The Two Towers

Gollum leads the way towards a looming wall and the hobbits follow side by side. Sam remarks on a foul smell, growing stronger as they approach the entrance to the tunnel. Gollum assures them that the tunnel is the only way to go, but doesn’t tell them its name, Torech Ungol, Shelob’s Lair. Sam guesses that it’s some sort of orc lair, filled with their filth, but Frodo says they must go through anyway. Inside, it’s as dark as the mines of Moria, and the air is stale and still. Their senses and their minds grow dull, until they can no longer hear Gollum’s breathing ahead of them, and they stumble on through force of will alone.  

Sam feels an opening and realizes that there’s more than one passage in the tunnel, though the main path continues straight. As the hobbits walk, something like tentacles or plants brushes against their hands and arms, and the smell grows stronger. Frodo reaches an opening in the wall he’s touching, and from it comes a smell and a malice so terrible that he stumbles, and Sam falls down. Frodo pulls him up to stagger onwards, hand in hand. They reach a fork in the tunnel and realize that they’ve lost Gollum. There’s no answer when Frodo calls for him, and Sam figures that he’s finally left them.

Fumbling in the dark, they discover that the left opening is blocked, and they must take the right. Sam has a feeling that something worse than Gollum is looking at them. As they head down the righthand tunnel, a gurgling noise and a long hiss come from behind them. Sam realizes that they’ve been led into a trap and reaches for his sword. As he stands in the dark, he sees a light in his mind, and an image of Galadriel standing in Lothlórien with a gift for Frodo. Suddenly animated, Sam reminds Frodo of the phial, which Galadriel gave him to be a light in dark places, “when all other lights go out.”

Frodo takes out the phial, which struggles for a moment in the dark, then brightens to a dazzling light. Frodo shouts a warning in a language he doesn’t know, as though another voice is speaking through him, but the thing in the darkness with them has heard the elvish phrase before and isn’t afraid of it. Between the hobbits and the opening of the tunnel are two clusters of many-faceted eyes reflecting the light. When Frodo and Sam back away, the eyes keep pace with them. They try to flee, but quickly realize they can’t outrun the eyes, and Frodo shouts for them to stand, gathering his courage and invoking Galadriel’s name with the phial.

As Frodo advances, drawing Sting and holding the phial up, the eyes waver and then disappear. Sam, close by with his sword drawn, marvels that the elves would make a song of their brave stand, then begs Frodo to escape from the tunnel. As they run, the floor rises steeply, and when they reach the end of the tunnel, they find their way blocked by a yielding but impervious surface.

Frodo raises the phial and realizes the surface is a densely-woven web, like it was made by a giant spider. Sam hacks furiously at the web with his sword, but it only cuts one cord, which snaps back and lashes his hand. Sam wishes Faramir’s curse (death if he doesn’t serve Frodo well) on Gollum. Frodo hands the phial to Sam and tries cutting the web himself. Sting has more of an effect, cutting the cords easily until the web is destroyed.

Frodo runs out of the tunnel, joyful at their escape, and the fading daylight of Mordor looks to him like a hopeful morning. He sees the cleft, Cirith Ungol, ahead of them, and urges Sam on towards it. Sam runs as fast as he can, repeatedly looking back to the tunnel, afraid that the eyes will follow them again.

But Shelob, “an evil thing in spider-form” has many exits from her lair. No one knows how Shelob came to live there, but she was there eating men and elves before Sauron came. Years ago, Gollum found her there and worshipped her, promising to bring her food. She doesn’t care about power, and only wants death for everyone but herself. Now she’s hungry as Sauron’s power grows, and no one passes near her den but orcs.

On the road with Frodo, Gollum often considered bringing the hobbits to Shelob, letting her eat them, then picking through their clothes and bones for the Ring. Once he had the Ring, he would take revenge on her. Concealing his plan, he came to see her and bowed, offering her the hobbits as a meal. Sauron knows about Shelob, and it pleases him to know that she lurks there, hungry and enraged, guarding the secret path to Mordor. Sometimes he sends prisoners for her to eat, and he doesn’t mind when she eats some of his orcs. No victim has ever escaped Shelob’s webs.

Sam doesn’t know anything about Shelob except the fact that he’s so afraid that it’s hard to run. There’s dread all around him, there are enemies ahead, and Frodo is running “heedless” towards Mordor. Sam realizes two things: Frodo’s sword is glowing blue, a sign that orcs are near, and the tower in Mordor is glowing red. He hides Galadriel’s phial in his pocket and pulls his cloak closer around him. As soon as Sam hides the phial, a monstrous shape appears from a shadow under the cliff, like a huge spider with horns and claws and a swollen body. She quickly moves to attack Frodo, placing herself between him and Sam, who shouts a warning.

As Sam yells to Frodo to look behind him, Gollum clamps a hand over Sam’s mouth and pulls him backwards off his feet, hissing “got him!” and gloating that Shelob will eat him. Desperation gives Sam the strength to fight back and eventually tear himself away from Gollum, hitting him with his staff until it breaks. Gollum realizes his spite led him to underestimate Sam and gloat before he had both hands around Sam’s neck. Now Gollum’s plan is ruined, and he faces “a furious enemy.”

When Sam raises his sword again, Gollum flees back towards the tunnel. Sam tries to pursue, forgetting everything but his rage, but Gollum is gone. Suddenly, he remembers the monstrous spider Shelob and runs back, shouting for Frodo. He’s too late, and Gollum’s plan is succeeding.