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Where does the title --- "The Birnam Wood" --- come from?
- According to the ever reliable West Wing Episode Guide, "Birnam wood" is referenced in "Macbeth": "SCENE IV. Country near Birnam wood."
"We then heard from an anonymous source who said, "the gist is this: Macbeth is told he's safe until Birnam Wood shall come to Dunsinane Castle. He assumes that means he's safe forever, because the woods don't generally move (except in Tolkein, and this is Shakespeare, right?). But when Malcolm comes to fight Macbeth, he has each of his soldiers cut a bough from a tree and carry it with him. Thus his soldiers move to Dunsinane, Birnam Wood comes to Dunsinane, and Macbeth is defeated.
"When Birnam Wood comes to Dunsinane - when the impossible happens - and it does."
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