Synopsis
The scattered Fellowship now walks two roads at once. In the West, Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli pursue the orcs who took Merry and Pippin into the grasslands of Rohan, and are caught up in the war of the horsemen against the treasons of Saruman; the volume rises to the battle of Helm’s Deep and the fall of Isengard, with the rekindling of Gandalf the White. In the East and South, Frodo and Sam take the treacherous Gollum as a guide toward Mordor, cross the Dead Marshes, and pass through Ithilien and the stairs of Cirith Ungol, where Gollum’s old hunger at last betrays them and the spider Shelob strikes.
Setting
Rohan, Fangorn Forest, Helm’s Deep, Isengard, Ithilien, the Dead Marshes, Cirith Ungol and the western borders of Mordor.
Chapters
1.The Departure of Boromir
Aragorn finds Boromir dying among the orcs, and the three hunters choose to follow the captured hobbits rather than the Ring.
2.The Riders of Rohan
The hunters meet the outlaw riders of Rohan; Éomer freely lends them horses, and they ride toward Fangorn.
3.Treebeard
Merry and Pippin, escaped into Fangorn, meet the Ent Treebeard and awaken his slow anger against Saruman.
4.The White Rider
Aragorn’s company is astounded when Gandalf returns from death, now the White, and leads them toward Rohan.
5.The King of the Golden Hall
At Edoras Gandalf frees Théoden from Gríma Wormtongue’s counsel and rouses the Rohirrim to war.
6.Helm’s Deep
In the Hornburg the men of Rohan and a handful of elves and dwarves hold the Deeping Wall against Saruman’s hordes until dawn.
7.The Road to Isengard
Riding to Isengard, the company finds the Ents have razed it and left Saruman trapped in his own tower.
8.The Voice of Saruman
Saruman’s honeyed voice nearly beguiles Théoden and Gandalf; the offer of peace is rejected and Gríma hurls down the palantír.
9.The Taming of Sméagol
Frodo and Sam capture Gollum in the Emyn Muil and, with Frodo’s mercy, bind him by an oath to serve as guide.
10.The Passage of the Marshes
The three cross the Dead Marshes, where the Ring’s hunger and the faces of the slain test Frodo’s resolve.
11.The Window on the West
In Henneth Annûn Faramir questions Frodo, and, learning of the Ring, refuses to seize it, proving his quality.
12.The Stairs of Cirith Ungol
Gollum leads the hobbits up the secret stair, where Frodo senses betrayal and Sam suspects it.
13.Shelob’s Lair
In the tunnels of the spider Gollum springs his trap; Shelob stings Frodo, and Sam takes up the Ring to finish the quest alone.
Themes
- divided loyalties
- the price of power
- mercy toward the fallen
- endurance against despair
- renewal after catastrophe
Where to go next
Publication note
Publication note
Sources
The Lord of the Rings · 1954–55
Three volumes: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, The Return of the King.