SOURCE: Chance, Jane. “Knowledge, Language, and Power: The Two Towers.” In The Lord of the Rings: The Mythology of Power, rev. ed., pp. 59-94. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 2001.

In the following essay, Chance examines the effects of the characters' relative level of articulateness in The Two Towers.

Language and Being

The Two Towers, [Towers] as much as any of the three parts of The Lord of the Rings, [LotR] dramatizes the power of language to change, control, dominate—and release. The diminution of intelligent life subverted by its own desires is reflected in the simple baby talk of Gollum to his Ring, his “Precious.” And the elevation of intelligent life to supernatural being—the Elves—is similarly reflected in their language and song, their ability as Namers, their hold on the past: “Elves made all the old words” (2:85). Between these two extremes appear other species and types...