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 6, Chapters 1-3Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Book 6, Chapter 1 Summary: “The Tower of Cirith Ungol”
Sam comes to consciousness after being stunned by running into the doors of the Orc tower where Shagrat and Gorbag took Frodo. He decides that he will need to go around to find the front entrance rather than wait for this door to open again. He puts on the Ring to avoid detection, hearing the distant sound of Orcs fighting. He takes the Ring off again as he climbs up the pass so that he will be able to see more clearly. Sam crosses into the land of Mordor. In the distance he sees the volcano Mount Doom where the Ring was forged. As he looks out at Mordor, the Ring begins to tempt him more intensely. Sam imagines himself seizing its power and turning the polluted landscape into a beautiful garden. However, Sam is able to resist the temptation due to his humility and his loyalty to Frodo.
Sam finds the front entrance to the fortress, guarded by two vulture-like stone statues. He finds himself unable to walk between them, stopped by some invisible force. Using the light of the Phial of Galadriel, Sam is able to force his way through, but a bell rings as he does. Sam creeps into the fortress, terrified, but forcing himself to go on by thinking of Frodo. Inside of the fortress, he finds many dead Orcs and deduces that they must have killed each other in a fight. One fleeing Orc runs into him, but it runs away in fear when it sees Sting. Sam is encouraged by this and keeps climbing the tower. He overhears Shagrat talking to a few other surviving Orcs, revealing that the Orcs of Mordor and the Orcs from Minas Morgul fought over who would claim Frodo’s mithril shirt. Shagrat searches the corpses, looking for Gorbag, and eventually finds the mithril shirt. Sam jumps out and scares Shagrat away. He climbs up the tower but finds no sign of Frodo.
Fearing that he is about to be found and killed, Sam sits down and despairs. However, he feels a strange urge to sing. An Orc hears the sound and comes to the tower, thinking that it is Frodo and revealing a hidden trapdoor up to the top floor. Sam follows the Orc up and kills it by throwing its body down from the trapdoor. He finds Frodo naked on the floor, having woken from terrifying dreams. Frodo fears that the quest has failed since they have taken all of his possessions, but Sam reveals that he has the Ring along with Sting and the Phial of Galadriel. Frodo snatches the Ring back, and when Sam offers to help carry the burden, he reacts with anger and paranoia, hallucinating that Sam is a foul and greedy Orc. However, Frodo recovers his senses after a moment and tells Sam more gently that he should not have to suffer the burden of the Ring.
The hobbits dress in Orcish armor and clothing as a disguise and search for the lembas that remained in Frodo’s pack. Sam is worried that they are out of water and seem unlikely to run into any clean source, but Frodo tells him to drink what is left and not worry about the future since they are unlikely to survive. As they pass the watchers at the gates to leave, they once again feel the path blocked. Using the light of the Phial of Galadriel and shouting Elvish words, they are able to pass, but a Nazgûl in the sky above seems to notice them and dives down in pursuit.
Book 6, Chapter 2 Summary: “The Land of Shadow”
Frodo and Sam hide from the Nazgûl and travel through the Morgai mountains. They are very thirsty and have no more water. A patrol of riders comes across a bridge, but they manage to hide by jumping off of the side of the road and into a thicket of thorns. Frodo tells Sam that the Ring is becoming incredibly burdensome and he cannot picture the Shire anymore. He leaves behind his Orc armor because it is too heavy. Eventually, they find a trickle of water that is drinkable, if foul-tasting. They continue to climb down from the Morgai mountains but find it difficult to take a path that does not bring them close to settlements of Sauron’s army. While resting one night, Sam sees a star in the sky overhead and feels his hope return. On another evening, Sam notices that Gollum seems to be following them again.
Frodo and Sam decide to risk taking a road close to a village because they are running out of food and cannot take the longer and safer way through the wilderness. They hide from a pair of Orcs and learn by eavesdropping that they are trackers sent by Shagrat to look for a large Elven warrior and a small Dwarf-like creature who he believes to have been behind the attack on Shelob and the fortress at Cirith Ungol. The Orcs squabble and threaten each other, but Frodo warns Sam that if they are spotted, the Orcs would set aside their internal strife and kill them.
As Frodo and Sam approach the plains of Gorgoroth, they are trapped on the road by an approaching army of Orcs. Using their Orcish armor and clothing to impersonate Orcs, they are forced to march with the army and driven at a fast pace by whips. When another army of Uruk-hai crosses the path of this army, Sam manages to escape with Frodo in the confusion. Frodo is exhausted and cannot even continue to crawl.
Book 6, Chapter 3 Summary: “Mount Doom”
Sam and Frodo rest after marching with the Orc army, but eventually Sam wakes Frodo, and they begin to travel again. Frodo is growing weaker and weaker, but they travel for four days along the road to the plains of Gorgoroth. At that point, they must leave the road and cross a volcanic wasteland full of pits, which allow them to easily hide. During this time, Sauron’s Eye is occupied with watching Aragorn and his army ride from Gondor to the cross-roads.
Sam calculates that they will never be able to make a return journey, and so he and Frodo decide to throw away all of their possessions except for what is necessary. Sam is sad to part with his cooking gear, throwing it into a pit so that Gollum will not steal it. Frodo continues to fall deeper into the power of the Ring, plagued by visions of a ring of fire and swatting at invisible hands trying to grab the Ring as he walks. Sam nearly despairs again but resolves to keep trying until he is dead. When they reach the bottom of Mount Doom, Sam realizes that he does not know how to get to their destination. Frodo is unable to move and so Sam uses the last of his strength and willpower to carry Frodo up the mountain. They find a road that leads into a fissure in the mountain called the Crack of Doom or Sammath Naur.
Gollum attacks them once again, trying to stop Frodo from destroying the Ring. Frodo commands him to leave them alone, appearing suddenly as an imposing lord while Gollum looks utterly pathetic. Frodo runs ahead into the Crack of Doom, leaving Sam to kill Gollum. However, Sam spares Gollum once again out of pity, now understanding the agony that the Ring causes him. Sam follows Frodo into the Crack of Doom and finds Frodo unable to throw the Ring into the fire. Frodo claims the Ring for himself and puts it on, turning invisible. Sauron’s attention abruptly turns to Mount Doom, leaving all of his armies and generals panicking. Sam is knocked to the ground and when he sits up, he sees Gollum wrestling with an invisible Frodo. Gollum bites Frodo’s finger off, finally retrieving the Ring for himself. In his joy, Gollum accidentally steps back too far and falls into the fire, destroying the Ring.
Mount Doom begins to flare up with fire and smoke. Outside, the approaching Nazgûl are caught in the erupting cloud and burn up. Frodo returns to his usual self and lies down beside Sam, telling him that he is glad they are together at the end.
Book 6, Chapters 1-3 Analysis
The conclusion of Frodo and Sam’s quest to destroy the Ring indicates how love and loyalty allow the hobbits to succeed, while the internal strife between their enemies causes Mordor to lose. Initially, Sam is entirely alone and only his love for Frodo motivates him to break into the fortress. Tolkien’s narration foreshadows how the bonds of the Fellowship are not yet broken, although they are physically separated: “amid all their cares and fear the thoughts of their friends turned constantly to Frodo and Sam. They were not forgotten. But they were far beyond aid, and no thought could yet bring any help to Samwise Hamfast’s son; he was utterly alone” (877). While Sam’s allies cannot help him to rescue Frodo, their shared purpose and loyalty is unknowingly helping him, as Sauron is distracted by Aragorn’s army. In contrast, internal conflict between the Orcs allows Sam to successfully rescue Frodo, exemplifying the theme of Good Prevails Over Evil. A fight breaks out in the fortress which the commander Shagrat blames on another Orc, Gorbag, trying to “pinch that pretty shirt” (885), meaning Frodo’s mithril armor. The greed and petty jealousy of Sauron’s followers negates their advantage in strength and numbers because they turn on each other.
During these chapters, the Ring begins to exert such a powerful evil influence over Frodo that he is only able to continue because of Sam. Frodo admits that he does not think they can succeed and carrying the Ring proves to be an increasingly terrible mental and physical burden because “as it grew near the great furnaces where, in the deeps of time, it had been shaped and forged, the Ring’s power grew, and it became more fell, untameable save by some mighty will” (880). With the Ring growing increasingly detrimental to Frodo, he admits to Sam “no taste of food, no feel of water, no sound of wind, no memory of tree or grass or flower, no image of moon or star are left to me. I am naked in the dark, Sam, and there is no veil between me and the wheel of fire” (916). In this condition, Frodo cannot complete the quest alone.
Sam helps to physically carry him up the slopes of Mount Doom. Sam is not carrying the Ring, and so Sam’s willpower to continue is stronger. While Sam also realizes that they will probably sacrifice their lives in the attempt, he makes peace with his choice, thinking that “he knew all the arguments of despair and would not listen to them. His will was set, and only death would break it” (919). Frodo and Sam overcome the last and most difficult part of their journey because of their trust and love for one another, with Frodo taking on the burden of the Ring and Sam assuming the responsibility of bringing Frodo to the Crack of Doom. Without Sam’s enduring desire to fight for survival, Frodo would have died in the Crack of Doom, since it is Sam who will inspire him to stagger outside where he can be rescued by the Eagles.
Frodo and Sam’s loyalty to each other brings them to the end of their quest, where they are once again unexpectedly helped by the internal divisions of their Enemies. It is Gollum’s desire for the Ring that ironically destroys the Ring, as he steals it from Frodo and in so doing accidentally falls into Mount Doom. The conclusion of the quest portrays how the loyalty of the Fellowship combined with the selfishness of evil results in an unlikely victory for good.
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