Welcome to the LitCharts study guide on J.R.R. Tolkien's The Two Towers. Created by the original team behind SparkNotes, LitCharts are the world's best literature guides.
The Two Towers: Introduction
The Two Towers: Plot Summary
The Two Towers: Detailed Summary & Analysis
The Two Towers: Themes
The Two Towers: Quotes
The Two Towers: Characters
The Two Towers: Symbols
The Two Towers: Theme Wheel
Brief Biography of J.R.R. Tolkien
Historical Context of The Two Towers
Other Books Related to The Two Towers
- Full Title: The Two Towers
- When Written: 1937–1949
- Where Written: Oxford, England
- When Published: 1954
- Literary Period: Modernism
- Genre: Epic, High Fantasy
- Setting: Middle-earth
- Climax: Gollum betrays Frodo and Sam by sending them into Shelob’s lair, leading Frodo to be paralyzed by spider venom and captured by Sauron’s orcs.
- Antagonist: Sauron
- Point of View: Third Person
Extra Credit for The Two Towers
Polyglot Penman. Tolkien enjoyed creating languages, a process he called “glossopoeia.” He created as many as 20 languages before his death, in varying stages of development. The two most developed of these, Sindarin and Quenya, are elvish languages found in Middle-earth.
An Ent Among the Inklings. The character Treebeard was modeled after Tolkien’s friend and fellow author C.S. Lewis, who was known for his booming voice. Lewis and Tolkien were both members of the Inklings, a group of Oxford writers who met in the Eagle and Child pub to discuss the value of fantasy fiction and share their writing.