Throughout The Two Towers, Tolkien invokes the power that hope can have. While the Ents, the people of Rohan, and Frodo and Sam face seemingly insurmountable challenges in the war against Sauron and Saruman, they all miraculously overcome a seemingly superior enemy because they maintain hope when despair seems to be the more reasonable choice. This belief in the power of hope to allow good to triumph over evil is informed by Tolkien’s Christian faith.

Gandalf repeatedly reminds his companions that hope is vital to their cause because only through trust and collaboration can Sauron be vanquished. He does not suggest that hope alone can save Middle-earth, admitting, “Hope is not victory” (489), but his meeting with Théoden reveals that hope is the necessary first step to achieving victory. When Théoden is under Wormtongue’s influence, he is in a state of despair, but Gandalf inspires him to try to fight against Isengard by promising that there is at least a chance of victory. Gandalf indicates that a similar hope is required for all members of the fellowship, because they must trust that Frodo will complete his mission without knowing whether or not he is alive. He alludes to this when he tells the Rohirrim, “You live. Gondor and Rohan do not stand alone. The enemy is strong beyond our reckoning, yet we have a hope at which he has not guessed” (505, emphasis added). Gandalf connects the notion of alliances to hope, suggesting that hope is a form of faith in the goodness of other people.

The connection between hope, good, and light culminates at the battle of Helm’s Deep, when Gandalf’s last-minute return with reinforcements turns a defeat into an unexpected victory. Gandalf arrives after a long night of fighting, when Aragorn and Théoden have been forced into a desperate position, and the narration points out that “dawn is ever the hope of men” (524). By portraying hope as a light after a long period of darkness, Tolkien demonstrates the difficulty of finding hope, but also the inevitability of good winning out over evil, just as day inevitably replaces night.

In Frodo and Sam’s section of The Two Towers, hope seems even more far away. Frodo and Sam are without any strong allies, surrounded by evil and hostility, and increasingly aware that their quest is likely to require them to sacrifice their lives. Frodo’s persistence despite the unlikelihood of success demonstrates that hope is not always based on rationality. Frodo knows that his quest is nearly impossible, but he continues to try, even when Faramir tells him that it will almost certainly fail and end in his death. Tolkien’s narrative implies that Frodo’s willingness to persevere based on a very slim chance of success is what makes him a more worthy and heroic ring-bearer than anyone else could be. While great and virtuous warriors like Faramir urge him to turn back, Frodo keeps going even in the darkest moments of his quest, thinking that “if once he could do that impossible thing, then somehow the errand would be accomplished” (695). Frodo’s attempts to do what seems “impossible” connects hope to the notion of miracles, indicating that only through irrational hope do miracles become possible.