‘Welcome, that is to say, Greetings, well-met and Welcome to the Forest of Greenleaves. This ancient woodland is the greatest of Middle-earth, though not the oldest, and it contains many wonders and perils.

‘I am Nurgan, and I have dwelt here at Rhosgobel for forty-eight turns of the sun, since I was found in the forest as a small boy. I am told that kindly wolves took me, a babe deserted in the woods, and nursed me until I was a boy, though I ran with the pack and could barely be seen as such. It took the eyes of my master, Radagast the Brown, to see through the dirt and filth to the child within. He spoke kindly words to the wolves and took me to his house. Gradually I was taught the ways of men, and then of plants and trees - well I knew the ways of beasts.

‘My master Radagast has dwelt in the forest for many yén*, watching the trees grow and enjoying the company of his friends the birds and beasts. Whence he came is not told, but he delights in Middle-earth and I cannot imagine he will ever leave.

‘Radagast is the master of the forest, of its creatures and ways; his knowledge of growing things is without parallel and he speaks at ease with birds and beasts. In time one may come to earn his trust and great knowledge from him, though he is impatient with men and easily distracted. Little care has he for the ways of mortal men and their troubles.

‘The Forest of the Greenleaves has gone by many names since it was first discovered by the Elves, answering the eastward call of the Valar. Since those very days some of the Nandor have dwelt here and now live under the rule of the Elven-king Thranduil in the north of the forest. The Greenwood, it was named then, before the Shadow came to the south of the forest.

‘In the dark days it was dubbed Mirkwood, for evil things dwelt under the eaves. Yet with the turning of the last age the Elves of Lothlórien and Thranduil’s host purged the forest of much of this evil. The Elven-lords renamed it the Forest of Greenleaves and the south-eastern part was dubbed East Lórien. Alas, for these titles are now used by few.

‘It is said that Galadriel threw down the towers of the Necromancer and laid bare the pits below - yet ever still the summit of Sorcery smoulders and casts its fell reek over the forest. Now the Elves have departed from East Lórien it is rarely called such, for the region has an unwholesome feel.

‘Dark things hid in deep places, and my master’s birds report that dreadful creatures have been seen with the dark shadows of the forest - for some they have no names save ‘horrors’. Once my master spoke of such things, recounting the tale of a misshapen creature he found in the forest - dreadful to behold, it was an abomination that could only have been twisted into its shape by the malevolent will of the Necromancer. The lord Radagast is merciful - he nurtured and healed a man-eating tiger and even, once, an orc imp - yet he slew this beast. “Such mockeries of the One are gaping wounds to the world and are better never having been.” he told me, his eyes ablaze as I have never seen.

‘Yet I welcome you, traveller, to the Forest of the Greenleaves. There is much beauty to be seen here, and the joyful song of birds and Elves can be heard by attentive ears. Stray not from the path and you shall be little troubled!’

* The Elvish year, being one hundred and forty-four solar years.

… they could see the forest coming as it were to meet them, or waiting for them like a black and frowning wall before them. The land began to slope up and up, and it seemed to the hobbit that a silence began to draw in upon them. Birds began to sing less. There were no more deer; not even rabbits were to be seen. By the afternoon they had reached the eaves of Mirkwood, and were resting almost beneath the great overhanging boughs of its outer trees. Their trunks were huge and gnarled, their branches twisted, their leaves were dark and long. Ivy grew on them and trailed along the ground.

“Well, here is Mirkwood!” said Gandalf. “The greatest of the forests of the Northern world. I hope you like the look of it”

- The Hobbit