The Stairs of Cirith Ungol: Difference between revisions

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{{disambig-more|Cirith Ungol|[[Cirith Ungol (disambiguation)]]}}
{{disambig-more|Cirith Ungol|[[Cirith Ungol (disambiguation)]]}}
{{ttchapters}}
{{chapter
'''The Stairs of Cirith Ungol''' is the eighth chapter of the fourth book in ''[[The Two Towers]]''.
| image=Ted Nasmith - The Tower of the Moon.jpg
| title=The Stairs of Cirith Ungol
| book=The Two Towers
| number=19
| event=[[Frodo Baggins|Frodo]] and [[Samwise Gamgee|Samwise]] pass [[Minas Morgul]].
| date=[[10 March|10]]-[[11 March]] {{TA|3019|n}}
| location=[[Stairs of Cirith Ungol]]
| perspective=[[Frodo Baggins|Frodo]] and [[Samwise Gamgee|Samwise]]
| previous=Journey to the Cross-roads
| next=Shelob's Lair (chapter)
}}
'''The Stairs of Cirith Ungol''' is the eighth chapter of the second book in ''[[The Two Towers]]''.


===Summary===
==Summary==
[[Gollum]] draws [[Samwise Gamgee|Sam]] and [[Frodo Baggins|Frodo]] away from their rapt contemplation of the statue, telling them that time is short. He guides them along the [[Southward Road]] until they reach the valley of [[Minas Morgul]]. All three are momentarily transfixed by the sight of the [[Minas Morgul|Tower of the Moon]] rising in the distance, but Gollum finally urges them onward again. The way is hard, and the land is full of a horrid stench that makes it hard for the [[Hobbits]] to breathe. Frodo begs for a moment’s rest, but Gollum and Sam insist on continuing. As they start moving again, [[Minas Morgul]] erupts in a deafening thunder, and troops appear. Frodo sees a great mass of cavalrymen all dressed in sable, guided by a horseman whom Frodo identifies as the [[Witch-king|Lord of the Nazgûl]].
[[Gollum]] drew [[Samwise Gamgee|Sam]] and [[Frodo Baggins|Frodo]] away from their rapt contemplation of the statue, telling them that time was short. He guided them along the [[Southward Road]] until they reached the valley of [[Minas Morgul]]. All three were momentarily transfixed by the sight of the [[Minas Morgul|Tower of the Moon]] rising in the distance, but Gollum finally urged them onward again. The way was hard, and the land was full of a horrid stench that made it hard for the [[Hobbits]] to breathe. Frodo begged for a moment’s rest, but Gollum and Sam insisted on continuing. As they started moving again, [[Minas Morgul]] erupted in a deafening thunder, and troops appeared. Frodo saw a great mass of cavalrymen all dressed in sable, guided by a horseman whom Frodo identified as the [[Witch-king|Lord of the Nazgûl]].


Suddenly, the horseman stops, and Frodo fears that he has spotted them. Frodo stands still, but almost against his will his hand moves toward [[The One Ring|the Ring]] hanging on his neck, which would give him the strength needed to confront the Lord of the Nazgûl. Frodo also touches the [[Phial of Galadriel]], which he had forgotten. Luckily, the [[Nazgûl|Ringwraith]] ends his watchful pause and continues on his way.
Suddenly, the horseman stopped, and Frodo feared that he had spotted them. Frodo stood still, but almost against his will his hand moved toward [[The One Ring|the Ring]] hanging on his neck, which would give him the strength needed to confront the Lord of the [[Nazgûl]]. Frodo also touched the [[Phial of Galadriel]], which he had forgotten. Luckily, the Ringwraith ended his watchful pause and continued on his way.


Frodo remains extremely distressed, however. He fears that he has taken too long to reach [[Mordor]] and that it is too late to fulfill his mission of destroying the Ring. Gollum, however, urges the Hobbits steadily onward, up an interminable set of stairs. Frodo becomes dizzy and feels that he cannot go on, but Gollum forces them to continue. Frodo looks down and sees that they are above Minas Morgul.
Frodo remained extremely distressed, however. He feared that he had taken too long to reach [[Mordor]] and that it was too late to fulfill his mission of destroying the Ring. Gollum, however, urged the Hobbits steadily onward, up an interminable set of stairs. Frodo became dizzy and felt that he could not go on, but Gollum forced them to continue. Frodo looked down and saw that they were above Minas Morgul.


After what seems like miles uphill on the [[Stairs of Cirith Ungol]], as the twisting mountain is called, Gollum leads Frodo and Sam into a dark crevice to rest. They discuss the question of whether there is water at these heights and whether it is drinkable. The two hobbits fall into a discussion of the old songs and prophecies, wondering whether they themselves will become characters in future songs, sung by their own children perhaps.
After what seemed like miles uphill on the [[Stairs of Cirith Ungol]], as the twisting mountain was called, Gollum led Frodo and Sam into a dark crevice to rest. They discussed the question of whether there was water at these heights and whether it was drinkable. The two hobbits fell into a discussion of the old songs and prophecies, wondering whether they themselves would become characters in future songs, sung by their own children perhaps.
Frodo and Sam also talk about how trustworthy Gollum is. Frodo asserts that no matter how selfish Gollum may be, he is no friend of the Orcs, and therefore may be considered a reliable guide. Eventually Sam presses Frodo to get some sleep and promises to look after him; Frodo lays his head in Sam's lap and falls asleep. Gollum returns and sees them both sound asleep peacefully, and for a moment considers repenting, but then Sam awakens to find Gollum caressing the sleeping Frodo. Sam accuses Gollum of sneaking around in the dark. Gollum is offended, saying he was not sneaking. Frodo wakes and settles the argument, telling Gollum he is free to go off by himself if he wishes. Gollum affirms that he must guide the hobbits to the end.
Frodo and Sam also talked about how trustworthy Gollum was. Frodo asserted that no matter how selfish Gollum may have been, he was no friend of the [[Orcs]], and therefore may be considered a reliable guide. Eventually Sam pressed Frodo to get some sleep and promised to look after him; Frodo laid his head in Sam's lap and fell asleep. Gollum returned and saw them both sound asleep peacefully, and for a moment considered repenting, but then Sam awoke to find Gollum caressing the sleeping Frodo. Sam accused Gollum of sneaking around in the dark. Gollum was offended, saying he was not sneaking. Frodo woke and settled the argument, telling Gollum he was free to go off by himself if he wished. Gollum affirmed that he must guide the hobbits to the end.


{{DEFAULTSORT:Stairs of Cirith Ungol}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stairs of Cirith Ungol}}
[[fi:Cirith Ungolin portaat (TSH)]]
[[fi:Cirith Ungolin portaat (TSH)]]
[[Category:The Two Towers chapters]]

Revision as of 00:53, 1 February 2018

The name Cirith Ungol refers to more than one character, item or concept. For a list of other meanings, see Cirith Ungol (disambiguation).
Ted Nasmith - The Tower of the Moon.jpg
The Stairs of Cirith Ungol
Chapter of The Two Towers
Number19
Synopsis
EventFrodo and Samwise pass Minas Morgul.
Date10-11 March 3019
LocationStairs of Cirith Ungol
PerspectiveFrodo and Samwise
Navigation
<  Journey to the Cross-roads
Shelob's Lair (chapter)  >

The Stairs of Cirith Ungol is the eighth chapter of the second book in The Two Towers.

Summary

Gollum drew Sam and Frodo away from their rapt contemplation of the statue, telling them that time was short. He guided them along the Southward Road until they reached the valley of Minas Morgul. All three were momentarily transfixed by the sight of the Tower of the Moon rising in the distance, but Gollum finally urged them onward again. The way was hard, and the land was full of a horrid stench that made it hard for the Hobbits to breathe. Frodo begged for a moment’s rest, but Gollum and Sam insisted on continuing. As they started moving again, Minas Morgul erupted in a deafening thunder, and troops appeared. Frodo saw a great mass of cavalrymen all dressed in sable, guided by a horseman whom Frodo identified as the Lord of the Nazgûl.

Suddenly, the horseman stopped, and Frodo feared that he had spotted them. Frodo stood still, but almost against his will his hand moved toward the Ring hanging on his neck, which would give him the strength needed to confront the Lord of the Nazgûl. Frodo also touched the Phial of Galadriel, which he had forgotten. Luckily, the Ringwraith ended his watchful pause and continued on his way.

Frodo remained extremely distressed, however. He feared that he had taken too long to reach Mordor and that it was too late to fulfill his mission of destroying the Ring. Gollum, however, urged the Hobbits steadily onward, up an interminable set of stairs. Frodo became dizzy and felt that he could not go on, but Gollum forced them to continue. Frodo looked down and saw that they were above Minas Morgul.

After what seemed like miles uphill on the Stairs of Cirith Ungol, as the twisting mountain was called, Gollum led Frodo and Sam into a dark crevice to rest. They discussed the question of whether there was water at these heights and whether it was drinkable. The two hobbits fell into a discussion of the old songs and prophecies, wondering whether they themselves would become characters in future songs, sung by their own children perhaps. Frodo and Sam also talked about how trustworthy Gollum was. Frodo asserted that no matter how selfish Gollum may have been, he was no friend of the Orcs, and therefore may be considered a reliable guide. Eventually Sam pressed Frodo to get some sleep and promised to look after him; Frodo laid his head in Sam's lap and fell asleep. Gollum returned and saw them both sound asleep peacefully, and for a moment considered repenting, but then Sam awoke to find Gollum caressing the sleeping Frodo. Sam accused Gollum of sneaking around in the dark. Gollum was offended, saying he was not sneaking. Frodo woke and settled the argument, telling Gollum he was free to go off by himself if he wished. Gollum affirmed that he must guide the hobbits to the end.