Middle-Earth's Secrets: Tolkien's Lord of the Rings- The Two Towers

This features a detailed analysis of the underlying themes of this great epic, Tolkien's sources and influences, and the languages of Middle-Earth. It shed light on Gandalf and the rest of the Fellowship and takes an insightful look at Orcs, Ents, Elves, Dwarves and others. 3-D mapping techniques illuminate the world of Middle-Earth, based on Tolkien's original drawings and texts. Visit Fangorn Forest, the stronghold of Helm's Deep, Saruman's fortress of Isengard, and the lands of Rohan and Mordor. Trace the journeys of the characters day by day, unravel intricacies of the plot, and hear Michael Stanton- the world's leading Tolkien authority- explain why The Lord of the Rings has always been so popular.

[@aaron3890]

Although this isn't one of the most professional productions out there, there are some great insights that enlighten the viewer to some key themes in LOTR (the book, not the movies) as well as their possible origins within the mind of the writer. A Middle-earth fan will find this enjoyable. Thanks for posting this!

[@benhuether5474]

This is almost as entertaining as the movies because it goes over all the details in Tolkien's masterpiece.

[@Jakegothicsnake]

Cannot believe that Dwalin is hosting this! By Jove, I'll be jiggered! lol

[@matthewmann8969]

I like how in this adaptation both in The Books and Movies that we got more into the story of Smeagol and Gollum and how there personalities differ in so many ways. Also how The Ring Wraiths fly on these hell beasts instead of horses like in Fellowship Of The Ring In The Two Towers it really shows how more bad ass of a villain Saruman is Christopher Lee rest in peace did a wonderful job playing him such a intimidating voice with some creepy facial emoting. Also the battle scenes where even better then the first I would say so much more fight sequences to add to the film. The Novels of course have even more they should make a Comic Book/ Graphic Novel Adaptation of this as well.

[@matthewmann8969]

Josh AndroidDeveloper True but with lots of hard work it could be done.

[@strokex1]

well done. It stood by and found reasonable reasons why it went into different directions such as the wars and jr Tolken's experiences with them. I loved the books.

[@maksphoto78]

There is heavy metal music in this documentary!? Incredible :)

[@KryssLaBryn]

maksphoto78 Sounded like an attempt at Pink Floyd to me, which is still an odd choice.

[@mollymolly3285]

i love how he got mushrooms that came in the mail that went bad I know someone sent him dried boomers. dude this book is awesome im totally sending this writer some dried magic mushrooms.

[@AntPDC]

Interesting documentary which provides many insights. Odd, rather inappropriate, musical choices.

[@skellingtonmeteoryballoon]

This is so fun, i am pleased to watch this. thanks for uploading .

[@derekweinerttv4163]

Imagine all the Great books never written by authors who died in war

[@IStehSHIT]

around 30 minutes in I find it obvious that that old geezer had decided to youse the dark force himself, so much that he loses himself in the moment

[@Tiger74147]

+Film Yeah he consistently "misses it" in these documentaries.

[@republikadugave420]

What a gem

[@2Granule]

Not as good as part one: Middle-Earth's Secrets: Tolkien's Lord of the Rings- The Fellowship of the Ring. I agree with AntPDC on odd music choices.

[@toprightchannel3080]

Yeah, part 1 is a really solid piece.

[@RoyalGuardEziode]

the clock that was slightly faded had some anglo-saxons on it that wasn't really numbers, i also remember in the movies that the broken sword that Aragorn has after being repaired, had anglo saxons, and all i could make up out of it was gibberish, i can read anglo-saxons somewhat, but i couldn't really make out what it says on the sword

[@thomp5347]

Sorry, but what do you mean by 'Anglo-Saxons'? Surely you actually mean Anglo-Saxon lettering/runes... Not the people, which is what your poor grammar implied. If you can barely write Modern English, how can you transcribe Old English?

[@RoyalGuardEziode]

When did i say that Anglo-Saxon runes is a race? How did i even refer to people? I was just saying that there was also anglo-saxon runes on Aragorn's sword in the movie, but the letters that they make up in English is all scrambled. If someone had poor English because they lived in a country that doesn't even speak English, would you flip out on them? And I have seen many people on youtube that you cannot understand that is a lot worse than myself. I wrote the original comment at like 1:00 am. If you're so demented that you can't piece together what i was trying to say, then stay out of it. I never even mentioned people in the original comment.

[@SCHMALLZZZ]

"the clock has anglo saxons on it" what are you talking about dude? Anglo Saxons are an ethnic group of Deutschlanders that migrated to Britian, I don't see any Germans on the clock, or the sword...

[@RoyalGuardEziode]

Alec Schmall Anglo Saxon runes are a written language

[@WMalven]

What appeared in that ghastly film is completely irrelevant. The film has no literary authority; it is a manifestation of Peter Jackson's imagination and much of the narrative was rewritten to suit him

[@WOLFROY47]

thank god they included curry, who for me, spotted what was important about the books, ive learnt to block out, the unnecessary background music

[@HazmatSuitUp]

My god, some of these pronunciations are killing me. Saw-ron Sirith-Ungle Mynas-Tirith. For a documentary on a work that was primarily inspired by language, and formed around those therein, they seem not to have done much research on the pronunciations of the words of these languages. Other than that though, I've been enjoying these.

[@RobertLocksley385]

Read the appendices at the end of "Return of the King". Therein you will find the explanation of the pronunciation.

[@HazmatSuitUp]

I've read the notes on the pronunciation, which is why I know that these are wrong.

[@KaathariaRandall]

Sirith-Ungle.. that's just horrible, it always makes me cringe to hear when people do that, especially when people say 'seleborn' haha

[@RobertLocksley385]

Watch Ralph Bakshi's animated version and resist putting your foot through the telly at the atrocious pronunciation, just to get around paying for the rights to it all.

[@HazmatSuitUp]

Adam Welton That film was hilarious though. I died when Aragorn trips over his sword scabbard. But yeah it was terrible.

[@pwmiles56]

48:40, "as easy to influence as a Bandersnatch" -- CSL. Then we are back to Beowulf, fascists, atom bomb, etc. Actually influences are there to find e.g. Keats, Milton, Bunyan, Robert Browning. Elbereth=Athene, Nazgul=Furies (both from Aeschylus' Eumenidae). It doesn't diminish the work IMHO

[@Shodan616]

Does anyone know who created these vibrant and wonderful paintings shown??? cant find the name on my own.

[@pros371]

In the first part of the documentary there is a comment answering this.

[@toasterpastries5811]

If Sam was the most resistant to the Ring's temptation, why wasn't he the ring bearer?

[@derekweinerttv4163]

To fat

[@skellingtonmeteoryballoon]

Its possible his professor was hard on him in challenge of developing a captivating antagonist. It’s a learned skill to capture and maintain the attention span of an audience/reader.

[@KojiCO-ConvinceM]

Where did they get the idea that the ends are not immortal? Seen as Treebeard is the eldest living bean in middle earth. I believe Gandalf explains this in Eisongard to The King before they meet him.

[@giftsvampen]

Is not Tom Bombadill the oldest living bean in ME?

[@KojiCO-ConvinceM]

I believe he claims that himself yes, eldest I am, fatherless, is what he says, and Elrond says something to that effect to during the council. I believe the law there is a little convoluted

[@giftsvampen]

Koji G feels like i need to re-read the books again.

[@KojiCO-ConvinceM]

I must say it has been a long time since I've picked up the books myself too, LOL, since the films came out I have put down the books for too long I think.

[@KojiCO-ConvinceM]

Greet this theory about Tom Bombadil, it's extremely intriguing especially the ending LOL km-515.livejournal.com/1042.html

[@lillpillper]

that Patrick Curry says Very interesting and thoughtful things. I would like to have a chat with him.

[@BrutalizeURf4ce]

Not only was Tolkien not a fascist, I would place him much closer to some type of libertarian, or anarchist.

[@RobertLocksley385]

The Nazi ambassador in London sent an emissary to Tolkien offering publication of "The Hobbit" in Germany if Tolkien admitted that his works were about Aryan Germanism and all that was good about it. This was Adolf's idea at the insistence of Goebbels and Von Ribbentrop, but as usual they had no idea that most of his works were written during and after the Great War, and that JRRT lost many friends during that terrible crusade against tyranny. Suffice to say that he told them in no uncertain terms to get stuffed, and so the pig-ignorant, selfish and unimaginative Nazis put him on their "list", the one they held for use against people they didn't like and sent to their death camps after a successful conquest (such as Noel Coward, Evelyn Waugh, anyone with the surname "Churchill" and all Jews and homosexuals). JRRT didn't care who you were or where you came from, as long as you despised evil and loved knowledge in the name of freedom. You lot really need to read his other works, especially those he wrote as a Don at Oxford.

[@sethisawesome]

Adam Welton You lot?

[@RobertLocksley385]

Everyone who isn't familiar with his other work. Sorry, went off a bit at the end there!

[@Letmegetthatforyou]

Adam Welton He wrote this to the german publisher(this one of the two drafts he wrote): "Dear Sirs, Thank you for your letter. .... I regret that I am not clear as to what you intend by arisch. I am not of Aryan extraction: that is Indo-iranian; as far as I am aware none of my ancestors spoke Flindustani, Persian, Gypsy, or any related dialects. But if I am to understand that you are enquiring whether I am of Jewish origin, I can only reply that I regret that I appear to have no ancestors of that gifted people. My great-great-grandfather came to England in the eighteenth century from Germany: the main part of my descent is therefore purely English, and I am an English subject - which should be sufficient. I have been accustomed, nonetheless, to regard my German name with pride, and continued to do so throughout the period of the late regrettable war, in which I served in the English army. I cannot, however, forbear to comment that if impertinent and irrelevant inquiries of this son are to become the rule in matters of literature, then the time is not far distant when a German name will no longer be a source of pride. Your enquiry is doubtless made in order to comply with the laws of your own country, but that this should be held to apply to the subjects of another state would be improper, even if it had (as it has not) any bearing whatsoever on the merits of my work or its suitability for publication, of which you appear to have satisfied yourselves without reference to my Abstammung. I trust you will find this reply satisfactory, and remain yours faithfully J. R. R. Tolkien."

[@Letmegetthatforyou]

***** Well tell that to Mr. Tolkien who I quoted..

[@TallManVanitas]

54:39 Peter Jackson's trilogy disagrees.

[@hglundahl]

50:15 "in their totalitarian aspirations, Sauron and Saruman bear a startling resemblance to Hitler and Mussolini" Well, what about Lenin, Trotski, Stalin? Or even more, the Pharaos or Sennacherib III? THAT is totalitarian. Even Lenin and Stalin tried to give some resemblance to freedoms, though very unequally between Christians and Jews, in disfavour or Christians in the one case and in disfavour of both (except briefly Christians) in the other. But to call Mussolini totalitarian, while he started off rescuing Italy from a Lenin-like totalitarianism and only slowly degenerated into a very shadowy resemblance of what he had started fighting - he's more comparable to Denethor. And to Denethor's failure, when he fails.

[@Tripserpentine]

+Hans-Georg Lundahl No, stop your capitalistic propaganda, Stalin yes, Trotski and Lenin were not dictators or totalitarian. I think you'd could set any US president as Saruman, started of with the right ideas but in the end corrupted by power and busy destroying the world.

[@hglundahl]

Trotski not totalitarian? Massive killings of priests not totalitarian? Lenin not totalitarian? Forcing ALL to school among chioldren and populace, but forcing away ALL monks and priests from teaching positions, somehow that is not totalitarrian? Stealing land and forcing all (both landless and former land owners) to collective farms (and Stalin for some time ameliorated this by NEP) is in your book NOT totalitarian? Well, I think it is. That said, I am not a fan of most US Presidents, Ronald Reagan excepted.

[@Tripserpentine]

Hans-Georg Lundahl the clergy and nobility were the totalitarians in those days Lenin and Trotsky freed the people from the serfdom they were in, saved the poor farmers (as 90 percent of the populace was) from dying from hunger and extortion by their rulers. the land they stole, was land from nobility who were keeping the populace enslaved. Eastern Europe never really came out of feudalism until Lenin and Trotsky toppled the Czars, Clergy and Nobility. The Priest and monks you talk about are mostly from Nobel and Rich Blood, Divine Rulers with power and force. Ever heard of absolutism, the ultimate way of totalitarianism but with a medieval flavor. because that is the system Lenin saved the people from. so you could say Lenin is Like Gandalf in freeing Edoras from Sarumans influence. and deposing/breaking the power of Saruman from Isengard and returning it to the people (in this case the Ents and the Forrest).

[@hglundahl]

_"the clergy and nobility were the totalitarians in those days"_ Not agreed. They were the rulers, but less totalitarian, i e interfering less with the lives of people, than Communism has done after them. _"Lenin and Trotsky freed the people from the serfdom they were in"_ Not agreed, Czar Nicolas had abolished serfdom. _"saved the poor farmers (as 90 percent of the populace was) from dying from hunger and extortion by their rulers."_ Not likely that was the situation all over Russia prior to revolution, it is possible it was so inn localities, in East Ukraine (back then Russian) Makhnov may have had some such excuse. The Green Army - i e the farmer's army - in practise divided by joining three different armies. White = Czarist. Red = Trotski. Black = Makhnov. Then Makhnov (black) helped Trotski (red) to eliminate the army of Denikin (white, Czarist). As thanks for that help, Trotski then eliminated Makhnov. "In the aftermath of the defeat of the White Army (Volunteer Army) in the region in November 1920, the Bolsheviks initiated a military campaign against Makhno, which concluded with his escape across the Romanian border in August 1921." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nestor_Makhno Note, not just reds, but ALL FOUR were eliminating starvation among farmers. Denikin was a Czarist, but one who knew what had malfunctioned and put people off under the late Czar. So Red Army beats the White Army that was helping farmers, and the parts of Green Army who had gone White Army, then beats the Black Army that was helping farmers, and the parts of Green Army that had joined Black Army, then takes sole credit for helping farmers. No, Lenin was not a Gandalf. Edoras was as much of a monarchy as Denikinchinska (the territories under Denikin). _"the land they stole, was land from nobility who were keeping the populace enslaved."_ No longer serfs, no, Czar Nicolas had abolished that. They ALSO stole land from free individual enterprise farmers (Kulaks), which there were since the Czar had abolished serfdom. _"Eastern Europe never really came out of feudalism until Lenin and Trotsky toppled the Czars, Clergy and Nobility."_ Never came out of feudalism - what do you mean by feudalism? Gondor was feudalist. Perhaps you mean manorial, as in large landowners keeping most as serfs. Well, the manorial system was varied, and I think most of Eastern Europe it was tolerable. West Ukraine never took Makhnov's stance against landowners - probably because West Ukraine was freer than East Ukraine, or better off materially or both. _"The Priest and monks you talk about are mostly from Nobel and Rich Blood, Divine Rulers with power and force."_ Mostly? So you mean young Stalin was very atypical: "His father was Besarion Jughashvili, a cobbler, while his mother was Ketevan Geladze, a housemaid. As a child, Ioseb was plagued with numerous health issues. He was born with two adjoined toes on his left foot.[13] His face was permanently scarred by smallpox at the age of 7. At age 12, he injured his left arm in an accident involving a horse-drawn carriage, rendering it shorter and stiffer than its counterpart." "Ioseb's father slid into alcoholism, which made him abusive to his family and caused his business to fail. When Ioseb's mother enrolled him into a Greek Orthodox priesthood school against her husband's wishes, Ioseb's enraged father went on a drunken rampage. He was banished from Gori after assaulting the police chief. Besarion moved to Tiflis, leaving his wife and son behind in Gori." "When Ioseb was sixteen, he received a scholarship to attend the Tiflis Spiritual Seminary, the leading Russian Orthodox seminary in Tiflis; the language of instruction was Russian. Despite being trained as a priest, he became an atheist in his first year." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Stalin#Early_life Giuseppe Sarto was also from modest background, his father a postman and his mother a seamstress. He became Pope of Rome and a Saint (not necessarily in that order) and was beatified and canonised as a saint too. Pius X is his Papal name, and now we speak of Saint Pius X. Noble? No. _"Ever heard of absolutism, the ultimate way of totalitarianism but with a medieval flavor. because that is the system Lenin saved the people from."_ Absolute monarchy, for one thing is not Medieval, but Early Modern (late 15th to 17th C., though first stages were in fact still Middle Ages), for another thing is not same thing as totalitarianism. Absolutism is against "freedom of vote" and participation by vote in central power. There was more voting in the Middle Ages than under Louis XIV. Totalitarianism is against personal and religious and family freedoms. And that is what Lenin foisted on people. No, the old élites were not so Modernist as Saruman in his speech to Gandalf, the one related at start of The Two Towers, if I recall correctly. The new élites are, the ones that in Russia Lenin put into power.

[@Tripserpentine]

Hans-Georg Lundahl It was not the will of Lenin that Stalin and such took power and control. and yes a large portion of the Czardom lived under bad circumstances and it is true the Communists improved the living standard, something people tend to disregard. And of course for a revolution or change of system their are going to be victims, no revolution ever has gone without. It is speculated that the reason why socialism became and is still very popular in Eastern Europe because of the fact western Europe in the 17th and 18th century became far more mercantile and thus creating a middle income group outgrowing the nobility and creating a new individualistic way of thinking. In West Europe suddenly the common farmer who struck gold could get governmental positions, Church positions and the same rights as some nobles. In eastern Europe (Polish-Lithuania, ((east) Prussia and Russia) were no major law changes and a lot less to no rights for the common man, power stayed in control of the divine few by bloodline. (same goes for the Russian Orthodox Church) and then back to the Russian revolution with influences of freedom in the west of Europe and loads of other revolution and after years of being extorted by most of the landlords the Russian people together with the marines went to get ''bread'' and a talk with the Czar, the Czar send in the military to gun down the civilians. Thus giving the people all they needed to grab the flag of freedom for the people (as communism in essence wants to be). For Russians Lenin was a savior from the Evil Czars and dukes and bishops owning everything and not giving enough. Without this man everything would've fallen into chaos and despair. Someone needs to rule the masses. Stalin is sadly seen as hero for some, i consider him a fool who raped communism. only good thing about him is he kept Capitalism from taking over all the world.

[@metalgearsolidsnake6978]

Boromir the normal human...

[@hglundahl]

Not ROhirRIM, but roHIRRim (it is a Sindarin and not a Rohan word for them).

[@hglundahl]

Not nooMENNor, but NOOmenor.

[@hglundahl]

34:14 Not IZZ-il-door but ee-SILL-door, again, I think. Anarion was right.

[@hglundahl]

Not MORR-anon, but mor-UNN-on

[@hglundahl]

Not DAGG-or-ladd, but dug-ORR-ludd.

[@hglundahl]

Not MYE-nus MOR-gool, but rather MEE-nuss MORR-gool.

[@FurryAminal]

Mostly Autumn?

[@DankoMe]

did anyone realize that the Graham Mctavish ( actor playing Dwalin in P.jackson trilogy) is actualy reding the story line??? :-D

[@Nastgardaren]

They really insist on comparing Tolkiens work with the World outside... Tolkien himself said that he disliked allegories, and these guys should know it. What exactly do Sauron and Saruman have in common with Hitler and Mussolini? If we are talking ideology, then the numenorians or even the high elves would fit better in with the ideas of purity of race, certainly not the side which is mass-producing cannon fodder....

[@KryssLaBryn]

Wait, lembas is real? Awesome! --And it's sort of like Communion wafers? Then, uh... that may be a waybread of some kind (which has long been a real thing), but that would be closer to cram; it certainly wouldn't be proper lembas. Alas. Ah, well, back to various (very tasty) fan recipes...

[@KryssLaBryn]

Josh AndroidDeveloper For some reason I have a hard time reading Hobbit scenes without craving steak and kidney pie, ha ha.

[@mitchellsmith4690]

Viaticum...food for the final journey...communion...the final communion.

[@WOLFROY47]

they use the term bumpkin, very english, and not the terms hayseed or hillbilly, which amount to the same thing

[@pspboy7]

The radio adaptation (audio book) version seem to retain the proper pronunciation of most of the language of the books.

[@jamesbarker7451]

The Lord Of The Rings!

[@bobbytrumpets]

the background music often envelopes the dialogue. :( poorly mixed

[@timgostomski3852]

Why is Gollum so mess up

[@carpediem1623]

Tim Gostomski Gollum has had possession of the ring for 500 hundred years and it has warped and twisted his soul. The ring has that effect on anyone who possess it.

[@EllieSnakeLady]

What annoys me about this is that the presenter can't pronounce the names of people, places, things properly!

[@skellingtonmeteoryballoon]

How do you identify an avid reader ? some of us were hooked on phonics and influence by ebonics.

[@Salmonman0604]

The music is louder than the information :

[@daedricfork4760]

3:45 what the hell? Ambulance sound? I love some aspects of these documentaries but on other aspects they are completely amateurish

[@mmccrownus2406]

in which the sounds of modern rock music are shown to be far more repulsive than black riders...

[@WOLFROY47]

theres a quandary for you, if everything was created by god, that means, evil was also created by god, just like happiness and sadness, two sides of the same coin, and we, were given free will, to chose our own path, but things had to be kept in balance, just like our planets

[@mitchellsmith4690]

18:15...Orcs...Grishnack lives..

[@WOLFROY47]

there is allegory, power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely, ie should we or shouldnt we, use the ring

[@skellingtonmeteoryballoon]

do you mean giving into temptation for abuse power of position or all power in general ? ( included but not limited to the power to resist temptation or invitation for abuse power)

[@WOLFROY47]

a person that is sure, of their own abilities, doesn't need, to grab for power, to impress others. unfortunately, some people, can never own enough, to make them content ? they must always fight and scheme to get more. these people will never know contentment, and are always uneasy that they will lose something. how is that, a good way to live ? ? ?

[@RapaciousUT]

There's some interesting detail, a lot unfortunate silliness, and really, really bad sound.

[@250frederic]

MEE-Nass Tirith, not My-nass! And Kirith Ungol, not Sirith... This takes away so much credibility which is too bad!

[@dogshitmcunt3410]

+250frederic How do you know how tolkien thought it should be pronounced? but the thing with books is it alows the readers imagination to to decide how a name is pronouced or what people look like. It;s the samme with voldemort most people pronounce it with a T at the end whenn rowling prnounces is vol- de mor . but who cares that the magic of books

[@chap0syoutuification]

+250frederic Min-ass, Not mee nas or my nas.

[@thorbeorn4295]

Get rekt SON!

[@johnmiller7453]

I't's YER-Ass Turdith. Get it right.

[@SnortsOfHappiness]

That paint filter is hideous.

[@maxoropeza7101]

this narrator is saying all the names wrong >:(

[@johnmiller7453]

He's not from around here.

[@BradSpiceFX]

ro-hear-um...

[@mr_dillus]

ro-hear-im...

[@Trevorischillin]

Maybe Americans would have had better editing and music choices

[@albertknabe3713]

Here's the real secret - imgur.com/gallery/Qakrqda It is real. I have found it.

[@deltabilly1]

Wtf is up with this soundtrack

[@michael1345]

interesting narration. Tolkien children sad little hobbits and a testimony to get out of the living room especially an English one. i hated the end credit music, terrible and inappropriate.

[@kewljoi]

Why he has only white characters . not blacks, asian and indian. are they not human. We must resepect our own cultures . that s what it proves

[@Letmegetthatforyou]

Orcs are "asian"(Tolkien describes them as mongol types with "squat, broad, flat-nosed, sallow-skinned, with wide mouths and slant eyes") and Haradrims are dark skinned with black hair.

[@robporter4855]

He wrote the story for the English speaking world, because most of our myths, legends and folklore were pretty much obliterated by the Normans. No offence but the story wasn't written for Indians, Asians or Blacks. Also he wrote it at a time when people could write what they wanted to without having to worry about being called racist if they didn't meet the politically correct requirements that we have today..

[@machopbad]

Gaurav Kohli There were no 'Humans' in Middle-earth. There were the ones they referred to as "Man", but they are not "Human".

[@kllaza9049]

There are no blacks in the land of Middle Earth because these stories are derived entirely from Anglo-saxen, Celtic, and Norse lore!

[@Jayjen35]

***** There are no other races represented in the Middle Earth. It is meant to be a creation story for Brittan. Orcs are not Asian, they are not human, but fell creatures. The Haradrim might be close to Indian people, but again, other than that there are no other people other than Europeans represented.

[@thomasandersonparra3090]

england very diferent at new zealand