4 Two Towers

The Two Towers (Being the Second Part of The Lord of the Rings), J.R.R. Tolkien, Boston, 1954, 1973, Ballantine Books.

The title refers to the two towers the company encounters on their trip down the Great River just before being separated.

The continuation of the story of the company of Gandalf, the wizard, and Frodo Baggins, the hobbit, and their mission to unmake the One Ring by casting it into the Cracks of Doom in the depths of Orodruin, the Fire-mountain, located in Mordor, the land of the Dark Lord, Sauron. Book 4 follows Frodo and Sam. Book 3 follows the remaining five.

The fellowship becomes separated. Frodo was alone contemplating their destination--either to Mordor to destroy the Ring, or Gondor to help save Boromir's homeland from the imminent invasion of the Dark Lord, Sauron. Suddenly orcs attack and Boromir sounds his horn.

Frodo and Sam were already on their way to Mordor.
Pippin and Merry were captured by orcs and are bound for Isengard, the castle of Sarurman the White. Saruman was at one time the head of the Wizard's Council but now he has turned from good to evil, and is even attempting to undercut his master, the Dark Lord, Sauron, by grabbing the Ring for himself.
Boromir died bravely defending Pippin and Merry from the orcs.
Strider was looking for Frodo when he heard the horn of Boromir; when he returned the orcs had already gone, leaving the dying Boromir, covered in arrows and lying beside him, piles of dead orcs.
Legolas and Gimli were also looking for Frodo but on hearing the horn found and killed many orcs themselves; they found and rejoined Strider and the deceased Boromir.

Strider, Legolas and Gimli put Boromir into one of the elfin boats and laid beside him his own sword and at his feet assorted of the orc weapons. Then they struck out on the trail of the orcs. The orcs were traveling quickly, too fast for the three to keep up.

While in pursuit they met with horseback riders of Rohan returning from the direction the orcs had taken. Strider hailed them and their leader, Eomer, told him they had slaughtered the orcs but found no halflings among them. He gave Strider horses and the three continued their search.
That night an image of an old man appeared to them and scared away the horses. The next day while walking they saw another old man. This one it turned out was Gandalf, not dead after all but not the same either. Older but stronger, Gandalf the Gray now wore the color White. The vision of the previous night must have been Saruman.
Gandalf told them the hobbits are all right, but the Rohirrims needed help. He called for his horse Shadowfax and it brought along horses for the three. They rode to Edoras to Theoden, the king of the Rohirrims.
Gandalf breaks the spell of Wormtongue, the king's counsellor who was secretly in league with Saruman and arouses the Rohirrims to arms to defend their kingdom.
Ah, the love interest: Strider meets Eowyn, the king's niece and Eomer's sister.
Arrangements are made. The king will lead all of the able bodied men to fight the forces of Saruman. Eowyn will lead the rest to their mountain hideaway.
The king and Eomer, Gandalf, the three and the troops ride to Helm's Deep and successfully stave off Saruman's forces. At the end, the Ents arrive and finish up the orc stragglers.
The king, Gandalf, the three, Eomer and twenty soldiers ride to Isengard to confront Saruman. Gandalf has already spoken to Treebeard and knows his plans.

Merry and Pippin found themselves prized possessions of the orcs, who were admonished to do them no harm. Pippin maneuvered his hand bindings so that, when the Riders of Rohan attacked the orcs, he could free himself and Merry and so they escaped.

They disappeared into the Fangorn Forest, a wood that even the elves of Lothlorien had warned them against. As luck would have it (and hobbits tend to be lucky) they met Treebeard, an Ent. Ents are creatures that take care of the trees. They are older then any other living creatures and Treebeard was the oldest of the Ents.
After hearing their story, Treebeard made a rash decision (Ents do nothing quickly so this was unusual). He will call an Ent council about Saruman. This was done and decided. The Ents moved en masse to Saruman's castle. When they arrived, Saruman's army was already leaving, en route to fight the Rohirrims. After they left, the Ents attacked the castle itself and reduced much of it to rubble, trapping Saruman inside.

Merry and Pippin are reunited with Strider, Legolas and Gimli when all arrive at Isengard.

Gandalf offered Sarurman forgiveness if he turned away from his evil. Saruman refused. Gandalf rebuked Sarurman, revoked his color White and broke his staff. Wormtongue hurled an orb at Gandalf. It missed but Gandalf picked it up and took it away.
The Ents promised to guard the castle, to not let Saruman leave.
Merry gazes into the orb and sees and is seen by Sauron. Gandalf takes it from him and gives it to Strider. The orb (a palantir) allows those who possess it to communicate with another who possess one--Sauron had one also.
The company parts again. Gandalf and Pippin ride to the Steward of Gondor at Minas Tirith. (The Steward, Boromir's father, is a descendent of a long line of Stewards who ruled Gondor in the absence of the true king. Strider, his given name is Aragorn, is a descendent of the true king and heir to the throne but none in Gondor know it yet.) Strider, Merry, Legolas and Gimli ride with King Theoden and Eomer back to the troops at Helm's Deep. From there they will ride to their mountain hideaway and then on to Gondor to fight the Dark Lord.

Meanwhile, Frodo and Sam, on their way to Mordor, are attempting to climb the mountain Emyn Muil, but can find no passage. And, too, they see, feel and hear Gollum (Smeagol) following them. Sam finally has had enough. He confronted Gollum and together the hobbits overpowered him. Frodo made a deal: they will not kill Gollum and they will see that no harm comes to him if he will guide them through the mountains into Mordor. At that point, he will be free to go where he wishes as long as it is not to give them away to Sauron. Neither side fully trusts the other (and Sam is especially skeptical) but the deal is struck.

They cross the Dead Marshes where the faces of the dead peer up at them through the murky waters.
They come to the Black Gate at Ephel Duath, at the north end of the Mountains of Shadow range. It is closed and heavily guarded by the troops of the Dark Lord. Gollum tells them there is another way. A passage further south. They follow.
They meet Faramir, the brother of Boromir. He feeds them and tries to discourage them from their destination, the pass of Cirith Ungol. He learns more about their mission than Frodo wishes, due to Sam's exuberance. Faramir, however, is not his brother. He knows what they carry is better left unexercised, especially by himself and his people.
Gollum leads them into the trap he had been planning all along. To cross the mountain they must enter the cave of Shelob. Shelob is a spider-like creature with whom Gollum bargains--she may have the sweet hobbit meat but he might take possession of the useless articles that they carry.
Sam stabs her with Sting, Frodo's elfin sword and she crawls back into her lair but not before she pricks Frodo, who falls down as if dead. Indeed, Sam thinks he is dead and battles with himself what to do. Stay by his master's side? No, he must go on and finish what Frodo started, so he takes the ring from around Frodo's neck and takes his sword and leaves in its place his own sword. Then he heads off toward the pass.
But immediately he finds himself trapped on the road by orcs coming from both directions. He slips on the ring and becomes invisible. Frodo's body has been found. Some orcs are carrying him back into the cave, not to feed him to Shelob, but rather to lock him away in a part of the tunnels that she cannot reach. The Dark Lord wants him alive. Oh, yes, he is alive. Shelob was only stunning him. Sam follows but can not go past the door that closes behind them.

And so ends the second of three parts...

19-May-2001