One of J.R.R. Tolkien’s timeless works set in Middle Earth is The Two Towers, the second volume of the Lord of the Rings. While the titles of the other two volumes (The Fellowship of the Ring and The Return of the King) have always made perfect sense to me, I’ve historically been puzzled by the notion of “two towers.” The ready-made candidates for the role are of course the tower at Orthanc (the lair of Saruman) and Barad-Dur (the lair of Sauron), but any number of other towers mentioned in the book could also fit the bill: the tower at Minas Ithil/Morgul, the complementary tower at Minas Anor/Tirith, and even the tower at Cirith Ungol from which Frodo and Sam make their dramatic escape.
The Two Towers (Warriors 109, Celtics 105)
