The Two Towers

For the LPMUD based on the book of the same name, see The Two Towers (mud).

The Two Towers is the second volume of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. It is preceded by The Fellowship of the Ring and followed by The Return of the King.

Title

The title was created when The Lord of the Rings was broken into three volumes due to a post World War II paper shortage.^{[citation needed]} Tolkien wrote, "The Two Towers gets as near as possible to finding a title to cover the widely divergent Books 3 & 4; and can be left ambiguous" ^[1]. A note at the end of The Fellowship of the Ring and Tolkien's final illustration of the towers states them as Minas Morgul and Orthanc.^[2] but in a letter to Rayner Unwin Tolkien mentions Orthanc and the Tower of Cirith Ungol.^[3]

Loosely, any pair from a set of five towers in the story could plausibly fit the title: Cirith Ungol, Orthanc, Minas Tirith, Barad-dûr, and Minas Morgul.

Trivia

Before it was decided to publish The Lord of the Rings in three volumes, Tolkien had hoped to publish the novel in one volume, or combined with The Silmarillion. At this stage he planned to title the individual books. The discarded title for Book III was The Treason of Isengard. Book IV was titled The Journey of the Ringbearers or The Ring Goes East.

Structure

Because The Two Towers is the central portion of a longer work, its structure differs from that of a conventional novel. It begins and ends abruptly, without introduction to the characters, explanations of major plot elements or a satisfying conclusion. This is characteristic of the technical classification novel sequence, not a book series. The first section follows the divergent paths of several important figures from The Fellowship of the Ring, but tells nothing of its central character, on whose fate so much depends, enabling the reader to share in the suspense and uncertainty of the characters themselves. The narrative of the second part returns to the hero's quest to destroy the evil that threatens the world. While the first section tells of an epic battle, the struggles in much of the second section are internal.

Plot summary

Book III

Hobbits Merry and Pippin escape from the Orcs who captured them when the orcs themselves are attacked by the Riders of Rohan. Merry and Pippin head into nearby Fangorn Forest where they encounter treelike giants called Ents. These guardians of the forest generally keep to themselves, but are moved to oppose the menace posed to the trees by the wizard Saruman, who has been chopping down trees in the forest to fuel fires for his furnaces.

Aragorn, Gimli the Dwarf and Legolas the Elf, tracking Merry and Pippin, come across the Riders of Rohan who tell them that they attacked the orcs the previous night and left no survivors. However, Aragorn is able to find small prints and they follow these into Fangorn, where they meet a white wizard who they at first believe to be Saruman, but who turns out to be their wizard friend Gandalf, whom they believed had perished in the mines of Moria. He tells them of his fall into the abyss, his battle to the death with the Balrog and his reawakening. The four ride to Edoras and persuade King Théoden that his people are in danger. In the process, Saruman's agent in Edoras, Gríma Wormtongue, is expelled from the city. Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas then travel to the defensive fortification Helm's Deep while Gandalf goes away to Isengard to talk to Treebeard. At Helm's Deep, they resist an onslaught of Orcs and Men sent by Saruman, and Gandalf arrives the next morning with the remains of the army of Westfold that Saruman's forces had previously routed. The orcs flee into a forest of Huorn half-tree, half-ent creatures and none escape. Aragorn, Gimli, Legolas, Gandalf and the Rohirric army then head to Saruman's stronghold in Isengard.

There, they reunite with Merry and Pippin and find the city overrun by Ents, who have flooded it with the nearby river, and the central tower of Orthanc besieged, with Saruman in it. After giving Saruman a chance to repent, Gandalf casts him out of the order of wizards. Wormtongue throws something from a window at Gandalf and those with him. This turns out to be one of the palantíri. Pippin, unable to resist the urge, looks into it and has an encounter with Sauron. Gandalf and Pippin then head for Minas Tirith in preparation for the upcoming war.

Chapters

• I - The Departure of Boromir - Aragorn finds Boromir wounded by many arrows, who tells him that orcs took the Hobbits, and they were still alive. Boromir does not tell Aragorn which Hobbits were taken. Boromir dies, and his body is set down the stream on a 'funeral boat.'; Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli decide to follow the orcs who had captured Merry and Pippin, rather than following Frodo and Sam. The three of them set off to chase the orcs.
• II - The Riders of Rohan - They follow the trail of the orcs and find several clues as to what happened with the hobbits, then meet a company of Rohirrim led by Éomer, who tell them that the orcs were destroyed and none were left alive. They camp near the site of the orc massacre.
• III - The Uruk-hai - This chapter begins further back in time, telling the story of Merry and Pippin being captured by the orcs, who are lead by Uglúk from Saruman's army, and Grishnákh from Mordor. The two sides of orcs are constantly arguing. The orcs camp near Fangorn, and Grishnákh attempts to take the hobbits away with him. The hobbits escape as Grishnákh is killed by an arrow. They flee into Fangorn Forest as the orcs are attacked by the men of Rohan.
• IV - Treebeard - Merry and Pippin meet Treebeard the Ent, who calls an Entmoot, a gathering of Ents in Derndingle. The hobbits meet another ent, Quickbeam. The ents decide at the entmoot after three days, to attack Isengard.
• V - The White Rider - The chapter goes back to the story of Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli, who discover signs that the hobbits escaped the orcs into the forest. They meet an old man, who they at first presume to be Saruman, but who turns out to be Gandalf. They set off for Edoras.
• VI - The King of the Golden Hall - The four of them reach Edoras and talk with King Théoden. Wormtongue is kicked out of the city. Théoden gives Gandalf the horse Shadowfax.
• VII - Helm's Deep - Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli are at Helm's Deep with the Rohan army, defending the people of Rohan from attack by the army of Saruman.
• VIII - The Road to Isengard - They travel to Isengard, and see that it has been destroyed. At Isengard they find Merry and Pippin.
• IX - Flotsam and Jetsam - Merry and Pippin tell the story of how the ents attacked Isengard, in amongst the ruins or 'flotsam and jetsam' of Saruman's fortress.
• X - The Voice of Saruman - Saruman has a very persuasive voice, which he almost uses to persuade Théoden and the others until Gandalf casts him from the order of wizards. Wormtongue throws the palantír of Orthanc from the tower, which misses Gandalf, and is picked up by Pippin.
• XI - The Palantír - Pippin picks up the palantír and is seen by Sauron. Gandalf explains the origin of the palantír; Gandalf sets off with Pippin for Minas Tirith, riding on Shadowfax.

Book IV

Frodo and Sam discover Gollum stalking them as they try to reach Mount Doom to destroy the One Ring. Gollum hopes to reclaim the Ring. Sam loathes and distrusts him, but Frodo pities him. Gollum promises to lead them to a secret entrance to Mordor and for a time appears to be a true ally. They first stop at the Black Gate of Mordor, where Gollum persuades them not to go in, where they would have been surely caught. They head south into Ithilien, and are captured by Faramir, the brother of Boromir. Faramir learns from Frodo of his brother's death and of the plan to destroy the ring, and allows them to go on their way. Gollum leads them into the lair of Shelob, an enormous spiderlike creature, who inflicts her poisonous bite on Frodo. Sam resolves to finish the quest himself and takes the Ring. But when Orcs take Frodo's body, he follows them and learns that Frodo is not dead but unconscious and now their prisoner. The last line of the book is "Frodo was alive but taken by the enemy."

Chapters

• I - The Taming of Sméagol - Gollum joins Frodo and Sam, after Sam captures him.
• II - The Passage of the Marshes - They pass through the Dead Marshes
• III - The Black Gate is Closed - They reach the gate of Mordor, Gollum persuades them not to go in, and to head south.
• IV - Of Herbs and Stewed Rabbit - They reach the pleasant country of Ithilien. Title refers to the rabbits Gollum catches that Sam cooks; the smoke from the fire causes them to be seen by men of Gondor led by Faramir, and they witness an attack on a Southron army, and an Oliphaunt.
• V - The Window on the West - Frodo and Sam are captured by Faramir's men and they are blindfolded on their way to Henneth Annun. Frodo and Faramir discuss Boromir's death.
• VI - The Forbidden Pool - Faramir shows Frodo they have found Gollum at the Forbidden pool. Frodo saves him from being shot by Faramir's men.
• VII - Journey to the Cross-roads - Frodo, Sam and Gollum leave Faramir. They travel to the crossroad of the road east between Osgiliath and Minas Morgul, and the north-south road from the Black Gate to the southlands.
• VIII - The Stairs of Cirith Ungol - They witness an army leaving Minas Morgul.
• IX - Shelob's Lair - encounter with Shelob the spider
• X - The Choices of Master Samwise - Frodo is taken by the orcs. Sam listens to the orcs talking about him, which is how he finds out that he is still alive, having thought that Frodo had been killed by Shelob.

Film, TV or theatrical adaptations

Some of the events of The Two Towers and Fellowship of Ring were depicted in a 1978 film of The Lord of the Rings by Ralph Bakshi.

In 1999, The Lifeline Theatre in Chicago presented the world premiere of The Two Towers, adapted for the stage by James Sie and Karen Tarjan, directed by Ned Mochel.

In 2002 The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers film by Peter Jackson was released. Both The Two Towers and Return of the King films abandoned the parallel storytelling of the book in favour of a more chronological presentation. The first chapter from the book actually appears at the end of Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. Later events of The Two Towers were filmed for Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. There was initial concern over using the title "The Two Towers" due to the real-life association with the World Trade Center and the terrorist attacks the previous year. The WTC was also commonly called The Twin Towers and due to that similarity, the filmakers were reportedly considering alternate titles. It was decided, eventually, to retain the original title. Various games also adapt The Two Towers, including online role-playing games like The Two Towers Mud and graphically-oriented console games.

Footnotes

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