What does cause doubt are the facts that Cirith Ungol was, firstly, one of many minor towers built around Mordor by the men of Numenor - others were Narchost and Carchost, fire fort and fang fort respectively or Towers of the Teeth Durthang, dark opposition and Isenmouthe or Carach Angren, Iron Jaws. That there was a tower here is not in doubt, as Chapter 1 of Book VI is called The Tower of Cirith Ungol. However, one could also argue that if the palanti determined The Two Towers then the title should be the Three Towers as three palanti were involved, the two from Orthanc and Minas Morgul and the one used by Denethor in Minas Tirith.Īnother reason that throws doubt on Cirith Ungol as a contender for one of The Two Towers is in its name, Cirith Ungol - spider's pass (no reference to it being a tower). On another level one could argue that these towers were indeed The Two Towers because both held Palanti (seeing stones) and it was through their use that much evil came to pass during the later years of the third age of Middle-earth.
This would suggest Orthanc and Minas Morgul were The Two Towers. The other tower on the cover is white with a thin crescent moon above it, which is an obvious reference to Minas Morgul (Tower of Sorcery) its original name was Minas Ithil (Tower of the Moon hence the moon motif). Tolkien's letter would seem to settle the confusion but for the fact that Tolkien original cover design for The Two Towers features a tower which is black with three horns and the sign of the white hand underneath it, which must be Orthanc (the white hand being Saruman sign). So Tolkien believed that the title The Two Towers referred to Orthanc, the abode of Saruman, and Cirith Ungol. But since there is so much made of the basic opposition of the Dark Tower and Minas Tirith, that seems very misleading. II refer to Orthanc and the Tower of Cirith Ungol. It must if there is any real reference in it to Vol. Tolkien himself foresaw this confusion before the book was published in November 1954, as is revealed in a letter to Rayner Unwin (the publisher) written on 22 January of that year: Tolkien wrote I am not at all happy about the title The Two Towers. It is understandable because Barad dûr is Sauron's main fortress and Minas Tirith the main fortress of men opposing him. This is a misconception, albeit an understandable one. There is some confusion over this title as most people believe it refers to Barad dûr, the Dark Tower, and Minas Tirith, the Tower of Watch. The second volume to Lord of the Rings (books III and IV) is called The Two Towers.
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