LOTR: “Are we there yet?”

The Two Towers is a book about journeys.  Actually there are three journeys: the journey of Merry and Pippen from the time they are captured by the Orcs and rescued by the Ents through the arrival at Isengard; the journey of Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli in search of the missing hobbits from the Great River to Helm’s Deep, through the reuniting with the hobbits; and the journey of Frodo and Sam from the breaking of the Fellowship at the Great River through the trials in the Dead Marshes, the encounter with the Men of Gondor, through the final advance into Mordor.

Like the kids in the backseat of the minivan, we cry out, “Are we there yet?”

The Two Towers is considered by some as a long slog through the desolate lands of Middle Earth.  I bet there are many readers who put the “one book” down or skip ahead to sections with more action.  Other readers find this one of the more interesting sections of the story as much gets revealed about the history of the inhabitants and the lands.  I found the journeys interesting and revealing.  Our discussions were enlightening. (We’re reading this as a family book with a weekly discussion on Sunday nights.)

In addition, I read an interesting article by a Tolkien scholar on some connections between this book and the other “little” book I’m reading, Gibbons’ Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.  the connection concerns the language of the ancient Goths, who migrated from the area of the Baltic to the area of the Ukraine, to the created languages Tolkien uses in LOTR.  In fact, this scholar writes, there are some parallels between the two eras and locations: The Shire represents England, Gondor is Byzantium, and Mordor is eastern Europe out of which the invasion of the barbarians destroy Rome.  Tolkien insists his book is not an allegory, but everyone is influenced by something.  Who knows?

We have four more weeks to read Return of the King before the big discussion at ARRT.  I’m looking forward to every page of it.