The Two Towers

After running all night, they find dead orcs alongside the trail. Aragorn interprets this as a sign of a conflict between some of the orcs from the east and the orcs from Isengard. The three continue running and find an Elven leaf-shaped brooch that the hobbits got at Lothlorien, surmising that Pippin must have intentionally dropped it as a sign. By the end of the day, Gimli and Aragorn are exhausted. Legolas proposes continuing, since the orcs do not seem to be stopping to rest, but Aragorn and Gimli are concerned that they might miss the trail in the dark if they travel by night again.

The chase has led them into the flat grasslands of Rohan, which allows Legolas to see at a far distance that the orcs have moved far ahead during the night. Despite this setback, the three continue to run. After running for nearly four days, Aragorn detects the sound of a group of horsemen, and Legolas uses his superior Elvish vision to determine that a company of riders are approaching. Aragorn knows the inhabitants of Rohan to be a proud yet insular people, but knows that they have an alliance with Gondor and would never pay tribute to Sauron. Deciding to ask the riders for potential news of the orc party, he stands up and introduces himself as Strider.

The leader of the group is called Éomer, and he reports that his men did kill a group of orcs the night before, but that they saw no children or dwarves matching the description of the hobbits. After Aragorn reveals his true identity as the heir of Gondor, Éomer is shocked but ultimately decides to trust them. He offers to let them join the group of riders in hunting down more orcs, reporting that Saruman has been sending spies from Isengard and troubling the lands of Rohan with raids by orcs, wolves, and evil men. The king of Rohan was warned of Saruman’s betrayal by Gandalf, but King Théoden is angry at Gandalf for taking his prized horse Shadowfax without permission. Aragorn reports that Gandalf is dead, which makes Éomer even more worried. He remarks that the company are very strange and that the world has become chaotic, but Aragorn reminds him that good and evil remain the same no matter the circumstances.

Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli return to their pursuit of Merry and Pippin, riding horses loaned to them by Éomer. They enter the edge of Fangorn Forest and make camp for the night. Aragorn warns Gimli not to cut any living trees for firewood. They notice some of the trees seeming to bend closer to their campfire, almost like a human rubbing their hands over the flames. During the night, an old man in a hat and cloak mysteriously appears, and their horses spook and run away. Gimli thinks it might have been Saruman, but Aragorn is less sure.

Pippin awakes, having been knocked out when he and Merry were captured by the Orcs. He remembers running into the woods with Merry and being attacked by the Uruk-Hai, and then he remembers Boromir dying while trying to defend him. He feels regretful, wishing he had not come on the quest since he has been nothing but a nuisance to the others. Merry remains unconscious, wounded on the head.

Pippin listens and overhears the Orcs fighting with each other. He gathers that some of the troops are Uruk-Hai from Isengard who are loyal to Saruman, while others are Orcs who serve Mordor and have orders from one of the Nazgúl. The leader of the Uruk-hai is called Uglúk, and he has orders to bring the hobbits alive to Isengard. The other faction is led by Grishnákh, who proposes bringing the hobbits to Mordor, where a winged Nazgúl is stationed across the river. The Isengard faction wins out. While the Orcs are distracted, Pippin manages to cut the bonds on his hands and reties them very loosely.

The Orcs run toward Isengard, carrying Merry and Pippin on their backs. After a long overnight march, they decide to force the hobbits to run on their own and give them a medicinal drink to restore their energy. Merry wakes up and bravely encourages Pippin. They run until they are exhausted, and then they are carried again. When the Orcs encounter some mist, Pippin manages to run off for long enough that he can drop the brooch from his cloak as a sign. Then the group continues running.

The Orcs are spotted by a group of horsemen from Rohan, who begin to pursue the group and pick them off with arrows. During a run during the day, Grishnákh’s orcs fall behind the Uruk-hai, as they are more vulnerable to the sun. That night, the horsemen continue to attack and ambush the Orcs while they are camped. Grishnákh sneaks over to search the hobbits and Pippin realizes he must have orders to find the Ring. Realizing that this might be their best chance to escape without being accidentally killed by the men of Rohan, Pippin pretends to have the Ring and mimics Gollum’s voice to confuse Grishnákh. Grishnákh is convinced and carries off the hobbits so that he can search them without having Uglúk interfere. When he is about to kill them, he is struck by an arrow from the Rohirrim and killed.

Pippin frees Merry of his bonds and they eat some lembas bread to recover their strength, finding it more wholesome than the Orc’s medicinal drink. Unsure if they can trust the men of Rohan, they sneak away from the battle and into Fangorn Forest to hide. In the end, Uglúk is killed by Eomer and the rest of the Orcs are burned.

Merry and Pippin flee into Fangorn Forest, eventually coming to rest beside a stream. They drink some water and notice that they only have enough food for five days of travel. Observing the forest around them, Pippin thinks that it reminds him of a very old and shabby house, inhospitable to anything but trees but not necessarily evil. They climb a hill to get a better view of the landscape.

On the hill, they are picked up by a giant creature, around 14 feet tall and with bark-like skin. The creature introduces himself as Treebeard, also called Fangorn, although he says that his true name would take even longer to say as it would tell the whole story of his growth. Treebeard identifies himself as an Ent, an ancient race who herd the trees of the forest like a shepherd does sheep. He has never heard of a hobbit, but Merry and Pippin describe their people and he decides that they are not Orcs. After Merry and Pippin tell Treebeard that they know Gandalf and have a long tale to tell about their adventures, Treebeard decides to bring them back to his house for the night.

At Treebeard’s house, a long hall of trees with a stone slab table and many jars of water for sustenance, Merry and Pippin tell the story of the fellowship, although they leave out any information about the Ring. Treebeard is concerned by the information about Saruman becoming a traitor, reporting that he has been cutting down trees and destroying the forest around Isengard. Treebeard tells them that many ancient Ents have been fading and growing sleepy and tree-like. He recounts how there were once young Ents, but that they can no longer reproduce after losing the Entwives. Pippin believes this to mean that they died, but Treebeard corrects him, claiming that the Entwives disappeared after the orchards and farmlands they preferred over wild forests were raided in an ancient war with Sauron. He sings a song written by Elves about this event.

The hobbits drink some of Treebeard’s water, finding it to be as nourishing and refreshing as food. After sleeping, Treebeard brings them to a meeting of the Ents called an Entmoot, where he plans to discuss Saruman’s betrayal. Merry and Pippin ride on Treebeard’s shoulders to a grassy clearing in the forest where many other Ents come to join them. The Entish language takes a very long time to speak, and so the meeting takes three days. During this time, Merry and Pippin wonder if the Ents will decide to help fight Saruman. Merry points out that while the Ents seem funny and calm, he believes they would be strong and frightening if roused.

During the moot, an Ent called Bregalad sings a lament for the trees that have been cut down by Saruman that he nurtured from saplings. The Ents decide to go to war and begin to march toward Isengard. Treebeard admits that this might be their doom, but that staying and doing nothing would also lead to their demise. He believes that it is better to die in a way worthy of a song.