Barliman's Chat This weekend we return to our regular Lord of the Rings chapter discussions in the Hall of Fire as we leap into Book Four of The Two Towers, focusing on the desperate situation of Frodo and Sam as they try to find some way off the sheer, broken slopes of Emyn Muil. Worse, they realise they have a stalker.

One Ring to rule them all and in the Darkness bind them.
Would you commit your promise to that, Sméagol? It will hold you. But it is more treacherous than you are. It may twist your words. Beware!’
Gollum cowered. ‘On the Precious. on the Precious!’ he repeated.

The Two Towers: Book IV, Chapter I: The Taming of Sméagol

At the end of The Fellowshp of the Ring, the Fellowship splits into two perilous quests: the Three Hunters attempt to rescue Merry and Pippin from their captors while Frodo and Sam continue on their original mission to Mordor to destroy the One Ring.

Even fresh from parting with the rest of the Fellowship, Frodo already appears to be wearying from the burden of responsibility – and the increasing proximity of Mordor. Fearing discovery, he and Sam descend the cliff faces of Emyn Muil in the dark, but it is not enough to elude Gollum, who is obsessed with retrieving his Precious.

However, Fortune, of a sort, shines upon Frodo and Sam and the captured Gollum. This leaves Frodo with a fateful choice — a turning point in the events of the War of the Ring. Drafting Smeagol as an unlikely, and unwilling, all will have far greater consequences than he could ever have foreseen…

Join us tomorrow, Saturday August 24, at 6pm EST (New York time) in The Hall of Fire as we discuss The Taming of Smeagol.

Some suggested reading:

TTT Bk IV, Ch I: The Taming of Smeagol

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