The War of the Ring

by Tolkien, Christopher

• ISBN13: 9780618083596
• ISBN10: 0618083596
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-09-01
• Publisher: Mariner Books

Summary

In The War of the Ring Christopher Tolkien takes up the story of the writing of The Lord of the Rings with the Battle of Helm's Deep and the drowning of Isengard by the Ents. This is followed by an account of how Frodo, Sam and Gollum were finally brought to the Pass of Kirith Ungol, at which point J.R.R. Tolkien wrote at the time: 'I have got the hero into such a fix that not even an author will be able to extricate him without labour and difficulty'. Then comes the war in Gondor, and the book ends with the parley between Gandalf and the ambassador of the Dark Lord before the Black Gate of Mordor. In describing his intentions for The Return of the King J.R.R. Tolkien said that 'It will probably work out very differently from this plan when it really gets written, as the thing seems to write itself once it gets going'; and in The War of the Ring totally unforeseen developmenst that would become central to the narrative are seen at the moment of their emergence: the palantir bursting into fragments on the stairs of Orthanc, its nature as unknown to the author as to those who saw it fall, or the entry of Faramir into the story ('I am sure I did not invent him, though I like him, but there he came walking into the woods of Ithilien'). The book is illustrated with plans and drawings of the changing conceptions of Orthanc, Dunharrow, Minas Tirith and the tunnels of Shelob's Lair.

Table of Contents

Foreword	ix
PART ONE: THE FALL OF SARUMAN
The Destruction Of Isengard (Chronology)	3	(5)
Helm's Deep	8	(17)
The Road To Isengard	25	(22)
Flotsam And Jetsam	47	(14)
The Voice Of Saruman	61	(7)
The Palantir	68	(17)
PART TWO: THE RING GOES EAST
The Taming Of Smeagol	85	(19)
The Passage Of The Marshes	104	(17)
The Black Gate Is Closed	121	(10)
Of Herbs And Stewed Rabbit	131	(13)
Faramir	144	(27)
The Forbidden Pool	171	(4)
Journey To The Cross-Roads	175	(8)
Kirith Ungol	183	(46)
PART THREE: MINAS TIRITH
Addendum To `The Treason Of Isengard'	229	(45)
Book Five Begun And Abandoned
Minas Tirith	231	(4)
The Muster of Rohan	235	(17)
Sketches for Book Five	252	(22)
Minas Tirith	274	(22)
Many Roads Lead Eastward (1)	296	(16)
Many Roads Lead Eastward (2)	312	(11)
The Siege Of Gondor	323	(20)
The Ride Of The Rohirrim	343	(16)
The Story Foreseen From Forannest	359	(6)
The Battle Of The Pelennor Fields	365	(9)
The Pyre Of Denethor	374	(10)
The Houses of Healing	384	(13)
The Last Debate	397	(33)
The Black Gate Opens	430	(3)
The Second Map	433	(7)
Index	440