2025 Reread: The Two Towers

This post is still a bit behind-the-times as I finished rereading The Two Towers a couple of weeks ago now, but like I said in the last one, better late than never! I loved it, of course, Tolkien's work is fantastic (I say, stating the generally obvious).

As far as the stuff that stood out to me this time around goes...I'll start with the Dunlendings, or as they're called here, the Men of Dunland (from memory, "Dunlendings" was first used in the sequel). I appreciate how they're done: Tolkien gives them a genuine ancient grudge against Rohan, and explores how despicable it is that Saruman took advantage of that by lying to them and stoking the flames of vengeance amongst them. The reveal that Saruman claimed the Rohirrim burned their captives alive is both horrifying in terms of a reader reaction and satisfying in terms of narrative development. Théoden made peace with them, a far better outcome than continuing to fight them.

Speaking of Théoden...what a character! I loved him so much more than I remembered. Where do I begin unpacking this guy? Starting as unnaturally old beyond his years and having fallen under the spell of Saruman and Wormtongue, feeling overwhelmed with the issues that plague Rohan, and in his feeble state, lets the realm slip through his fingers. But then Gandalf comes, snaps him out of it, sends Wormtongue packing, and Théoden returns to the man he should be, a strong king who can fight back against the forces of Isengard, and reclaims that which he lost, but was really within his reach all along. Then he tells Saruman exactly where he can shove his manipulation. He was a very compelling character, and I dread reading his fate in the next book.

Gríma Wormtongue was another character I previously overlooked. On the surface he falls into the usual treacherous advisor and sycophantic servant archetypes, and he plays those parts well, but I was interested to see the role he plays thematically for Tolkien. My interpretation is that perhaps more than any other character save Gollum, Wormtongue represents of the mundane evil that people do, as opposed to the big villains like Sauron and Saruman. He's just one guy in Rohan who is offered power (and also Éowyn) and sells out his king for it. He's pathetic, but also pitiful in how human his motives are and the fact that serving Saruman will not be a pleasant fate.

What else...Helm's Deep was epic in the film, whereas in the book it seemed like a much less significant affair, although to be fair, it was the dramatic climax of the film, whereas here it was in the midpoint of Book Three. Treebeard was much quicker to action than in the film, but that too makes sense, and ye gods that was a heaping helping of Ent-lore. I do wonder, though, whatever became of Radagast the Brown here, as the wizard who loved nature most of all, and would have undoubtedly been appalled at Saruman's actions.

But Radagast, like so much more about Théoden, may well be the topic of another post on here. I've rambled on long enough. The Two Towers is great. The Return of the King is next!