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{{Short description|1954 part of novel by J. R. R. Tolkien}}
{{About|a book by J. R. R. Tolkien|other uses}}
{{Good article}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2017}}
{{Use Oxford spelling|date=April 2024}}
{{Infobox book<!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Novels or Wikipedia:WikiProject_Books -->
| name          = The Two Towers
| image         = The Two Towers cover.gif
| caption       = First edition, with Tolkien's artwork
| author        = [[J. R. R. Tolkien]]
| country       = United Kingdom
| language      = English
| series        = [[The Lord of the Rings]]
| genre         = [[Fantasy]]
| set_in        = [[Middle-earth]]
| publisher     = [[George Allen & Unwin]]
| release_date  = 11 November 1954
| pages         = 352 (''first edition'')
| oclc          = 936070
| congress      = PR6039.O32 L6 1954, v.2
| dewey         = 823.914
| preceded_by   = [[The Fellowship of the Ring]]
| followed_by   = [[The Return of the King]]
}}

'''''The Two Towers''''', first published in 1954, is the second volume of [[J. R. R. Tolkien]]'s [[high fantasy]] novel ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]''. It is preceded by ''[[The Fellowship of the Ring]]'' and followed by ''[[The Return of the King]]''. The volume's title is ambiguous, as five towers are named in the narrative, and Tolkien himself gave conflicting identifications of the two towers. The [[Interlacing in The Lord of the Rings|narrative is interlaced]], allowing Tolkien to build in suspense and surprise. The volume was largely welcomed by critics, who found it exciting and compelling, combining epic narrative with heroic romance. It formed the basis for the 2002 film ''[[The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers]]'', directed by [[Peter Jackson]].

== Publication ==

''The Lord of the Rings'' is composed of six "books", aside from an introduction, a prologue and six appendices. However, the novel was originally published as three separate volumes, to reduce the cost of publication.<ref name="Reynolds 2014">{{cite web |last=Reynolds |first=Pat |url=http://www.tolkiensociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/LOTR-The-Tale-of-a-Text.pdf |title=The Lord of the Rings: The Tale of a Text |publisher=[[The Tolkien Society]] |access-date=24 October 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303231904/http://www.tolkiensociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/LOTR-The-Tale-of-a-Text.pdf |archive-date=3 March 2016}}</ref> ''The Two Towers'' covers Books Three and Four.

==Contents==

Some editions of the volume contain a Synopsis for readers who have not read [[The Fellowship of the Ring|the earlier volume]]. The body of the volume consists of Book Three: The Treason of Isengard, and Book Four: The Ring Goes East.

{{anchor|Grishnakh}}

=== Book III: The Treason of Isengard ===

A party of large [[Orc]]s, [[Uruk-hai]], sent by [[Saruman]], and other Orcs sent by [[Sauron]] and led by Grishnákh, attack the Fellowship. [[Boromir]] tries to protect [[Merry Brandybuck|Merry]] and [[Pippin Took|Pippin]] from the Orcs, but they kill him and capture the two hobbits. [[Aragorn]], [[Gimli (Middle-earth)|Gimli]] and [[Legolas]] decide to pursue the Orcs taking Merry and Pippin to Saruman. In the kingdom of [[Rohan (Middle-earth)|Rohan]], the Orcs are killed by [[Rohan (Middle-earth)#People|Riders of Rohan]], led by [[Éomer]]. Merry and Pippin escape into [[Fangorn]] Forest, where they are befriended by [[Treebeard]], the oldest of the tree-like [[Ent]]s. Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas track the hobbits to Fangorn. There they unexpectedly meet [[Gandalf]], resurrected from the dead.

Gandalf explains that he killed the [[Balrog]]. He was also killed in the fight, but was sent back to [[Middle-earth]] to complete his mission. He is clothed in white and is now Gandalf the White, for he has taken Saruman's place as the chief of the wizards. Gandalf assures his friends that Merry and Pippin are safe. Together they ride to [[Edoras]], capital of Rohan. Gandalf frees [[Théoden]], King of Rohan, from the influence of Saruman's spy [[Gríma Wormtongue]]. Théoden musters his fighting strength and rides with his men to the ancient fortress of [[Helm's Deep]], while Gandalf departs to seek help from Treebeard.

Meanwhile, the Ents, roused by Merry and Pippin from their peaceful ways, attack and destroy [[Isengard]], Saruman's stronghold, and flood it, trapping the wizard in the tower of [[Orthanc]]. Gandalf convinces Treebeard to send an army of [[Huorn]]s to Théoden's aid. He brings an army of [[Rohirrim]] to [[Helm's Deep]], and they defeat the Orcs, who flee into the forest of Huorns, never to be seen again. Gandalf, Théoden, Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli ride to Isengard, and are surprised to find Merry and Pippin relaxing amidst the ruins. Gandalf offers Saruman a chance to turn away from evil. When Saruman refuses to listen, Gandalf strips him of his rank and most of his powers. After Saruman leaves, Wormtongue throws down a hard round object to try to kill Gandalf. It misses and Pippin picks it up; Gandalf swiftly takes it, but Pippin steals it in the night. It is revealed to be a ''[[palantír]]'', a seeing-stone that Saruman used to speak with Sauron, and that Sauron used to ensnare him. Pippin begins to be entranced by its power. While Gandalf sleeps, Pippin examines the ''palantír'', inadvertently causing Sauron to see him; as Pippin is a hobbit, Sauron believes Pippin has the [[One Ring]]. Gandalf is awoken by the commotion and is able to save the incapacitated Pippin. Gandalf immediately rides for [[Minas Tirith]], the chief city of [[Gondor]], taking Pippin with him.<!-- Please do not make this plot summary any longer, it is required to be short. Thank you -->

=== Book IV: The Ring Goes East ===

Frodo and Sam, heading for [[Mordor]] to destroy the One Ring, struggle through the barren hills and cliffs of the [[Emyn Muil]]. They become aware they are being watched and tracked; on a moonlit night they capture [[Gollum]], who has followed them from [[Moria, Middle-earth|Moria]]. Frodo makes Gollum swear to serve him, as Ringbearer, and asks him to guide them to Mordor. Gollum leads them across the [[Dead Marshes]]. Sam overhears Gollum debating with his alter ego, [[Sméagol]], whether to break his promise and steal the Ring.

They find that the [[Black Gate (Middle-earth)|Black Gate]] of Mordor is too well guarded to pass through, so instead they travel south through the land of [[Ithilien]] to a secret pass that Gollum knows. On the way, they are captured by rangers led by [[Faramir]], Boromir's younger brother, and brought to the secret fastness of [[Henneth Annûn]]. Unlike his brother, Faramir resists the temptation to seize the Ring and, disobeying standing orders to arrest strangers found in Ithilien, releases them.

Gollum – who is torn between his loyalty to Frodo and his desire for the Ring – guides the hobbits to the pass of [[Cirith Ungol]], but leads them into the lair of the great spider [[Shelob]] in the tunnels there. Frodo holds up the gift given to him in [[Lothlórien]]: the [[Phial of Galadriel]], which holds the [[Christianity in Middle-earth#Light|light]] of [[Eärendil]]'s star. The light drives Shelob away, and Frodo and Sam are able to get through the pass safely. However, after they leave the pass, Shelob appears and attacks Frodo; before he can help his master, Sam is attacked by Gollum. After fighting off Gollum, Sam picks up Frodo's sword, [[Sting (sword)|Sting]]; and the Phial. He seriously wounds and drives off Shelob, but after the fight, he finds Frodo unresponsive. Believing him to be dead, Sam takes the Ring to continue the quest alone. Before Sam gets far, however, Orcs find Frodo; Sam overhears them and learns that Frodo is still alive.<!-- Please do not make this plot summary any longer, it is required to be short. Thank you -->

== Meaning of title ==

{{multiple image
|align=center
|image1=Which Two Towers.svg
|total_width=525px
|caption1=Tolkien initially considered choosing a pair from four towers. Three such pairs ([[Orthanc]] and [[Barad-dûr]], [[Minas Tirith]] and Barad-dûr, or Orthanc and the Tower of [[Cirith Ungol]], black lines) could have been the two used in the title.<ref name="Letter 140"/><ref name="Letter 143"/> But he settled on a different pair (red line), with Orthanc and a fifth tower, [[Minas Morgul]].<ref name="Tolkien note 1954"/>
|image2=Tolkien's_design_for_The_Two_Towers_cover.jpg
|caption2=Tolkien's own design for the volume's cover shows the two towers as [[Minas Morgul]], white with the symbol of the rising moon, and [[Orthanc]], black with [[Saruman]]'s symbol of the white hand nearby.<ref name="Tolkien Two Towers cover design">{{cite web |url=http://images.harpercollins.co.uk/hcwebimages/hccovers/032800/032878-fc170.jpg |title=Tolkien's own cover design for ''The Two Towers'' |publisher=[[HarperCollins]] |access-date=5 September 2023}}</ref>
}}

In a letter to [[Rayner Unwin]] in August 1953, Tolkien proposed the volume's title and considered [[Tolkien's ambiguity|leaving it vague]], naming the ambiguous two as Orthanc and [[Barad-dûr]], or [[Minas Tirith]] and Barad-dûr, or Orthanc and the Tower of [[Cirith Ungol]].<ref name="Letter 140">{{harvnb|Carpenter|2023|loc=#140 to [[Allen & Unwin]], August 1953}}</ref> In another letter, in January 1954, he stated that he was "not at all happy about the title ''The Two Towers''", writing that if the title had "any real reference in it to Vol II" it would have to "refer to ''Orthanc'' and the ''Tower of Cirith Ungol'' (his italics).<ref name="Letter 143"/> He at once added that this would however be "very misleading", since there was "so much made of the basic opposition of the Dark Tower and Minas Tirith".<ref name="Letter 143">{{harvnb|Carpenter|2023|loc=#143 to Allen & Unwin, January 1954 }}</ref> However, a month later, he wrote a note that is included at the end of ''The Fellowship of the Ring'', and later drew a cover illustration, both of which identified the pair as [[Minas Morgul]] and Orthanc.<ref name="Tolkien note 1954">{{harvnb|Tolkien|1954a|loc=Book 2, ch. 10 "The Breaking of the Fellowship". Note at end: "The second part is called ''The Two Towers'', since the events recounted in it are dominated by Orthanc, ..., and the fortress of Minas Morgul..."}}</ref><ref name="Tolkien Two Towers cover design">{{cite web |url=http://images.harpercollins.co.uk/hcwebimages/hccovers/032800/032878-fc170.jpg |title=Tolkien's own cover design for ''The Two Towers'' |publisher=[[HarperCollins]] |access-date=5 September 2023}}</ref> In the illustration, Minas Morgul is a white tower, with a thin waning moon above it, in reference to its original name, Minas Ithil, the Tower of the Rising Moon. Orthanc is shown as a black tower, three-horned, with Saruman's sign of the White Hand beside it. A [[Nazgûl]] flies between the two towers.<ref name="Tolkien Two Towers cover design"/>

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Towers considered by Tolkien as candidates for the two mentioned in the volume's title<ref name="Letter 140"/><ref name="Letter 143"/><ref name="Tolkien note 1954"/>
|-
! style="width:  80px;" | Tower 
! style="width:  80px;" | Status 
! style="width: 150px;" | Owner or inhabitant 
! style="width: 500px;" | Notes
|-
| [[Orthanc]] || Chosen || The [[Wizards in Middle-earth|Wizard]] Saruman || Saruman was leader of the White Council, but fell in the desire to get the [[One Ring]] for himself, and is now an adversary, though less powerful than Sauron. 
|-
| [[Barad-dûr]] || Considered || [[Sauron]] || Sauron is the [[Dark lord|Dark Lord]] or "Lord of the Rings", the chief adversary; he made the One Ring and seeks to get it back to dominate [[Middle-earth]] from his realm of [[Mordor]].
|-
| [[Cirith Ungol]] || Considered || [[Orc]]s of Mordor || [[Frodo]] is held captive by the Orcs of the tower; he is freed by [[Samwise Gamgee|Sam Gamgee]]
|-
| [[Minas Tirith]] || Considered || Kingdom of [[Gondor]] || The Kingdom has not had a King for many centuries, but remains free, the principal realm opposed to Mordor. The tower's name means "Tower of Guard".{{sfn|Noel|1974|p=170}}
|-
| [[Minas Morgul]] || Chosen || The nine [[Nazgûl]] || The tower, as Minas Ithil, Tower of the Rising Moon, was once part of Gondor; it guarded Gondor from the threat of Mordor, but has now been occupied by the nine Ringwraiths, powerful servants of the Dark Lord, and renamed to Minas Morgul, the Tower of Sorcery.{{sfn|Tolkien|1954a|loc=Book 2, ch. 2 "[[The Council of Elrond]]"}} Their leader is the [[Witch-king of Angmar|Witch-King of Angmar]], like the others enslaved by a [[Rings of Power|Ring of Power]] given by Sauron.
|}

== Interwoven narratives ==

{{further|Interlacing in The Lord of the Rings}}

The narrative in the volume is [[Interlacing in The Lord of the Rings|interlaced]], unlike [[Narrative structure of The Lord of the Rings#The Fellowship of the Ring|the largely linear narrative]] in ''[[The Fellowship of the Ring]]'', as the Fellowship is broken and the different groups pursue their own quests. The [[Quests in Middle-earth|main quest]], to destroy the [[One Ring]],  does not progress at all in book 3; conversely, the other quests do not make progress in book 4 as Frodo and Sam continue their dangerous journey towards Mordor. The timeline is more complex than this would suggest, as many smaller-scale interlacings occur as the characters travel through Middle-earth.{{sfn|West|1975|pp=81-83}}{{sfn|Shippey|2005|pp=181–190}}

Interlacing allowed Tolkien to weave an elaborately intricate story, presented through the eyes of the Hobbit protagonists, "underscoring [their] frequent bewilderment and disorientation". Most directly, this is achieved by letting the reader know only what one character sees as he struggles forwards, not knowing what lies ahead, where his friends are, or whether the quest has already failed.{{sfn|Sturgis|2013|p=389}}{{sfn|Shippey|2005|pp=181–190}} The bewilderment of the reader is minimized by the use of synchronizing 'narrative landmarks', such as the brooch dropped by Pippin and discovered by Aragorn.{{sfn|Holmes|2014|p=137}} Equally, interlacing enables Tolkien to create [[suspense]] and "[[cliffhanger]]" section endings, as when the Ents and [[Huorns]] appear suddenly and decisively in the [[eucatastrophe]] on the battlefield of Helm's Deep.{{sfn|Shippey|2005|pp=181–190}}

The Tolkien scholar [[Richard C. West]] writes that every reader must notice to some degree "the apparently meandering manner of the plot", where things [[Luck and fate in Middle-earth|happen apparently casually, as if by chance]], as in real life. West illustrates this by examining Merry and Pippin's meeting with the Ents. This causes the Ents to overthrow their enemy Saruman, who was also the enemy of the kingdom of Rohan. This frees up Rohan to go to the aid of Gondor in their war with Sauron. The two Hobbits would never have met the Ents unless Saruman's Orcs had captured them. The Hobbits would not have escaped the Orcs unless Éomer's band of Riders of Rohan, disobeying orders from the King, had hunted the Orc intruders down. West states that each group and character has their own motivation, but their stories interact. It feels natural, and may appear "loose", but "everything is interconnected."{{sfn|West|1975|pp=83-84}} The interlacing allows Tolkien to make hidden connections that can only be grasped retrospectively, as the reader realizes on reflection that certain events happened at the same time.{{sfn|Shippey|2005|pp=181–190}} Interlace, West notes, can "show purpose or pattern behind change".{{sfn|West|1975|p=89}} This can appear, Shippey writes, as luck, where in daily life it is uncertain whether this is "something completely humdrum and practical or something mysterious and supernatural".{{sfn|Shippey|2005|pp=170–174}}

== Reception ==

<!--reviews from the 1950s that apply specifically TO THIS VOLUME
-->{{further|Literary reception of The Lord of the Rings}}

Donald Barr in ''[[The New York Times]]'' gave the book a positive review, calling it "an extraordinary work – pure excitement, unencumbered narrative, moral warmth, barefaced rejoicing in beauty, but excitement most of all".<ref>{{cite web |first=Donald |last=Barr |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1955/05/01/archives/shadowy-world-of-men-and-hobbits-the-two-towers-being-the-second.html |title=Shadowy World of Men and Hobbits |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=1 May 1955}}</ref>

[[Anthony Boucher]], reviewing the volume in ''[[The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction]]'', wrote that ''The Two Towers'' "makes inordinate demands upon the patience of its readers" with passages which "could be lopped away without affecting form or content". Nevertheless, he lavished praise on the volume, saying "no writer save [[E. R. Eddison]] has ever so satisfactorily and compellingly created his own mythology and made it come vividly alive ... described in some of the most sheerly beautiful prose that this harsh decade has seen in print."<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Boucher |first=Anthony |author-link=Anthony Boucher |title=Recommended Reading |magazine=[[The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction]] |date=August 1955 |page=93}}</ref>

''[[The Times Literary Supplement]]'' called it a "prose epic in praise of courage" and stated that Tolkien's [[Númenor|Westernesse]] "comes to rank in the reader's imagination with [[Asgard]] and [[Camelot]]".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Anon |title=The Epic of Westernesse |work=[[The Times Literary Supplement]] |date=17 December 1954 |page=817}}</ref><ref name="Thompson 1985">{{cite journal |last1=Thompson |first1=George H. |title=Early Review of Books by J.R.R. Tolkien - Part II |journal=[[Mythlore]] |date=15 February 1985 |volume=11 |issue=3 |pages=61–63 (article 11) |url=https://dc.swosu.edu/mythlore/vol11/iss3/11}}</ref>

John Jordan, admiring the book's narrative in the ''Irish Press'', wrote of its "weaving of epic, heroic romance, parable, and fairy tale, and the more adventurous kind of detective story, into a pattern at once strange and curiously familiar to our experience". He compared the wizard [[Gandalf]]'s death and reappearance to [[Resurrection of Jesus|Christ's resurrection]], writing that this could be done "without irreverence" because of Tolkien's seriousness about good and [[Evil in Middle-earth|evil]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Jordan |first=John |title=The Little Life of Man |work=Irish Press |date=18 December 1954 |page=4}}</ref><ref name="Thompson 1985"/>

Mahmud Manzalaoui, in the ''[[Egyptian Gazette]]'', wrote that the book "has not pleased readers of the staple modern psychological novel", but that it signified a new trend in fiction.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Manzalaoui |first1=Mahmud |title=No Artificial Allegory in this Fairy Romance |work=[[Egyptian Gazette]] |date=18 February 1955 |page=2}}</ref><ref name="Thompson 1985"/>

In ''[[The Observer]]'', the Scottish poet [[Edwin Muir]]<!--who was hostile to The Return of the King in 1955-->, who had praised ''The Fellowship of the Ring'', called Tolkien's invention of the [[Ent]]s and his account of the [[Battle of Helm's Deep]] magnificent. He wrote that contrary to some people's assumption, one could not equate the Ring to the [[atomic bomb]]; rather, it directly represented evil.<ref name="Muir 1954">{{Cite news |last=Muir |first=Edwin |author-link=Edwin Muir |date=21 November 1954 |title=The Ring |work=[[The Observer]]}}</ref><ref name="Thompson 1985"/>

== Adaptations ==

[[Peter Jackson]]'s 2002 film ''[[The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers]]'' is based on ''The Two Towers''. It adds some new material, such as the scene where Aragorn falls over a cliff;<ref name="DWC 2003">{{cite video |people=Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens |title=Director/Writers Commentary |medium=DVD |publisher=New Line |date=2003}}</ref> it imports some material from the preceding volume, ''The Fellowship of the Ring'', such as the Wargs' attack on refugees from Edoras;<ref name="DWC 2003"/> and it leaves some material to be covered in the following film, such as the scene with the giant spider Shelob.<ref name="story">{{cite video |title=From Book to Script: Finding the Story |date=2003 |medium=DVD |publisher=New Line}}</ref> The film was acclaimed by critics and was highly successful at the box office.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/year/world/2002/ |title=2002 Worldwide Box Office |website=[[Box Office Mojo]] |access-date=13 March 2024}}</ref>

== References ==

{{reflist}}

== Sources ==

* {{ME-ref|Letters}} <!--Carpenter 1981-->
* {{cite book |last=Holmes |first=John R. |chapter=''The Lord of the Rings'' |editor-last=Lee |editor-first=Stuart D. |editor-link=Stuart D. Lee |title=[[A Companion to J. R. R. Tolkien]] |year=2014 |publisher=[[Wiley-Blackwell]] |isbn=978-0-4706-5982-3 |pages=133–145}}
* {{cite book |last=Noel |first=Ruth S. |title=The Languages of Tolkien's Middle-earth |year=1974 |publisher=[[Houghton Mifflin Harcourt|Houghton Mifflin]] |isbn=0-395-29129-1 |page=170}}
* {{ME-ref|ROAD}} <!--Shippey 2005-->
* {{cite encyclopedia |last=Sturgis |first=Amy H. |author-link=Amy H. Sturgis |title=Lord of the Rings, The |editor-last=Drout |editor-first=Michael D. C. |editor-link=Michael D. C. Drout |encyclopedia=[[J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia]] |year=2013 |orig-year=2007 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=978-0-415-86511-1 |page=389}}
* {{ME-ref|FOTR}}
* {{ME-ref|TT|ref=none}}
* {{cite book |last=West |first=Richard C. |author-link=Richard C. West |chapter=The Interlace Structure of The Lord of the Rings |title=[[A Tolkien Compass]] |publisher=[[Open Court Publishing Company|Open Court]] |year=1975 |editor=[[Jared Lobdell]] |pages=77–94 |isbn=978-0-87548-303-0}}

== External links ==

{{Wikiquote|The Two Towers}}

* ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20170810203735/http://www.iblist.com/book272.htm The Two Towers]'' at the Internet Book List

{{J. R. R. Tolkien}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Two Towers, The}}
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