Overcome by despair at the sight of the Witch-king’s army, Frodo fears that his quest has already failed. But ever-practical Samwise snaps him out of it, and Frodo continues on with determination despite his lack of hope. Gollum leads them up two sets of stairs that are definitely not up to code, and finally to a passage that… uh, might not be watched. After cooling off from this cardio session with Middle-earth’s least motivating personal trainer, we investigate Elvish pronunciation — and a Biblical allusion found in the Phial of Galadriel — in Barliman’s Bag.
Recommended Reading:
Tolkien, J. R. R. The Two Towers: Being the Second Part of The Lord of the Rings (Mariner Books, paperback) “The Stairs of Cirith Ungol”, pp. 692-95
Tolkien, J. R. R. (Christopher Tolkien, ed.) The Silmarillion (Mariner Books, paperback)
Fonstad, Karen Wynn. The Atlas of Middle-earth (Revised Edition) (Houghton Mifflin, Paperback)
Nice episode. Looking forward to another one.