Okay, go easy on me: I’ve only just yesterday finished reading “The Two Towers” (and rapidly see myself turning into a Tolkien dork:eek: ). But I can’t quite figure out which two towers the title refers to exactly. Orthanc, Barad-Dur, Minas Morgul, Minas Tirith? My orginal thought was Orthanc & Barad-Dur (especially given the palantir connection), but am I gathering correctly that the two latter cities of Minas Morgul & Minas Tirith also had towers?
Okay, I’m off to start ROTK now.
I think it’s Orthanc and Minas Morgul. At least, those are the two towers drawn on the cover of my copy of the book. 
The movies, on the other hand, clearly refer to Orthanc and Barad-dur as the two towers (Saruman, I think, mentions an “alliance of the Two Towers” early on)
The little “teaser” paragraph at the end of my copy of Fellowship indicates that they are Orthanc and Minas Morgul.
Tolkien never made up his mind: “The Two Towers … can be left ambigous – it might refer to Isengard and Barad-Dur, or Minas Tirith and B[arad-Dur]; or Isengard and Cirith Ungol.” Letter 140, 1953.
It is a fair question.
I think it is Orthanc and the Barad-dur, because the bad guys are working from there.
I would ‘pair’ Minas Morgul with Minas Tirith (as you say they’re both cities).
I’m sorry if this is a weak answer, but I’ve lent my copy of LotR to a friend!
The Two Towers are Orthanc and Minas Morgul.
BTW we are Tolkien geeks, not dorks. Welcome to the club, however.
But how do you know, given Wumpus’ reference?
There’s a note at the end of Fellowship of the Ring that says The Two Towers refers to Orthanc and Minas Morgul. However, I believe that note was written by the publisher, not by Tolkien himself.
Cafe Society desperately needs a ‘sticky’ link to Greenbooks’ Q & A:
[sub]Sooo tired of seeing the same questions…[/sub]
Hey, I’m a Tolkein LOSER geek, thankyouverymuch!
Man. They should have just called it The Four Towers, or better, The N Towers.
av8rmike: Thanks for that link.
When I first read the series, back in junior high, I remember thinking that the two towers referred to were Minas Tirith and Minas Morgul. Looks like Peter Jackson’s interpretation was Orthanc and Barad Dur. Apparently, we were both half right and half wrong.
Orthanc does make sense to me, since Saruman is the primary enemy of Book III. Barad Dur doesn’t make as much sense, since Frodo’s not in Mordor yet in Book IV.
Perhaps a rename is in order. How about Dude, Where’s My Towers? 
Thank you, Achernar. The n Towers…I’ll be chuckling over that one well into next week.
Well that is a good link, but it’s still inconclusive!
Monstre,
you gave me an idea - look for a new thread in Cafe Society!