The Two Towers

Flanking the path through the mountains into the land of Mordor are two watch-towers, once built by Gondor but long abandoned and now manned by Sauron’s forces. Across the path, Sauron built a stone wall with a single iron gate, constantly guarded by orcs. Sam and Frodo watch the patrols despairingly and Sam remarks that his father always said he’d come to a bad end if he didn’t watch out. It’s clear to Sam that they can’t get through the gate—they’ll have to find another way.

Gollum says he knew that they couldn’t get in through the gate but brought them there because Frodo told him to. Frodo resolves to somehow get through the gate, but Gollum tells him that doing that would just be delivering the Ring to Sauron and asks Frodo to give it back to him instead. Gollum tries again to dissuade them from entering the Black Gate, insisting that there is another secret way to enter Mordor. Though Gollum seems genuinely worried for Frodo’s safety, Sam is suspicious, guessing that his two halves—Sméagol and Gollum—are united in wanting to keep Frodo away from Sauron. One wants to protect Frodo and the other to find other opportunities to take the Ring. Sam thinks it’s a good thing that Gollum doesn’t know that Frodo intends to destroy the Ring.

Frodo sits for a long time, thinking about what to do. While watching the Black Gate, he sees armies on the march towards Mordor. Remembering his vision from Amon Hen, Frodo realizes now that his hope for a great attack on Mordor by Gondor and its allies was in vain. These armies aren’t attacking Mordor, they were summoned by Sauron to aid his forces. Suddenly aware of how dangerous the Gate is, Frodo agrees to hear about Gollum’s alternative path into Mordor. He says that Gollum has served him well the two previous times they’ve been in his power, and now Frodo offers him a third time to prove his loyalty.

However, Frodo warns Gollum not to let his desire for the Ring get him in trouble. As a last resort, Frodo will put on the Ring and command him. Though Sam approves of Frodo’s warning, he is surprised at Frodo’s power and sternness. Sam believes that Frodo is unendingly kind (and consequently a little foolish). Gollum has similarly confused Frodo’s kindness with blindness.

Gollum, terrified by Frodo’s threat, begins mumbling and groveling out an explanation of the alternative path that goes up into the mountains past an old fortress, the Moontower, that Frodo identifies as Minas Ithil, built by Isildur. Gollum tells them that Sauron hates the fortress and has conquered it and filled it with dreadful things “worse than Orcs.” The path continues up to the top of the mountains and then down again the other side to Gorgoroth. Sam protests that, if the tower is manned, they’ll just end up with the same problem they had at the Gate, or worse.

Gollum explains that Sauron won’t expect them to pass by the Moontower because he’s conquered that whole area—he thinks no one can reach it without fighting their way across the bridges. Gollum has talked to orcs and other people that say that the north near the gates is where Sauron is concentrating his attention. The way past the Moontower isn’t completely unguarded, but it’s the best option they have. Gollum adds that he knows a hidden path into the mountains: a long narrow staircase, a dark tunnel, and then a cleft.

Sam and Frodo are suspicious of how easy the path sounds. Gollum claims to have discovered it when he escaped from Mordor, and Frodo asks if he really escaped or if he was sent out on an errand, as Aragorn thought. Gollum admits that he was told to look for the Ring, but he did escape, and he was searching for the Ring for himself rather than Sauron. Frodo feels certain that Gollum really believes he escaped, even if his escape was permitted by the enemy. Still, he has the sense that there’s something Gollum isn’t telling them.

After prompting from Frodo, Gollum also admits that the path he’s taking them to, Cirith Ungol, might be guarded, since there’s really no safe place near Mordor. Gollum advises Frodo to either accept that it’s the best option or turn around and go home, then sulks, unwilling to say more. Had Gandalf heard the name Cirith Ungol he would have warned them away from the path, but Gandalf was far away in Isengard. Perhaps Frodo feels Gandalf’s presence, like he did on Amon Hen, though he believes that Gandalf is dead.

Frodo sits on the ground, trying and failing to remember if Gandalf ever advised him on how exactly to enter Mordor. He doesn’t think Gandalf ever ventured into Mordor since the return of Sauron and wonders how a simple hobbit is supposed to manage it. Frodo thinks it’s an “evil fate” that forces him to go where the great and powerful can’t, but it’s a fate he took on himself. That decision, made in his own home, feels as remote as an ancient legend. He doesn’t know which path to take, since both seem to end in danger and death.

As the day drags on and Frodo tries to make his decision, Sam spots four of the Black Riders circling above them and then speeding back to Mordor. As Frodo stands, he notices more men entering Mordor nearby. Gollum crawls up to look. Sam asks if there were “oliphaunts” and recites an old Shire rhyme about them, though he isn’t certain whether they actually exist. Gollum saw none and wants Frodo to leave with him and hide. Frodo, laughing a little at Sam’s rhyme, wishes they had Gandalf and a thousand oliphaunts to break into Mordor by force. However, since they only have themselves, he decides to follow Gollum to his hidden path.