Sam desperately tries to get through the blocked passage while the Orc captains — oblivious that their eaves are being dropped — continue complaining about their bosses (side note: we’re seriously creeped out by the fact that the Nazgûl actually give Orc officers the creeps). But when one of the captains reveals some new information, Sam suddenly realizes that getting to Frodo is more urgent than he thought. All this, plus Orc dialogue delivered with increasingly sore throats, a long sidebar on the moral code of Orcs, and an excerpt from our recent interview on the Rings of Power Wrap-up podcast with dialect coach Leith McPherson.
Curious about the new volume The Great Tales Never End? Check out the review by our friends at Tolkien Collector’s Guide here on YouTube.
Recommended Reading:
Tolkien, J. R. R. The Two Towers: Being the Second Part of The Lord of the Rings (Mariner Books, paperback) “The Choices of Master Samwise”, pp. 720-25
Tolkien, J. R. R. The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of the Rings (Mariner Books, paperback)
Tolkien, J. R. R. (Christopher Tolkien, ed.) The Silmarillion (Mariner Books, paperback)
Tolkien, J. R. R. (Christopher Tolkien, ed.) The Return of the Shadow (The History of Middle-earth, Vol. 6) (Del Rey, paperback)
Tolkien, J. R. R. (Christopher Tolkien, ed.) Morgoth’s Ring (The History of Middle-earth, Vol. 10) (HarperCollins, paperback)
Tolkien, J. R. R. Tree and Leaf: Including “Mythopoeia” (HarperCollins, paperback)
Carpenter, Humphrey, ed. The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien (Mariner Books, paperback)
Hammond, Wayne G. and Christina Scull. The Lord of the Rings: A Reader’s Companion (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, hardcover)
Shippey, Tom. Roots and Branches: Selected Papers on Tolkien (Walking Tree Publishers, paperback)
Isn’t it funny how the blackness of Gollum survives into this episode? “Little thin black fellow.” Elsewhere in LOTR he is characterised as “pale”. But in The Hobbit he is “Gollum — as dark as darkness”. I know JRRT tried to explain this away, saying he only looked dark because the cave was dark, or some such, but I’m not buying it.
Are Orcs racists too? Wouldn’t surprise me, LOL!
I am curious regarding the discussion on orcs and the afterlife. If I remember correctly, the orcs were corrupted Avari elves. Therefore, shouldn’t the orcs be immortal as are the elves? Jerry Michels