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The Two Towers recounts the futher adventures of the band of campanions introduced in the The Fellowship of the Ring. Frodo ( unwilling heir to the One Ring) has decided that it is his task and his alone to carry the Ring back to the Fire that will consume its power for evil. Accompanied only by his servent, Sam Gamgee, he is making his way eastward to the ghastly borders of Mordor, the Land of the Enemy. Meanwhile, his companions in the fellowship of the Ring are caught in the strategy of the traitor Saruman and pass on to battle and peril in the West. Secure in his immense power the Enemy marshalls his forces. |
As the second volume of The Lord of the Rings begins, the fellowship of the Ring has been sundered by the treachery of Boromir. Under the Ring’s baleful influence, he attempted to attack Frodo. When he realized what he was doing, he gave his life to give the Ringbearer a chance to win free.
Now the former members of the fellowship make their separate ways toward Mordor. Merry and Pippin, Frodo’s young hobbit friends fall into the hands of orcs. When the orcs fight among themselves, the hobbits seize the opportunity to escape. Into the mysterious depths of Fangorn Forest they flee. Within it lies a secret that may enable them to defeat the master of the orcs of the White Hand, but only if they can befriend a forgotten race from the dawn of time.
Meanwhile, Frodo and his faithful squire Samwise continue the journey to Mount Doom alone. Although it may seem like a hopeless task without their more powerful companions, Frodo has come to see it as a sort of sacred obligation. Onward the Ringbearer forges, through steadily grimmer terrain. One day they encounter Gollum, who claims to be willing to help them on their quest. But even an oath sworn upon the Ring may not be enough to restrain his treacherous nature. The book ends with the coming of the great Darkness which open the terrible War of the Rings. How that war was fought, and what became of Frodo and his companions is told in the third and final part, The Return of the King. |
