A Summary Of Tolkien’s Two Towers
The Two Towers begins on a somber note as the Fellowship dissolves and various members fall prey to the evil that Sauron and his armies are spreading across the lands of Middle Earth.
Boromir is dead and the two Hobbits that were Frodo’s companions, Merry and Pippin have been taken captive by Orcs. Committed to freeing them but fearing that both the lost Hobbits may already be dead Legolas the Elf and Gimli the Dwarf search despairingly for clues to the disappearance of the Hobbits.
Merry and Pippin manage to escape from captivity and in some of the most evocative writing in the Lord of the Rings trilogy encounter the Ents – huge sapient tree like creatures and protectors of Middle Earth’s forests. The Ents will eventually mobilize to destroy Saruman and the Orcs of Isengard.
Gandalf’s return in the Two Towers heals the rift that threatens Rohan and newly invigorated the armies of the West begin to form.
As the reader passes the midway point of the book Tolkien returns to the journey of Frodo and Sam – who by now have enlisted the help of Gollum in their quest to reach Mordor and dispose of the One Ring. Eventually they will reach the Black Gate which guards the entrance to Mordor and the final leg of their arduous journey will begin.
Gollum still strives to take back the One Ring and during the journey suggests that the group enter the lair of Shelob – a nightmarish giant spider. It is in these tunnels that Frodo is stung, paralyzed and taken captive by Orcs.
Sam takes control of the ring and finally realizes that Frodo is alive. As The Two Towers draws to a close we share in Sam’s unhappiness at the thought that is is still separated from Frodo.