Motifs are recurring structures, contrasts, or literary
devices that can help to develop and inform the text’s major themes.
Songs and Singing
Many songs are sung in The Two Towers, and
Tolkien nearly always provides us with the complete lyrics, set
off in italics from the rest of the text. Songs are clearly very
important in Tolkien’s novel. It is not enough for us simply to
be told that a character sings about something; the author must
tell us exactly what words are being sung. As a scholar of early
cultures, Tolkien was aware that, before the advent of published
books and the spread of literacy, culture and religion were largely
kept alive through the singing of songs—not merely for entertainment,
but to preserve the very memory of a culture. We find songs fulfilling
such a function in The Two Towers, as when Fangorn
sings about his childhood at the dawn of the world, preserving memories
far older than any other living creature. Songs also have an emotional
impact that stirs characters to action, as when Aragorn sings about
Gondor in Book III, Chapter 2, concluding
with the appeal to the others, “Let us go!” For Tolkien, songs represent
everything noble and good about ancient cultural traditions.
The Natural World
In a sense, it is unavoidable that a fantasy novel set
in ancient times, involving much wandering over meadows and mountains,
focuses significant attention on the natural environment. Indeed, The
Two Towers is full of forests, fields, pools, mountains,
gorges, and caves—a loving attention to natural scenery that made
Tolkien a favorite writer of the back-to-nature activists of the 1960s.
Yet nature in The Lord of the Rings is more meaningful
than merely a scenic backdrop to the plot. The state of nature closely
mirrors the state of the world, reflecting the time of crisis leading
to the War of the Ring.
In this regard, Tolkien borrows ideas from Romantic poetry, most
notably the idea that the external world often reflects the minds
of men. Where conditions are bad and conflict imminent, nature itself
suffers visible scars. In Saruman’s corrupt realm of Isengard, for
instance, the landscape itself has become corrupted: the realm is
barren and desolate where it once blossomed with greenery. Similarly,
the land of Mordor has become sterile with the presence of Sauron’s
evil. Nature is a moral barometer measuring good and evil throughout
Middle-earth, and is therefore a moral force itself, as we feel
when we witness the trees of Entwash marching off to fight the evil
Saruman. Even the very trees in the forest are part of the vast
moral struggle taking place in Middle-earth.
Suspicion
One of the bleaker aspects of The Lord of the
Rings is the omnipresent aura of suspicion. Such suspicion
surfaces frequently enough to give many characters (and us as readers)
a gnawing sense of distrust toward others, even those we think we
know well. The Two Towers opens with the death
of Boromir, an ally-turned-traitor whose example reminds the members
of the Fellowship that even vows of solidarity cannot guarantee
lasting commitment to their cause; even a trusted colleague is open
to suspicion. This ominous atmosphere of suspicion haunts The
Two Towers. It is reaffirmed when strangers like Éomer
and Théoden bluntly inform the travelers that, in dark times like
these, no one is above suspicion, and all guests must be considered
potential enemies. The final betrayal by Gollum carries this lesson
home with tragic force.
However, it is clear that the current pall of suspicion
cast over Middle-earth is due to the malevolent activities of Sauron.
Therefore, there is hope that if the Dark Lord is defeated, trust
will return to the world. This possibility makes it crucial that
the members of the Fellowship continue to trust one another, despite
the treachery of Boromir. When we see Gandalf return with Éomer
to reinforce the Fellowship’s forces at the storming of the Hornburg,
we are pleased not just because the side of good triumphs, but also
because we confirm that Gandalf is trustworthy—a far cry from the
corrupted Saruman. We are left with the hope that a final victory
of the Fellowship will reaffirm that trust is still a reliable presence
in the world and will make suspicion no longer necessary.
