This page is concerned with the summary of Tolkien's bestseller, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (1954)
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THE TWO TOWERS
BOOK 3
Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas decide not to follow Frodo and Sam into Mordor, but instead try to catch up with Merry and Pippin, who have been kidnapped by Uruk-Hai. They chase this group of Orcs through the land of Rohan, for many miles and many nights without rest. Unfortunately, the Orcs are more than 36 hours ahead. Finally, they encounter Riders of Rohan, of whom Éomer, the third marshal of Rohan, is the leader. They tell the Three Hunters that they ambushed a band of Orcs during the night and that none of them did escape. Although no foreigner is allowed to travel through Rohan without permission of its King, Éomer gives Aragorn and his comrades permission to go and he even provides horses.
Pippin and Merry are kidnapped by the Orcs of Isengard, the Uruk-Hai, who have a White Hand as a sign. Actually, it appears that different groups of Orcs are present: Orcs from the Misty Mountains, who just want to kill the prisoners as a revenge for Moria, Orcs from Mordor lead by Grishnak, and the Orcs from Isengard, whose task it is to deliver the Halflings alive to their master, Saruman. The Orcs get into a fight because of arguments what to do with the prisoners and this allows Merry and Pippin to escape. During their escape, the Orcs are attacked by the Riders of Rohan. Merry and Pippin remain unseen because of their elven cloaks, and manage to escape into the woods. There, in the woods of Fangorn, Merry and Pippin meet a strange creature, Treebeard. He is an Ent, a sheperd of trees. He takes the hobbits to his home in Wellinghall and listens to their story. Their story and the behaviour of Orcs, who have been cutting beautifull trees in his woods without apparent reason, make him angry. He calls for an Entmoot, a gathering of Ents. The Ents gather and, further encouraged by the coming of Merry and Pippin, they decide to attack Isengard to take revenge. They march forth.
Meanwhile, Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas find the place where the battle took place. They do not find the bodies of the young hobbits, but instead, Aragorn finds a mysterious trail leading to the forest. In this forest the meet and old man, clothed in white. He reveals himself to be Gandalf, arisen again from the dead to fulfill his task in Middle Earth. He is now no longer Gandalf the Grey, but Gandalf the White, the White Rider. He tells them the Hobbits are in safe hands. Gandalf learns that Frodo has entered Mordor together with Sam. He is beyond their reach now, but to aid him, he plans to distract Saurons attention from the borders of Mordor by starting the war against Sauron in the West.
The first war to be fought is against Saruman. For this purpose, they travel to Edoras, where the Golden Hall of the King of Rohan, Théoden, son of Thengel, stands. They are not joyfully welcomed. Théoden was grieved by Gandalf, because Gandalf took Shadowfax, the mightiest horse in the country, after his earlier flight from Isengard. The King's advisor, Grima Wormtongue argues not to listen to them. Then Gandalf, with the aid of some magic, reveals Wormtongue is a traitor, who made a deal with Saruman to become the ruler of Rohan and the husband of Théodens sister-daughter Eowyn when Saruman has conquered the Western Lands. Wormtongue also advised to hold Éomer captive after his return from the fields of Rohan. Théoden's only son, Theodred, died during a recent raid of Isengard Orks at the Isen. Gandalf urges Théoden to quickly raise an army and defend the Isen against the host of Saruman. Théoden, relieved from Saruman's spell, leads the Rohan army to the Isen.
They all ride within a day to the river Isen, where they discover the outnumbered remnants of the Rohan army, which suffered many losses. Gandalf leaves on Shadowfax, now his horse, to "arrange some things". The army moves to Helm's Deep, where the mighty Hornburg is situated. They reach it just in time. Within a day, a mighty army of Orcs appears. A great battle is fought. After a vigorous fight the Orcs conquer the Dike at Helm's Deep. The Rohan army flies to the Hornburg or to the caves of Agarlond. At dawn, the mighty horn of of Helm Hammerhand sounds and, under the cheers "Helm for Théoden", Théoden himself rides to battle. Together, Éomer and Aragorn are in the frontline of the battle, fighting the Orcs back. Suddenly, Gandalf appears with the remnants of the scattered army of Rohan, leaded by marshall Erkenbrand. He also brings a mysterious dark forest. The Orcs are in fear after seeing all these armies raised against them, and they fly into the dark wood. None of them are seen again.
In the mean while, while Isengard's army are fighting in Helm's Deep, the Ents attack Isengard. All the walls are torn to the ground and the valley is flooded to kill the fires under Isengard. Théoden and a small company, including Gandalf, Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli visit Isengard, where they are welcomed by the two hobbits Merry and Pippin. Saruman has not surrendered yet; he locked himself in Orthanc, the Tower of Isengard, which is unbreakable. Gandalf talks with Saruman, who tries to influence the audience using his magic voice. Gandalf casts Saruman out of the Order of Wizards and breaks his staff. Wormtongue, who fled to his master Saruman after his unmasking, throws a round black stone at Saruman, but barely misses. Pippin picks it up. Saruman chooses to remain in the tower.
Next day, they ride to Edoras. At night, Pippin steals the black ball from Gandalf to take a closer look at it. It is a Palantír, a far-seeing stone. However, Pippins sight is caught by Sauron, who is in the possession of another Palantír. Thinking Sauman captured a halfling, he quickly sends a Nazgûl to Isengard. Pippin barely escapes from the attraction of the Palantír. Gandalf takes Pippin on Shadowfax away from Isengard and Rohan to Minas Tirith, the capital of Gondor. Aragorn takes the stone and reveals himself to Sauron as the heir of Isildur. These events will make Sauron to attack the West quickly, although his forces are not at optimal strength. This will buy Frodo and Sam some time by distracting the attention from the borders of Mordor. War is at hand.
BOOK 4
Sam and Frodo enter the Emyn Muil, an area of cliffs and tall rocks. They notice they're being followed by Gollum, who is eventually captured by force. Gollum tries to escape, but he is captured again. Frodo makes him swear on the Ring (the precious) not to run away. Gollum will be their guide to Mordor, to which he has travelled before. The road to the Morannon, the gates of Mordor, leads through stinking marches (the Dead Marches) and other desperate areas.
Finally, they reach the gates of the Morannon. They see a vast army of Orcs and big tall black gates. It is imppossible to enter. Gollum claims to know another way into Mordor, a way which is not watched as intensly as the Black Gates. Gollum is quite mysterious about this high pass, which is the pass of Cirith Ungol. On their way to this pass, which is located more to the south, they travel through Itilien, which once was a part of the land of Gondor. They meet warriors from Gondor, lead by Faramir, the brother of Boromir and son of Denethor, Steward of Gondor. Hearing the story Frodo tells, Faramir wants to know more and takes Frodo and Sam (Gollum managed to hide) to his hiding place in Ithilien, Henneth Annûn. There Faramir learns about the fate of Boromir and the quest of the Ring. Meanwhile, his soldiers have captured Gollum. Although he has discovered the presence of the One Ring, Faramir decides to let them go and provides them with food. He warns Frodo for the proposed road to the Cirith Ungol.
Frodo, Sam and Gollum travel south until they reach the valley of Cirith Ungol. In this valley, Minas Ithil, the home of the Nazgul, the Ringwraiths, is located. It is a valley of death. While passing this valley, they see an army coming out of Minas Ithil, heading for war in the West. The army is lead by the King of the Nazgul. One moment, he stops because he is sensing something. A moment later he passes on, leaving Frodo and his companions undiscovered. They travel by high stairs to the pass of Cirith Ungul. Suddenly, Gollum is gone.
What Frodo and Sam do not know is that this pass is guarded by a veil creature, Shelob. Shelob is a large evil spider, with whom Gollum made a deal. Suddenly, Frodo and Sam feel their way blocked by a strong spider web. Frodo cuts the strings with Sting. He is attacked by Shelob and slain by her. Sam picks up Sting and in a desperate attempt, being helped by the light from Galadriel's phile, the sword Sting is pushed into Shelobs belly. She retreats. Sam rushes to Frodo, but he is lifeless. Sam takes the Ring from Frodo to finish the quest alone. While invisible in the cave, he hears Orcs passing, who discover Frodo's body. They say that he is only poisened, not death. They take Frodo to their stronghold. Sam follows them. There he is, alone; Frodo is alive, but captured by the enemy.
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