In such close proximity to the claws of the enemy, our heroes find themselves in the middle of a concourse, as one of Sauron’s hosts marches out towards Gondor.

It is here that one of the central moments in The Lord of the Rings occurs. The halflings, comprehending the impossible task of slipping through the Black Gate, are forced to tackle another entrance which takes them right into the valley of Minas Morgul – the city of the Ringwraiths. One of the most dominating threats for Frodo and Sam as they journey towards Mordor, is the presence of the Nazgûl – flying high in the air upon their winged creatures to search for the One Ring. We’ve already discussed the reasons for the inclusion of Orthanc so let’s proceed directly to Minas Morgul (not literally!). Taking into consideration the structure of the second volume – differing greatly from its film counterpart, especially the last eight chapters or so – I tend to lean more towards the towers being those of Orthanc and Minas Morgul. On the other hand, while from a cinematic perspective I take the above two as being THE Two Towers, when reading the book I get a completely different picture. There is no specific reason why these shouldn’t be the ones referred to in the book – and the argument may well be considered closed. Naturally, the tower of Orthanc (as the seat of Saruman) and the Dark Tower of Barad-dûr (for the Dark Lord), seem appropriate as the eponymous Two Towers. Such guess is as good as any, but perhaps more so than others due to the strong interactions between the two dominating forces of evil: attempting to thwart our heroes’ respective journeys on both fronts. Indeed, Peter Jackson and his team came up with such a grouping for the second installment of the Trilogy. The most tantalising and accurate combination from the above list, would be Orthanc & Barad-dûr. The journey of the rise and fall of Orthanc is documented in Volume II of The Lord of the Rings and it is therefore only natural to safely assume that this was one of the Two Towers. At the same time, we are introduced to Saruman’s abode in Isengard in this book, and interestingly enough, so is its downfall. Orthanc seems to be an almost certain contender in any case, considering it features heavily in the second volume and is crucial to the Rohan storyline. These combinations are the result of correct assumptions based on certain moments in the story that take place in The Two Towers. A question perhaps not as common as Who is Tom Bombadil? or Do Balrogs have wings?, is the equally-ambiguous issue of which Two Towers give their name to the second volume of The Lord of the Rings.įrom a book perspective I never found myself asking this question, since the answer seemed to present itself clearly – even though in contradiction with what the films have offered us.įirst of all, let’s look at some of the possibilities brought up by many readers …Īnd this is but a selection of the mix-and-match possibilities.

Jrr tolkien the two towers