Letter link: Letter from J.R.R. Tolkien to L.M. Cutts • 26 October 1958 (#341)

This letter is also referenced and partially transcribed in Hammond and Scull's The Lord of The Rings A Reader's Companion Book 3 Chapter IV. The relevant annotated word is Ent. The transcription describes two influences for Ents: Tolkien's life-long love of trees and George MacDonald's Phantastes.