Additionally, old-growth forests often serve as refuges for large animals pushed out from farmlands and urban areas and for the undesirables of society - bandits, fugitives and runaway slaves all often sought forests and wooded swamps as refuges. Agricultural civilizations tend to prefer their land to be clear, open, and carefully managed, often leading to the clearing of all but the wildest, thickest and most impenetrable woodlands. Historically, this trope originates from the often contentious relationship between humanity and woodlands. Some cases will go beyond the regular difficulty of pathfinding in thick forest and will depict this as a supernatural effect, sometimes bordering on Alien Geometries, where specific paths must be followed to avoid becoming hopelessly lost or being taken straight back to the heart of the woods. This trope frequently goes hand in hand with The Maze fairly often, portrayals of the Enchanted Forest will emphasize the difficulty of finding one's path through it and the ease of getting lost in its depths. If any large, organized group exists in the forest, it will typically be a band of outlaws or a Barbarian Tribe of some sort, who live within the wilderness without trying to control or disrupt it. People can and do live in this place, but they're always some sort of Crazy Survivalist, In Harmony with Nature, or Hermit Guru who usually live in isolation - a tower or cottage can often be found among the eaves, and sometimes a Treetop Town or two, but don't expect to be finding any outposts of civilization in here. Note that the Enchanted Forest is not inherently hostile or dangerous, but it's always shadowy, wild and untamed. The Fair Folk, the Wicked Witch and the Solitary Sorceress often make their havens among the ancient trees, while Savage Wolves, The Marvelous Deer (which might lead you astray), and the Unicorn are common members of the local wildlife. If you are forced to enter, it's best to lower your axe or else risk the attention of the Ents.īesides your usual forest creatures, all manner of strange things lurk in the shadows.

Especially if there are people living in them.) Nature has run wild, and man is not welcome here. (Whatever size they are, it's probably not a good idea to eat them.

The trees themselves seem to leer and scowl and even normally tiny mushrooms are huge and imposing. Their canopies cover the sky, leaving only shafts of sunlight streaming between the branches. It is a vast old-growth forest where the trees reach into the heavens. The Enchanted Forest is no ordinary forest.

Mythago wood series in order