The Two Towers

Gollum leads Frodo and Sam into the marshes, traveling by night so that they cannot be seen as easily from a distance. Gollum is hungry, but he finds the lembas bread disgusting when Frodo offers him some. He wants to find fish to eat instead, although Frodo suggests that eating the Elven food might do him good if he eventually grows to tolerate it. When they stop to rest, Sam is worried about Gollum running away or harming them in the night and decides to stay up on watch. However, he falls asleep accidentally and Gollum is still there in the morning.

As Frodo and Sam travel across the marshes, they begin to see strange lights in the fog, which Gollum calls corpse-lights. By the strange lights, Frodo sees dead, rotting faces underneath the water. Gollum explains that a great battle was once fought here centuries ago between men, Elves, and Sauron’s Orcs. Frodo doubts that the bodies could have been preserved for so long, but Gollum ascribes that to the magic of the lights. As they walk, Frodo begins to fall behind. The Ring has become like a heavy weight around his neck and he is burdened by the feeling of being watched by a hostile presence, which he refers to as “the Eye.”

Overhead, another Nazgûl flies above them and screams before returning to Mordor. Gollum worries that they have been seen. They reach the edge of the marsh and enter into a desolate wasteland that marks the entrance to Mordor. When they stop to sleep, Sam overhears Gollum talking to himself. He has divided his personality between Gollum, who urges him to steal the Ring and run away, and Sméagol, who does not want to hurt Frodo because he has shown kindness to him. The Gollum persona persuades the Sméagol side to bring Frodo and Sam to someone else, referred to only as “her.”

The hobbits approach the entrance of Mordor. Gollum wishes to flee, but Frodo draws his sword and forces Gollum to continue to guide them toward the Black Gate.

Frodo, Sam, and Gollum arrive at the gate of Mordor. They see that the mountains that surround Mordor are tall and impassable, guarded by orcs who live in their caves. There is a passage through the mountains, but it is guarded by watchtowers and closed by an iron gate patrolled constantly. Gollum warns the hobbits that it is hopeless to try to enter Mordor, but Frodo is determined to go and Sam refuses to abandon Frodo.

They watch as the gate of Mordor opens to allow in an army of men from the east who have sided with Sauron. Gollum admits that he knows of another way into Mordor and he will lead them there so that they are not immediately captured by Orcs trying to enter the gate. Frodo is skeptical, warning Gollum that he knows the creature is scheming to retake the Ring. Frodo sternly tells him that he will never get the Ring back and that he could easily command Gollum to throw himself into fire using the Ring’s power. Gollum is terrified into submission.

Gollum describes a passage into Mordor that goes past Cirith Ungol, a former mountain pass stronghold of Gondor that has been taken over by Sauron and corrupted. He claims that the mountains are less tall there and that they can climb a stair up to find a secret tunnel that will lead into Mordor. Sam and Frodo are concerned that such a passage would also be heavily guarded, and Gollum answers ambiguously, eventually admitting that the tunnel is dangerous, but not patrolled by an Orc army.

While they debate, another army from the south arrives to join Sauron’s forces. Sam hopes that the southerners will have brought “oliphaunts,” enormous grey animals that he has heard legends about. Frodo finally decides that they will try Gollum’s suggested passage into Mordor, and the group settles down to rest for the remainder of the daylight.