Treebeard was an Ent, a very old race of Middle-Earth created by the magician Yavanna after she learned of a danger to the forests of the land. Ents were ancient treelike beings known as the ‘shepherds of the trees’. They varied in height, size and colour and often resembled the species of tree they were created to protect. Treebeard was the oldest Ent alive at the time, so old that he remembered the Elves teaching the Ents to speak. After befriending Merry and Pippin, Treebeard joined the War of the Rings and enlisted the rest of the Ents to fight against Isengard.