Deep in the forest of Fangorn, a gnarled, old, green shepherd dozed among the softly rustling trees of his flock. Finglas, or Leaflock as he was called in the common tongue, was one of the oldest of the Ents; weathered giants who watched over the wild forests that once covered much of Middle-earth.

In the waning years of the Third Age, these great forests of bygone ages had dwindled to small and patchy remnants, and the Tree Shepherds were spoken of as a myth among the peoples of the world. Indeed, few remained, and those who did spent more time sleeping than waking, scarcely distinguishable from the trees they tended.
Leaflock was one of them, but only fools would mistake his gentle slumber for timidity or the frailty of age, for when an ent was roused to a fever pitch in defense of his flock, he could unleash a fury that shook the earth and shattered stone.
Even Saruman would learn this when in his pride he burned the forests of Fangorn. The Ents, called to action, marched upon his fortress of Isengard, and neither stone nor fire; nor arrow nor axe; could turn back their terrible advance as the Ents marched to war.