In The Two Towers movie, Treebeard leads Merry and Pippin to the location of the Entmoot, which appears to be a small clearing in the forest with a curious angular rock jutting from the ground.
Is there any significance or meaning of this rock? The flow of the scene suggests that the Entmoot occurs in that location for a reason, is it because of this stone?
The significance of the stone must be that Peter Jackson thought it looked cool. There is no mention of it in the book.
Treebeard tells Merry and Pippin that the Entmoot meets at Derndingle (the name is archaic English, meaning "secret valley").
‘Where is Entmoot?’ Pippin ventured to ask.
‘Hoo, eh? Entmoot?’ said Treebeard, turning round. ‘It is not a place, it is a gathering of Ents – which does not often happen nowadays. But I have managed to make a fair number promise to come. We shall meet in the place where we have always met: Derndingle Men call it. It is away south from here. We must be there before noon.’
The Two Towers: Treebeard
When they arrive at Derndingle, we read:
The hobbits saw that they were descending into a great dingle, almost as round as a bowl, very wide and deep, crowned at the rim with the high dark evergreen hedge. It was smooth and grassclad inside, and there were no trees except three very tall and beautiful silver-birches that stood at the bottom of the bowl.
The Two Towers: Treebeard
No stone is mentioned, although Jackson could argue that was just an oversight.
All these years later my reply probably will never be noticed, but I won’t say there is a significance. However if I recall there was 12 Ents and if you look at the stone and the scene pans to birds eye view, it turns into a sundial. Mysterious, purpose? No idea but it may just be an Easter egg for PJ to know it’s significance and nothing else. I would love him to comment on it cause I have always felt this was blatantly obvious what he was going for.
