56 pages • 1 hour read
J. R. R. TolkienReturn of the King
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 1955A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Book 5, Chapters 1-3Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Book 5, Chapter 1 Summary: “Minas Tirith”
Pippin rides with Gandalf on Shadowfax toward Gondor. For much of the journey, Pippin is sleepy and disoriented, paying little attention to Gandalf’s explanations about Gondor. He notices fires burning in the landscape around them, and Gandalf tells him that these are beacons that Gondor uses to call for aid from its allies.
Pippin and Gandalf arrive at Minas Tirith, a beautiful stone city with seven tiers and a central white tower. The guards let them in, and Pippin accidentally mentions Boromir’s death. Gandalf scolds him and tells him that this should only be told to Boromir’s father. However, the guards at the gate seem to have already suspected that Boromir has died. As they are led up the highest tier of the city, Gandalf warns Pippin that the steward of Gondor, Denethor, is a powerful and cunning ruler. He urges Pippin not to mention Frodo’s quest to destroy the Ring or Aragorn’s heritage. As they are led through a courtyard to see Denethor, Pippin sees a dead tree beside a fountain.
Denethor greets Gandalf and Pippin coldly, showing them that he has recovered Boromir’s horn, broken into two. He interrogates Pippin about how Boromir died, and Pippin pledges his service to Denethor to repay the debt he owes Boromir for protecting him. Gandalf is irritated that Denethor only talks to Pippin about Boromir’s fate, rather than discussing the coming war and the news from Rohan. When he and Pippin return to their lodging, however, he tells Pippin that Denethor was subtly fishing for information from him about Aragorn. Gandalf decides that he must find Faramir soon since he is now the heir of Denethor.
Pippin is sent to a guard called Beregond to be trained. Beregond is amused that Pippin is more interested in breakfast and hearty meals than anything else. Beregond reveals that a fleet of enemy ships is approaching the mouth of the Anduin river, but that the beacons were already lit because Denethor seems to possess some form of foresight. As they talk, a Nazgûl passes overheard, bringing with it a feeling of hopelessness and despair. After telling Beregond that he is lonely without his friend Merry, Beregond sends Pippin to meet his son, Bergil. Bergil entertains Pippin and shows him around the city. They watch as reinforcements arrive from other parts of Gondor, but Bergil is dismayed to see that there are fewer men than expected.
Night falls and Pippin returns to his lodging with Gandalf. Gandalf paces, wondering when Faramir will return to the city. Gandalf warns Pippin to expect a summons from Denethor in the morning but says that dawn will not come and darkness will cover the city from then on.
Book 5, Chapter 2 Summary: “The Passing of the Grey Company”
After Pippin and Gandalf depart, Merry feels sad and worried that he will be considered useless and left behind. He rides with Théoden’s army back to Helm’s Deep. Along the way, a company of rangers come to meet them—the Dúnedain, Aragorn’s former companions. One of the rangers, Halbarad, tells Aragorn that they were told to come by Elrond of Rivendell after receiving word that Aragorn would need their help. Elladan and Elrohir, Elrond’s sons, have also joined the Dúnedain and bring Aragorn a message from their father that he must take the Paths of the Dead in order to arrive in Gondor in time to help. Aragorn is troubled by this and secludes himself for the night.
Merry pledges himself to Théoden, who allows him to join the Riders of Rohan as they muster an army to help Gondor. When Aragorn rejoins the group, he appears haggard and tired. After learning that it will take three more days to prepare an army, he decides to leave earlier and journey through the Paths of the Dead with Legolas, Gimli, and the Dúnedain. Éomer is alarmed by this plan, warning Aragorn that this plan may lead to his death. However, Aragorn privately admits that he has used the Palantír to reveal himself to Sauron. Now that Sauron knows that the heir of Elendil and the rightful King of Gondor is returning, he will rush to attack Gondor and potentially make a mistake. Aragorn explains that there was once a kingdom of men who swore an oath to Isildur of Gondor on a stone called Erech but betrayed him and worshipped Sauron instead. Isildur cursed them to linger on until they could fulfill their oath, and their ghosts will fight for Aragorn because he is Isildur’s heir and can lift their curse.
Aragorn’s company returns to Edoras to rest before they attempt to cross the Paths of the Dead. Éowyn greets them and privately asks Aragorn if she can accompany him on his journey through the Paths of the Dead. He refuses her and she tells him that she fears being left behind and confined to the household until she grows old and can no longer do glorious deeds in battle. The next morning, she appears dressed in armor and with a sword, but he refuses her again and departs.
Aragorn leads Legolas, Gimli, and the Dúnedain into the mountains to Dunharrow and then to the door that opens into a subterranean passage. Gimli feels a strange sense of dread and fear, but Aragorn’s strong will inspires the company to enter. Inside of the passage, they find the bones of an ancient king. When they emerge, Elladan and Elrohir sense that an army of ghosts is following them. Aragorn leads the company to the stone of Erech and proclaims himself the heir of Isildur, commanding the dead to aid him in battle to fulfill their oath. The company then enters into the dark storm around Gondor that Sauron has sent, followed by an army of ghosts.
Book 5, Chapter 3 Summary: “The Muster of Rohan”
Théoden’s company leaves Helm’s Deep and rides toward Edoras, traveling through Dunharrow and nearby the Paths of the Dead. Merry notices ancient stone statues in the region, called the Púkel-men, which are relics of the former inhabitants of the landscape. Éowyn comes to meet them and tells them that Aragorn and his companions left to take the Paths of the Dead. Théoden tells Merry a tale about a father and son called Brego and Baldor who once tried to enter the Paths of the Dead. They met an old man at the entrance who told them that the way was shut until the time comes, and when Baldor asked when that time would be, the old man suddenly died. When Baldor attempted to enter the doorway later, he vanished and was never seen again. Merry is worried about Aragorn and all of his other companions, who are in danger.
A messenger arrives from Gondor and Merry is struck by how similar he is to Boromir. The messenger brings Théoden a red arrow sent by Denethor to ask him to come and help Gondor in battle. While Théoden was planning to muster a large army and then travel slowly so that the horses would not be exhausted, the messenger warns him that if he arrives in over a week, he may find Minas Tirith already in ruins. The next morning, the Rohirrim wake to find that a dark cloud is covering the sky. Théoden realizes that this is the storm sent by Mordor and decides to ride faster and with fewer men so that he can reach the battle in time. He tells Merry to stay behind at Edoras since his pony is too small and slow to keep up with the pace of the larger horses. Merry is upset, wishing to fight like the rest of his friends, but Théoden commands him to stay behind.
However, as the army rides away, a rider named Dernhelm takes Merry onto his horse, telling him that as long as he is willing to fight, then they will find a way to get him to the battle. Merry leaves with the army of Rohan, feeling a mounting sense of hopelessness and fear as the battle approaches.
Book 5, Chapters 1-3 Analysis
The beginning of The Return of the King sets up the parallel character arcs of Pippin and Merry, who each pledge themselves to serve one of the nations of men in the war against Sauron. In both cases, the hobbits see themselves as small and mostly useless, although they will prove their great value in future chapters. In the trilogy, Tolkien repeatedly suggests that Good Prevails Over Evil when all seems to be lost, and similarly, that seemingly insignificant characters can change the course of history against impossible odds. Pippin’s experience in Gondor shows him the potential greatness of men and their civilizations but also sets up the potential for men to fail due to the corrupting influence of evil. When Pippin arrives in Minas Tirith, he is impressed by the beauty and grandeur of the city, but he also sees that it appears to be in a state of decline: “Yet it was in truth falling year by year into decay; and already it lacked half the men that could have dwelt at ease there” (736). Similarly, Pippin is intimidated by Denethor, the steward of Gondor, who appears to be a very wise and great leader. However, Pippin also perceives that Denethor is not as impressive as he appears to be on the surface, particularly when Pippin compares him to Gandalf: “Denethor looked indeed much more like a great wizard than Gandalf did. […] Yet by a sense other than sight Pippin perceived that Gandalf had the greater power and the deeper wisdom, and a majesty that was vailed. And he was older, far older” (740). The misleading appearances of Minas Tirith and of Denethor hint that Pippin’s small and insignificant physical appearance will also be subverted, foreshadowing that Pippin will do more to save the city than Denethor will.
Merry remains with the men of Rohan and feels overlooked despite pledging an oath to help Théoden. As he accompanies Théoden’s forces to Helm’s Deep and then to the muster, Merry “felt very small, and he was puzzled and depressed by all these gloomy words. More than ever he missed the unquenchable cheerfulness of Pippin” (762). The small size of the hobbits compared to the vastness of the world seems to parallel their lack of power, notable also when Merry sees the mountains they are crossing and thinks “he loved mountains, or he had loved the thought of them marching on the edge of stories brought from far-away; but now he was borne down by the insupportable weight of Middle-earth. He longed to shut out the immensity in a quiet room by a fire” (774). However, Merry’s humility will later be proven wrong when he helps to defeat a Nazgûl that killed the mighty King Théoden.
Alongside the circumstances of Merry and Pippin, Tolkien also uses the comparison between events in Gondor and Rohan to indicate the contrast between Aragorn and Denethor. While Denethor appears to be very intelligent, cunning, and influential, he is also set up as a flawed leader due to his use of the Palantír. Beregond the guard tells Pippin that “some say that he sits alone in his high chamber in the Tower at night, and bends his thoughts this way and that, he can read somewhat of the future; and that he will at times search even the mind of the Enemy, wrestling with him” (748). Tolkien will continue to use this comparison throughout the novel with the symbol of the White Tree. Under Denethor’s rule, the tree is wilted and dead, representing his poor leadership.
Denethor cannot actually obtain useful information from Sauron or best him in a contest of wills. While Denethor believes he is finding out Sauron’s secrets, he is actually being manipulated into a state of despair. In contrast, Aragorn uses the Palantír to reveal himself to Sauron, effectively using his own existence to bait Mordor into an attack that will help Frodo and Sam to sneak through Mordor’s defenses. Aragorn is also shown to be a stronger leader because he is willing to brave the terrifying Paths of the Dead. Most of the men of Rohan are too frightened to attempt visiting the place, dismissing Aragorn’s quest as futile and saying dismissively “let them go where they belong, into the dark places, and never return. The times are evil enough” (768). Even Gimli and Legolas fear entering the underground Paths of the Dead until Aragorn leads them, with Gimli pointing out the irony that “An Elf will go underground and a Dwarf dare not!” (769) when Legolas goes in ahead of him. Aragorn’s willpower and courage are therefore set up as greater than Denethor’s will prove to be, justifying why he will be a superior leader for Gondor.
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By J. R. R. Tolkien
