Hushed Voices: The History of Talking Trees & How They Talk Today
- Chipco Preserve
- Feb 10
- 4 min read
History & Legends of Talking Trees
“Macbeth shall never vanquished be until great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane hill shall come against him.” You may recognize this eerie omen from William Shakespeare’s famed tragedy, Macbeth. It paints quite the fantastical picture of a future plagued with talking trees ripping their roots from the ground to invade a king’s castle. Or at least, that is what a young J.R.R. Tolkien assumed the prophecy meant.
Unfortunately for him, Macbeth’s prophecy alluded to (spoilers!) Prince Malcom’s orders for his soldiers to cut the branches from Birnam Wood’s trees and use them to conceal their numbers. Tolkien’s grumblings over this less-than-magical outcome echoed throughout his life for when writing the Lord of the Rings, he included a walking, talking tree species known as ‘Ents.’
But talking trees are not native to old Shakespearean plays and iconic fantasy books. Legends of talking trees can be found all around the world, with great variety in their portrayal. The Greeks tell tales of beautiful maidens known as Dryads who devoted their life to taking care of the trees they lived in. The Red Cedar Tree holds great power in Cherokee culture with it being said that the Creator placed the spirits of ancestors inside its bark (which is why many Cherokee descendants carry small pieces of cedar wood). The English believed Willow trees to stalk lone humans while their Irish neighbors consulted to oaken prophets for their future. There are even stories of humans being turned into trees and learning their ways post-transformation. All throughout history and across cultures, there is a universal acknowledge that trees’ whisper and many human minds are too muddled with noise to notice.
Just like many other aspects of human experience, there is truth in every legend because those legendary talking trees are not as legendary as we may think.
The Science Behind Talking Trees
In 1997, Canadian forest ecologist, Dr. Suzanne Simard made a fascinating discovery while working on her Ph.D. thesis. When studying tree roots, she noticed that trees use a network of soil fungi to communicate with neighboring plants. This fungi network, known as the ‘mycorrhizal network’, allows trees to share nutrients and water. Specifically, she saw a connection between these communications and smaller trees receiving aid from their older, larger counterparts. She referred to these older trees as ‘mother’ trees who served as ‘the hub’ of the forest network to help nourish and protect her babies. Due to these miraculous discoveries, Simard founded the Mother Tree Project, a long-term experiment dedicated to studying these mother trees and protecting them so they can continue aiding the little ones.
Seem crazy? Well, it’s about to get crazier. This system was humorously dubbed the ‘Wood Wide Web’ and is proven that in a healthy forest, all the trees are connected to one another, regardless of species. These trees can use their network to signal threats like insect infestations to nearby saplings. Looks like we owe trees a patent for the internet!
Unbeknownst to Tolkien and Shakespeare, Prince Malcom’s act of simply cutting off the branches was merciful for, according to Simard’s research, ripping a tree from its roots would sever its connection to its fellow wood. Much like cutting off a person’s tongue, the tree’s voice would be silenced as if befalls a slow, painful death from dehydration since it would no longer be capable of absorbing water or nutrients from soil. The Wood Wide Web would lose a member.
The Impact of Land Clearing
Unfortunately, this practice is common in the construction world. This is referred to as ‘land clearing’ and is done to strip the land bare before urbanization.
A valid question springs forth: why can’t they just build around the trees. However, it’s a little more complicated than that. For a construction company to properly work around trees, they would need to take specific measures of the Critical Root Zone so as not damage the precious roots with heavy equipment and large vehicles. This takes time and money, something that goes against strict deadlines.
But is the extra effort worth it? Everyone knows that trees provide oxygen, but their role in our lives is much greater. Trees clean the air by absorbing pollutants, regulate water cycles by filtering rainwater, function as homes for native wildlife, and even fight against the ‘urban heat island effect’ by providing crucial shade to lower high temperatures in densely populated areas. These benefits do not even mentioning how much extra money goes into ripping trees up from the ground. Removing large trees requires heavy machinery and human labor which adds to the overall costs of clearing land. In the state of Florida, the average cost to professionally remove a tree is between $385 to $1,070 USD while measuring a tree’s Critical Root Zone is just simple math.
But if all those benefits are inconsequential, think of how annoyed you would be if someone took away the neighbor that baked you fresh cookies every weekend, or the devastation you would feel if someone stole your mother because ‘it’s just cheaper.’ Maybe the ‘aesthetic value’ of completely barren land is not worth breaking up the Wood Wide Web.
Keep the Trees, Keep the Connection
Keep your trees. Keep them safe and they will keep you healthy. Listen extra hard and hear their whispers. They are more than just decoration. They are ancient communicators, caretakers, protectors, and helpers of both earth and humankind. Maybe if you’re lucky, the trees will put a good word in for you and your castle will be spared during the battle of the talking trees.
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