The Two Towers: Book Four: Chapters 4-6

by J.R.R. Tolkien
In the second part of The Lord of the Rings, the fellowship is broken. Two hobbits are kidnapped by orcs, while Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli help fight the forces of Saruman, an evil wizard. Meanwhile, with Gollum as their guide, Frodo and Sam make their way to Mordor to destroy the One Ring.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Book Three: Chapters 1-3, Book Three: Chapters 4-7, Book Three: Chapters 8-11, Book Four: Chapters 1-3, Book Four: Chapters 4-6, Book Four: Chapters 7-10

Here are links to our lists for other works by J.R.R. Tolkien: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Return of the King, The Hobbit
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. reprieve
    relieve temporarily
    It seemed good to be reprieved, to walk in a land that had only been for a few years under the dominion of the Dark Lord and was not yet fallen wholly into decay.
  2. encroach
    advance beyond the usual limit
    The road had been made in a long lost time, and for perhaps thirty miles below the Morannon it had been newly repaired, but as it went south the wild encroached upon it.
  3. relish
    derive or receive pleasure from
    The night became fine under star and round moon, and it seemed to the hobbits that the fragrance of the air grew as they went forward; and from the blowing and muttering of Gollum it seemed that he noticed it too, and did not relish it.
  4. disheveled
    in disarray; extremely disorderly
    Here Spring was already busy about them: fronds pierced moss and mould, larches were green-fingered, small flowers were opening in the turf, birds were singing. Ithilien, the garden of Gondor now desolate kept still a dishevelled dryad loveliness.
  5. tapestry
    something with complex pictorial designs
    Many great trees grew there, planted long ago, falling into untended age amid a riot of careless descendants; and groves and thickets there were of tamarisk and pungent terebinth, of olive and of bay; and there were junipers and myrtles; and thymes that grew in bushes, or with their woody creeping stems mantled in deep tapestries the hidden stones...
  6. anemone
    a plant grown for its beautiful, brightly colored flowers
    Primeroles and anemones were awake in the filbert-brakes; and asphodel and many lily-flowers nodded their half-opened heads in the grass: deep green grass beside the pools, where falling streams halted in cool hollows on their journey down to Anduin.
  7. rout
    dig with the snout
    He hurried back to his companions, but he said nothing: the bones were best left in peace and not pawed and routed by Gollum.
  8. earnest
    not distracted by anything unrelated to the goal
    Sam had been giving earnest thought to food as they marched.
  9. ballast
    something that steadies the mind or feelings
    ‘The Gaffer’s delight, and rare good ballast for an empty belly. But you won’t find any, so you needn’t look. But be good Sméagol and fetch me the herbs, and I’ll think better of you. What’s more, if you turn over a new leaf, and keep it turned, I’ll cook you some taters one of these days. I will: fried fish and chips served by S. Gamgee. You couldn’t say no to that.’
  10. gauntlet
    a glove of armored leather that protects the hand
    Green gauntlets covered their hands, and their faces were hooded and masked with green, except for their eyes, which were very keen and bright.
  11. harry
    make a pillaging or destructive raid on, as in wartimes
    From such men the Lord Denethor chose his forayers, who crossed the Anduin secretly (how or where, they would not say) to harry the Orcs and other enemies that roamed between the Ephel Dúath and the River.
  12. trappings
    ornaments; embellishments to or characteristic signs of
    His trappings of scarlet and gold flapped about him in wild tatters.
  13. foray
    a sudden short attack
    He had brought many men with him; indeed all the survivors of the foray were now gathered on the slope nearby, two or three hundred strong.
  14. appease
    cause to be more favorably inclined; gain the good will of
    Frodo’s tone was proud, whatever he felt, and Sam approved of it; but it did not appease Faramir.
  15. bristle
    react in an offended or angry manner
    There was some murmuring, but also some grins on the faces of the men looking on: the sight of their Captain sitting on the ground and eye to eye with a young hobbit, legs well apart, bristling with wrath, was one beyond their experience.
  16. founder
    sink below the surface
    ‘For no boat could have been carried over the stony hills from Tol Brandir; and Boromir purposed to go home across the Entwash and the fields of Rohan. And yet how could any vessel ride the foam of the great falls and not founder in the boiling pools, though laden with water?’
  17. hazard
    put forward, of a guess, in spite of possible refutation
    Isildur's Bane — I would hazard that Isildur’s Bane lay between you and was a cause of contention in your Company.
  18. contention
    a dispute where there is strong disagreement
    Isildur's Bane — I would hazard that Isildur’s Bane lay between you and was a cause of contention in your Company.
  19. confederate
    a person who joins with another in carrying out some plan
    Clearly it is a mighty heirloom of some sort, and such things do not breed peace among confederates, not if aught may be learned from ancient tales.
  20. stead
    the place properly occupied or served by another
    For we reckon back our line to Mardil, the good steward, who ruled in the king’s stead when he went away to war.
  21. parchment
    skin of a sheep or goat prepared for writing on
    We in the house of Denethor know much ancient lore by long tradition, and there are moreover in our treasuries many things preserved: books and tablets writ on withered parchments, yea, and on stone, and on leaves of silver and of gold, in divers characters.
  22. victuals
    a stock or supply of foods
    As their eyes grew accustomed to the gloom the hobbits saw that the cave was larger than they had guessed and was filled with great store of arms and victuals.
  23. trestle
    sawhorses used in pairs to support a horizontal tabletop
    Light tables were taken from the walls and set up on trestles and laden with gear.
  24. pelt
    the dressed hairy coat of a mammal
    They were led then to seats beside Faramir: barrels covered with pelts and high enough above the benches of the Men for their convenience.
  25. niche
    a small concavity
    A little earthenware lamp burned in a niche.
  26. rekindle
    arouse again
    It is long since we had any hope. The sword of Elendil, if it returns indeed, may rekindle it, but I do not think that it will do more than put off the evil day, unless other help unlooked-for also comes, from Elves or Men.
  27. dotage
    mental infirmity as a consequence of old age
    Yet even so it was Gondor that brought about its own decay, falling by degrees into dotage, and thinking that the Enemy was asleep, who was only banished not destroyed.
  28. descent
    the kinship relation between an individual and progenitors
    Kings made tombs more splendid than houses of the living, and counted old names in the rolls of their descent dearer than the names of sons.
  29. elixir
    a substance believed to cure all ills
    Childless lords sat in aged halls musing on heraldry; in secret chambers withered men compounded strong elixirs, or in high cold towers asked questions of the stars.
  30. cede
    relinquish possession or control over
    These are the Rohirrim, as we name them, masters of horses, and we ceded to them the fields of Calenardhon that are since called Rohan; for that province had long been sparsely peopled.
  31. estrange
    arouse hostility or indifference in
    But in Middle-earth Men and Elves became estranged in the days of darkness, by the arts of the Enemy, and by the slow changes of time in which each kind walked further down their sundered roads.
  32. dissemble
    make believe with the intent to deceive
    He could dissemble and resist no longer.
  33. pert
    characterized by a lightly saucy or impudent quality
    ‘A pert servant, Master Samwise. But nay: the praise of the praiseworthy is above all rewards. Yet there was naught in this to praise. I had no lure or desire to do other than I have done.’
  34. nape
    the back side of the neck
    A large strong hand took him in the nape of the neck and pinned him.
  35. dank
    unpleasantly cool and humid
    A very miserable creature he looked, dripping and dank, smelling of fish (he still clutched one in his hand); his sparse locks were hanging like rank weed over his bony brows, his nose was snivelling.
  36. faithless
    having the character of a traitor; disloyal
    But I promised that if he came to me, he should not be harmed. And I would not be proved faithless.
  37. entreat
    ask for or request earnestly
    This doom shall stand for a year and a day, and then cease, unless you shall before that term come to Minas Tirith and present yourself to the Lord and Steward of the City. Then I will entreat him to confirm what I have done and to make it lifelong.
  38. canker
    a fungal disease of woody plants that damages the bark
    ‘No, not altogether wicked,’ said Frodo.
    'Not wholly, perhaps,’ said Faramir; ‘but malice eats it like a canker, and the evil is growing. He will lead you to no good...'
  39. troth
    a solemn pledge of fidelity
    For it seems less evil to counsel another man to break troth than to do so oneself, especially if one sees a friend bound unwitting to his own harm.
  40. espy
    catch sight of
    Do not approach their citadel. You will be espied. It is a place of sleepless malice, full of lidless eyes.
Created on Mon Feb 05 16:13:20 EST 2018 (updated Wed Feb 21 09:33:45 EST 2018)

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