The Two Towers: The Lord of the Rings

Reading Time: 4 minutes

The Two Towers is the second of three volumes in The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien which is preceded by The Fellowship of the Ring and followed by The Return of the King. The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien’s three-volume epic, is set in the imaginary world of Middle-earth, home to many strange beings, most notably hobbits, a peace-loving “little people,” cheerful and shy. The Two Towers was originally released on 11 November 1954 in the United Kingdom and the saga has reached readers of all ages. It is at once a classic myth and a modern fairy tale.

The brotherhood is broken up in “The Two Towers”. While their colleagues deal with their own difficulties, Frodo and his devoted companion Samwise continue their perilous journey alone. Together with the Rohan horsemen, Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli face Saruman’s terrifying army in Helm’s Deep. In the meantime, the hobbit Pippin and the wizard Gandalf make new relationships and learn vital details about the larger struggle against Sauron. This volume demonstrates the characters’ tenacity and their resolve to resist the spreading darkness.

The story of this world is one of high and heroic adventure and in fact, the saga is a triumph of imagination that springs to life within its own framework. Without further ado, let’s look into the story, The Two Towers: The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien.

Related Post: The Fellowship of the Ring: The Lord of the Rings

“It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you might be swept off to.”” ―  J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings

The Two Towers: Summary

The Two Towers begins with Frodo departing from the Fellowship. To avoid putting them in danger, he decides to destroy the ring alone. Sam, his best buddy, notices him leaving and pursues him. Sam confronts Frodo and declares that they will travel together. Frodo reluctantly accepts, and they set off towards Mordor. Meanwhile, an army of ferocious orcs led by Sauron attacks the Fellowship. The orcs capture and abduct two hostages, Merry and Pippin. Boromir, another Fellowship member, sees the orcs assaulting Merry and Pippin and saves them.

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 and left no survivors. However, Strider 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 north in search of Éomer’s men in Rohan to bring as reinforcements.

At Helm’s Deep, they resist an onslaught of Orcs and Men sent by Saruman, and Gandalf arrives the next morning with the Riders of Rohan just in time. The fleeing orcs run into a forest of Huorn half-tree, half-ent creatures and none escape. Aragorn, Gimli, Legolas, Gandalf and the Rohan 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.

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, with Faramir expressing his belief that Boromir is dead. Frodo tells of the plan to destroy the ring, and Faramir 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.”

Affiliate Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. This blog post may contain other affiliate links as well by which I earn commissions at no extra cost to you.