on Florida when it comes to giant oak trees. They felt like protectors of the forest.  I have my own middle earth in my backyard.

 

The Big Oak - A Southern "Oakenshield"

The Big Oak, located in Thomasville, Georgia is a 329 year old Live Oak, and is one of the largest of its kind East of the Mississippi River. Unlike Thorin's oak shield in "The Hobbit" it cannot be used as a shield but it has seen many years of history. The Big Oak dates back to circa 1680, which makes it one of the oldest Live Oaks in the country. I journey to this place just to see this tree.  I feel like I traveled to Middle Earth. Standing next to the Big Oak, I look like a dwarf!  One of my favorite poems by Tolkien.

ROADS GO EVER EVER ON
By J.R. R. Tolkien

Roads go ever ever on,  
Over rock and under tree,
By caves where sun has never shone,  
By streams that never find the sea;
Over snow by winter sown,  
And through the merry flowers of June,
Over grass and over stone,  
And under mountains in the moon.

Roads go ever ever on  
Under cloud and under star,
Yet feet that wandering have gone  
Turn at last to home afar.
Eyes that fire and sword have seen  
And horror in the halls of stone
Look at last on meadows green  
And trees and hills they long have known.

Treebeard of Middle-earth My Protector

Ents are a race of beings in J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy world Middle-earth who closely resemble trees. They are similar to the talking trees in folklore around the world. Their name is derived from the Anglo-Saxon word for giant.  The Ents appear in The Lord of the Rings as ancient shepherds of the forest and allies of the free peoples of Middle-earth during the War of the Ring. The Ent who figures most prominently in the book is Treebeard, the oldest creature in Middle-earth.

 

"Treebeard and Hobbits" by Tom Loback