Old Man Willow was a great willow tree of the Old Forest; he was the root cause of much of the Forest's anger and hatred towards trespassers. He was possibly a Huorn, as the Old Forest was originally part of the same primordial forest as Fangorn.[citation needed] He had great power within the Old Forest, and was able to direct all paths in the woodland to him.
Tom Bombadil displayed power over Old Man Willow, and checked the evil in him as much as he could, or was willing to.
History[]
In the year TA 3018, Old Man Willow cast a spell on the Hobbits Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin when they passed near him, causing them to feel sleepy. Merry and Pippin leaned against his trunk and fell asleep, while Frodo sat on a root to dangle his feet in the water, before also falling asleep. Willow then trapped Merry and Pippin in the folds of its trunk. Sam and Frodo attempted to burn Old Man Willow in order to release their friends, but Old Man Willow communicated to Merry, still inside his roots, that if the burning did not cease, the Hobbits would be squeezed to death. They were saved by the timely arrival of Tom Bombadil, who 'sang' the ancient tree to sleep.[2]
Old Man Willow in The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game, The Old Forest Standalone Scenario
In adaptations[]
Although this scene did not appear in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, a very similar episode was included in the extended DVD edition of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers where Merry and Pippin are attacked by a Huorn in Fangorn Forest. In this interpretation Treebeard speaks Tom Bombadil's lines. He also appears in J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, Volume 1, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (video game) and The Lord of the Rings Online.
Walking close to him in The Lord of the Rings Online will grant multiple debuffs to the player, including slowness.
Translations[]
| Foreign Language | Translated name |
| Afrikaans | Ou Man Wilgerboom |
| Albanian | Plaku i Vjetër Shelg |
| Arabic | الرجل العجوز صفصاف |
| Armenian | Ծեր Մարդ Ուռենի |
| Azerbaijani | Yaşlı Adam Söyüd |
| Basque | Zahar Gizon Sahats |
| Belarusian Cyrillic | Стары чалавек вярба |
| Bengali | ওল্ড ম্যান উইলো |
| Bosnian | Stari Covjek Vrba |
| Bulgarian Cyrillic | Стар човек върба |
| Catalan | Home vell salze |
| Chinese | 老柳頭 |
| Croatian | Stari Čovjek Vrbe |
| Czech | Dědek Vrbák |
| Danish | Den gamle Pilemand |
| Dutch | Oude Wilgeman |
| Esperanto | Maljunulo Saliko |
| Estonian | Vana Mees paju |
| Finnish | Vanha Halavaukko |
| French | Vieil Homme-Saule |
| Galician | Vello Home Salgueiro |
| Georgian | ძველი კაცი ტირიფი |
| German | Alter Weidenmann |
| Greek | Γέροντας Ιτιά |
| Gujarati | ઓલ્ડ મેન વિલો |
| Hebrew | עץ הערבה הזקן |
| Hindi | ओल्ड मैन विलो |
| Hungarian | Az Öregember fűz |
| Irish Gaelic | Seanfhear Saileach |
| Italian | Vecchio Uomo Salice |
| Japanese | オールドマン柳 |
| Kannada | ಓಲ್ಡ್ ಮ್ಯಾನ್ ವಿಲ್ಲೋ |
| Kazakh | Ескі Адам Тал (Cyrillic) Eski Adam Tal (Latin) |
| Kyrgyz Cyrillic | Эски адам талдар |
| Laotian | ຊາຍເຖົ້າຕົ້ນໄມ້ຕົ້ນໄມ້ |
| Latvian | Vecais Vīrs Vītoli |
| Lithuanian | Senosios Vyras Gluosnis |
| Macedonian Cyrillic | Стар Човек Врба |
| Marathi | ओल्ड मॅन विलो |
| Mongolian Cyrillic | Хөгшин хүн Виллоу |
| Nepalese | बूढो मानिसको विलो |
| Norwegian | Gamle Pilemann |
| Pashto | زوړ سړی وله |
| Persian | پیرمرد بید |
| Polish | Stara Wierzba |
| Portuguese (Brazil) | Velho Salgueiro-homem |
| Portuguese (Portugal) | Velho Salgueiro-Homem |
| Romanian | Bătrân Omul Salcie |
| Russian | Старый Вяз |
| Serbian | Старац врба (Cyrillic) Starac vrba (Latin) |
| Sinhalese | පැරණි මිනිසා විලෝ |
| Slovak | Starý Muž Vŕba |
| Slovenian | Stari Človek Vrba |
| Spanish (Spain and Latin America) | Viejo Hombre-Sauce |
| Swahili | Msafsafi ya Mzee Mtu |
| Swedish | Gamla Pilträdsgubben |
| Tajik Cyrillic | Одам кӯҳна Бовар кунед |
| Tamil | பழைய மேன் வில்லோ |
| Telugu | ఓల్డ్ మాన్ విల్లో |
| Turkish | Yaşlı Söğüt Adam |
| Ukrainian Cyrillic | Старий Вербочоловік |
| Uzbek | Кекса Киши Тол (Cyrillic) Keksa Kishi Tol (Latin) |
| Urdu | بوڑھے آدمی بید مجنوں |
| Vietnamese | Ông già Chi Liễu |
| Welsh | Hen Ddyn Helygen |
| Yiddish | אלטע מאן װערבע |