Book 3

The following passages have been ‘tagged’ based on the following categories:

• GARMENTS, JEWELRY, ARTIFACTS (such as common tools, tableware, containers, belts, pouches, &c.), LIGHTING, FURNITURE, Warfare-related (WEAPONS, ARMOR, TACTICS, other MILITARY matters—troop strength &c.), FOOD (cooked) & DRINK, ARCHITECTURE, ECONOMICS &LIVELIHOODS (including LIVESTOCK), FLORA (including herbs & foraged foods), FAUNA (including non-working animals), MATERIALS (fabrics, metals, & wood—including TREES), CULTURAL/SOCIAL, TRAVEL & TRANSPORTATION, PHYSICAL descriptions

The Lord of the Rings, Book III The Treason of Isengard, Chapter 1: The Departure of Boromir:

“...Aragorn saw that [Boromir] was pierced with many black-feathered arrows…” WEAPONS; ORCS; 3A

“[Aragorn] picked out of the pile of grim weapons two knives, leaf-bladed, damasked in gold and red; and searching further he found also the sheaths, black, set with small red gems.” WEAPONS; ARNOR; BREE-LAND; BARROW-DOWNS; MEN; 3A These are Merry & Pippin’s ‘swords’ from the Barrow-downs—because Galadriel only gave them belts.

“…Aragorn looked on the slain, and he said: 'Here lie many that are not folk of Mordor. Some are from the North, from the Misty Mountains, if I know anything of Orcs and their kinds. And here are others strange to me. Their gear is not after the manner of Orcs at all!' There were four goblin-soldiers of greater stature, swart, slant-eyed, with thick legs and large hands. They were armed with short board-bladed swords, not with the curved scimitars usual with orcs; and they had bows of yew, in length and shape like the bows of Men. Upon their shields they bore a strange device: a small white hand in the centre of a black field; on the front of their iron helms was set an S-rune, wrought of some strange metal.” WEAPONS; PHYSICAL; MATERIALS; TREES; ISENGARD; ORCS; 3A

“Now they laid Boromir in the middle of the boat that was to bear him away. The grey hood and elven-cloak they folded and placed beneath his head. They combed his long dark hair and arrayed it upon his shoulders. The golden belt of Lorien gleamed about his waist. His helm they set beside him, and across his lap they laid the cloven horn and the hilts and shards of his sword; beneath his feet they put the swords of his enemies” GARMENTS; JEWELRY; ARTIFACTS; WEAPONS; ARMOR; LOTHLORIEN; GONDOR; MEN; 3A Boromir wore a helmet?!?!?--incredible that this is its first and only mention

“‘Do any folk dwell in [the western Emyn Muil]?’ ‘No’, said Aragorn. ‘The Rohirrim seldom come here, and it is far from Minas Tirith. It might be that some company of Men were hunting here for reasons that we do not know. Yet I think not.’” ECON; TRAVEL; ROHAN; MEN; 3A

“Every now and again the pursuers found things that had been dropped or cast away: food-bags, the rinds and crusts of hard grey bread, a torn black cloak, a heavy iron-nailed shoe broken on the stones.” ARTIFACTS; FOOD; GARMENTS; ISENGARD; ORCS; 3A

“The dwellings of the Rohirrim were for the most part many leagues away to the South, under the wooded eaves of the White Mountains… yet the Horse-lords had formerly kept many herds and studs in the Eastemnet, this easterly region of their realm, and there the herdsmen had wandered much, living in camp and tent, even in winter-time.” ECON; LIVESTOCK; TRAVEL; ROHAN; MEN; 3A

The Lord of the Rings, Book III The Treason of Isengard, Chapter 2: The Riders of Rohan:

“[Aragorn] held up a thing that glittered in the sunlight. It looked like the new-opened leaf of a beech-tree, fair and strange in that treeless plain. ‘The brooch of an elven-cloak!’ cried Legolas and Gimli together.” PHYSICAL; JEWELRY; LOTHLORIEN; ELVES; 3A

“…the third day of their pursuit began. During all its long hours of cloud and fitful sun they hardly paused, now striding, now running, as if no weariness could quench the fire that burned them.” TRAVEL; MEN; ELVES; DWARVES; 3A This sounds very much like 'scout pace' running!

“Their horses were of great stature, strong and clean-limbed; their grey coats glistened, their long tails flowed in the wind, their manes were braided on their proud necks. The Men that rode them matched them well: tall and long-limbed; their hair, flaxen-pale, flowed under their light helms, and streamed in long braids behind them; their faces were stern and keen. In their hands were tall spears of ash, painted shields were slung at their backs, long swords were at their belts, their burnished shirts of mail hung down upon their knees. …every now and then one rose in his stirrups and gazed ahead and to either side…” PHYSICAL; TREES; WEAPONS; ARMOR; ARTIFACTS; TRAVEL; ROHAN; MEN; 3A

“A thicket of spears were pointed towards the strangers; and some of the horsemen had bows in hand, and their arrows were already fitted to the string. Then one rode forward, a tall man, taller than all the rest; from his helm as a crest a white horsetail flowed.” ARMOR; WEAPONS; ROHAN; MEN; 3A

“…here and there they passed single Orcs, fallen in their tracks as they ran, with grey-feathered arrows sticking in back or throat.” WEAPONS; ROHAN; MEN; 3A

“A little way beyond the battle-field they made their camp under a spreading tree…Gimli shivered. They had brought only one blanket apiece.” TRAVEL; ARTIFACTS; 3A Remember that the Hunters had their elf-cloaks as well.

“The horses were gone. They had dragged their pickets and disappeared.” TRAVEL; 3A

The Lord of the Rings, Book III The Treason of Isengard, Chapter 3: The Uruk-Hai:

“‘…leave us to foot it as best we can through the Horse-country. No, we must stick together. These lands are dangerous: full of foul rebels and brigands.'” CULTURAL; ROHAN; MEN; 3A Unsure if there are really unsavory folk in Rohan, or if this is just the Uruks’ stereotype of the Rohirrim.

“…Ugluk's followers leaped over him and cut down another with their broad-bladed swords. It was the yellow-fanged guard. His body fell right on top of Pippin, still clutching its long saw-edged knife. …The edge of the black knife had snicked his arm, and then slid down to his wrist. He felt the blood trickling on to his hand, but he also felt the cold touch of steel against his skin.” WEAPONS; MATERIALS; ISENGARD; ORCS; 3A

“Ugluk thrust a flask between [Pippin’s] teeth and poured some burning liquid down his throat: he felt a hot fierce glow flow through him. The pain in his legs and ankles vanished. … Pippin saw [Ugluk] go to Merry, who was lying close by, and kick him. Merry groaned. Seizing him roughly Ugluk pulled him into a sitting position, and tore the bandage off his head. Then he smeared the wound with some dark stuff out of a small wooden box. Merry cried out and struggled wildly. … He was healing Merry in orc-fashion; and his treatment worked swiftly. …The gash in his forehead gave him no more trouble, but he bore a brown scar to the end of his days.” ARTIFACTS; DRINK; MEDICINE; ISENGARD; ORCS; 3A

“[Pippin’s] head swam, but from the heat in his body he guessed that he had been given another draught [of orc-liquor]. An Orc stooped over him, and flung him some bread and a strip of raw dried flesh. He ate the stale grey bread hungrily, but not the meat. He was famished but not yet so famished as to eat flesh flung to him by an Orc, the flesh of he dared not guess what creature.” “The hobbits were left with the Isengarders: a grim dark band, four score at least of large, swart, slant-eyed Orcs with great bows and short broad-bladed swords. A few of the larger and bolder Northerners remained with them.” FOOD; DRINK; WEAPONS; PHYSICAL; ISENGARD; ORCS; 3A

“At that moment Pippin saw why some of the troop had been pointing eastward. From that direction there now came hoarse cries, and there was Grishnakh again, and at his back a couple of score of others like him: long-armed crook-legged Orcs. They had a red eye painted on their shields.” PHYSICAL; ARMOR; MORDOR; ORCS; 3A

“'We must be off,' he said. 'Half a moment!' Grishnakh's sword was lying close at hand, but it was too heavy and clumsy for him to use; so he crawled forward, and finding the body of the goblin he drew from its sheath a long sharp knife. With this he quickly cut their bonds.” WEAPONS; MORDOR; ORCS; 3A

“Far over the Great River, and the Brown Lands, leagues upon grey leagues away, the Dawn came, red as flame. Loud rang the hunting-horns to greet it. The Riders of Rohan sprang suddenly to life. Horn answered horn again. Merry and Pippin heard, clear in the cold air, the neighing of war-horses, and the sudden singing of many men.” CULTURAL; WAR; ROHAN; MEN; 3A

“Then when they had laid their fallen comrades in a mound and had sung their praises, the Riders made a great fire and scattered the ashes of their enemies.” CULTURAL; ROHAN; MEN; 3A

The Lord of the Rings, Book III The Treason of Isengard, Chapter 4: Treebeard:

“They found that they were looking at a most extraordinary face. It belonged to a large Man-like, almost Troll-like, figure, at least fourteen foot high, very sturdy, with a tall head, and hardly any neck. Whether it was clad in stuff like green and grey bark, or whether that was its hide, was difficult to say. At any rate the arms, at a short distance from the trunk, were not wrinkled, but covered with a brown smooth skin. The large feet had seven toes each. The lower part of the long face was covered with a sweeping grey beard, bushy, almost twiggy at the roots, thin and mossy at the ends. But at the moment the hobbits noted little but the eyes. These deep eyes were now surveying them, slow and solemn, but very penetrating. They were brown, shot with a green light.” PHYSICAL; ENTS; 1A; 2A; 3A

“But the Entwives gave their minds to the lesser trees, and to the meads in the sunshine beyond the feet of the forests; and they saw the sloe in the thicket, and the wild apple and the cherry blossoming in spring, and the green herbs in the waterlands in summer, and the seeding grasses in the autumn fields.” FOOD; TREES; ?A

“'Yes!' said Pippin. 'I know what you mean. There might be all the difference between an old cow sitting and thoughtfully chewing, and a bull charging; and the change might come suddenly. I wonder if Treebeard will rouse them.” LIVESTOCK; SHIRE; HOBBITS; 3A Although this is (aside from Frodo's song at Bree) the hobbits' only reference to bovine animals, the use of thoughtful simile suggests that they are probably quite familiar with them.

“Skinbark lived on the mountain-slopes west of Isengard. That is where the worst trouble has been. He was wounded by the Orcs, and many of his folk and his tree-herds have been murdered and destroyed. He has gone up into the high places, among the birches that he loves best, and he will not come down.” TREES; ROHAN; FANGORN; 3A (west-slopes of southern Misty Mtns)

“[Treebeard] strode away southwards along the feet of great tumbled slopes where trees were scanty. Above these the hobbits saw thickets of birch and rowan, and beyond them dark climbing pinewoods.” TREES; ROHAN; FANGORN; 3A

“It was smooth and grassclad inside, and there were no trees except three very tall and beautiful silver-birches that stood at the bottom of the bowl.” TREES; ROHAN; FANGORN; 3A Entmoot

“The Ents went striding on at a great pace. They had descended into a long fold of the land that fell away southward; now they began to climb up, and up, on to the high western ridge. The woods fell away and they came to scattered groups of birch, and then to bare slopes where only a few gaunt pine-trees grew. The sun sank behind the dark hill-back in front. Grey dusk fell.” TREES; ROHAN; ISENGARD; FANGORN; 3A Methedras

The Lord of the Rings, Book III The Treason of Isengard, Chapter 5: The White Rider:

“‘And here is the knife that cut them!’ said Gimli. He stooped and drew out of a tussock, into which some heavy foot had trampled it, a short jagged blade. The haft from which it had been snapped was beside it. ‘It was an orc-weapon,’ he said, holding it gingerly, and looking with disgust at the carved handle: it had been shaped like a hideous head with squinting eyes and leering mouth.” WEAPONS; MORDOR; ORCS; 3A If this is Grishnakh’s knife, and it is of Mordor-make, how indicative is it of goods from there? Is this an example of orc ‘trench art’? Also, when Pippin finds it, the knife is “long” but here Gimli finds a “short jagged blade” snapped from its handle. Short blade + long handle = long knife?

“…it is a comfort to know that [Pippin] had some lembas in his pocket, even though he ran away without gear or pack; that, perhaps, is like a hobbit.” GARMENTS; CULTURAL; SHIRE; HOBBITS; 3A

“Legolas took his bow and bent it, slowly and as if some other will resisted him. He held an arrow loosely in his hand but did not fit it to the string.” WEAPONS; ELVES; 3A As we have seen before, Legolas does not travel with his bow strung, but strings it when needed.

“The heart of Legolas was running under the stars of a summer night in some northern glade amid the beech-woods…” TREES; RHOVANION; MIRKWOOD; 3A

The Lord of the Rings, Book III The Treason of Isengard, Chapter 6: The King of the Golden Hall:

“Thus spoke a forgotten poet long ago in Rohan, … So men still sing in the evening.'” CULTURAL (Musical); ROHAN; MEN; 3A

“'Truly,' said Aragorn. 'And I would do as the master of the house bade me, were this only a woodman's cot…” ECON; CULTURAL; MEN; 3A

“There sat many men in bright mail, who sprang at once to their feet and barred the way with spears.” ARMOR; WEAPONS; ROHAN; MEN; 3A

“The dark gates were swung open. … They found a broad path, paved with hewn stones, now winding upward, now climbing in short flights of well-laid steps. Many houses built of wood and many dark doors they passed. Beside the way in a stone channel a stream of clear water flowed, sparkling and chattering. At length they came to the crown of the hill. There stood a high platform above a green terrace, at the foot of which a bright spring gushed from a stone carved in the likeness of a horse's head; beneath was a wide basin from which the water. spilled and fed the falling stream. Up the green terrace went a stair of stone, high and broad, and on either side of the topmost step were stone-hewn seats. There sat other guards, with drawn swords laid upon their knees. Their golden hair was braided on their shoulders, the sun was blazoned upon their green shields, their long corslets were burnished bright, and when they rose taller they seemed than mortal men.” ARCHITECTURE; MATERIALS; PHYSICAL; ARMOR; ROHAN; MEN; 3A This is the second time the Rohirrim are described as wearing ‘burnished’ armor – can chainmail be burnished? Is this scale or lamellar armor? Scales of bronze? Iron? Leather? Laminated linen?

“Then Legolas gave into his hand his silver-hafted knife, his quiver, and his bow.” WEAPONS; MIRKWOOD; ELVES; 3A

“Slowly Aragorn unbuckled his belt and himself set his sword upright against the wall.” ARTIFACTS; MEN; 3A

“The guards now lifted the heavy bars of the doors and swung them slowly inwards grumbling on their great hinges. The travellers entered. Inside it seemed dark and warm after the clear air upon the hill. The hall was long and wide and filled with shadows and half lights; mighty pillars upheld its lofty roof. But here and there bright sunbeams fell in glimmering shafts from the eastern windows, high under the deep eaves. Through the louver in the roof, above the thin wisps of issuing smoke, the sky showed pale and blue. As their eyes changed, the travellers perceived that the floor was paved with stones of many hues; branching runes and strange devices intertwined beneath their feet. They saw now that the pillars were richly carved, gleaming dully with gold and half-seen colours. Many woven cloths were hung upon the walls, and over their wide spaces marched figures of ancient legend, some dim with years, some darkling in the shade. Now the four companions went forward, past the clear wood-fire burning upon the long hearth in the midst of the hall. Then they halted. At the far end of the house, beyond the hearth and facing north towards the doors, was a dais with three steps; and in the middle of the dais was a great gilded chair.” ARCHITECTURE; MATERIALS; FURNITURE; ROHAN; MEN; 3A

“Slowly the old man rose to his feet, leaning heavily upon a short black staff with a handle of white bone; and now the strangers saw that, bent though he was, he was still tall and must in youth have been high and proud indeed.” ARTIFACTS; MATERIALS; ROHAN; MEN; 3A

“Hama knelt and presented to Theoden a long sword in a scabbard clasped with gold and set with green gems. 'Here, lord, is Herugrim, your ancient blade'…” WEAPONS; JEWELRY; ROHAN; MEN; 3A

“Go! You have yet time to clean the rust from your sword.’” MATERIALS; WEAPONS; ROHAN; MEN; 3A

“… such things as may be found in my armoury. Swords you do not need, but there are helms and coats of mail of cunning work, gifts to my fathers out of Gondor. Choose from these ere we go, and may they serve you well!' Now men came bearing raiment of war from the king's hoard and they arrayed Aragorn and Legolas in shining mail. Helms too they chose, and round shields: their bosses were overlaid with gold and set with gems, green and red and white. Gandalf took no armour; and Gimli needed no coat of rings, even if one had been found to match his stature, for there was no hauberk in the hoards of Edoras of better make than his short corslet forged beneath the Mountain in the North. But he chose a cap of iron and leather that fitted well upon his round head; and a small shield he also took. It bore the running horse, white upon green, that was the emblem of the House of Eorl.” ARMOR; MATERIALS; GONDOR; ROHAN; EREBOR; MEN; DWARVES; 3A Note that not only do Aragorn and Legolas wear helms for the Hornburg battle, Gimli has not worn a helmet before this point!

“Alone Eowyn stood before the doors of the house at the stair's head; the sword was set upright before her, and her hands were laid upon the hilt. She was clad now in mail and shone like silver in the sun.” WEAPONS; ARMOR; ROHAN; MEN; 3A

Gimli walked with Legolas, his axe on his shoulder.” WEAPONS; EREBOR; 3A Gimli’s axe long-handled?

“At the gate they found a great host of men, old and young, all ready in the saddle. More than a thousand were there mustered. Their spears were like a springing wood.” MILITARY; WEAPONS; ROHAN; MEN; 3A

The Lord of the Rings, Book III The Treason of Isengard, Chapter 7: Helm’s Deep:

“‘Isengard must be emptied; and Saruman has armed the wild hillmen and herd-folk of Dunland beyond the rivers, and these also he loosed upon us. We were overmastered. The shield-wall was broken.’” ARMOR; TACTICS; ROHAN; MEN; 3A

“At Helm's Gate, before the mouth of the Deep, there was a heel of rock thrust outward by the northern cliff. There upon its spur stood high walls of ancient stone, and within them was a lofty tower. Men said that in the far-off days of the glory of Gondor the sea-kings had built here this fastness with the hands of giants. The Hornburg it was called, for a trumpet sounded upon the tower echoed in the Deep behind, as if armies long-forgotten were issuing to war from caves beneath the hills. A wall, too, the men of old had made from the Hornburg to the southern cliff, barring the entrance to the gorge. Beneath it by a wide culvert the Deeping-stream passed out. About the feet of the Hornrock it wound, and flowed then in a gully through the midst of a wide green gore, sloping gently down from Helm's Gate to Helm's Dike. Thence it fell into the Deeping-coomb and out into the Westfold Vale.” ARCHITECTURE; PHYSICAL; GONDOR; ROHAN; MEN; 3A

“'They bring fire,' said Theoden, 'and they are burning as they come, rick, cot, and tree. This was a rich vale and had many homesteads. Alas for my folk!'” ECON; ROHAN; MEN; 3A Rohirrim lived in the Deeping-Coomb?!

“The Deeping Wall was twenty feet high, and so thick that four men could walk abreast along the top, sheltered by a parapet over which only a tall man could look. Here and there were clefts in the stone through which men could shoot. This battlement could be reached by a stair running down from a door in the outer court of the Hornburg; three flights of steps led also up on to the wall from the Deep behind; but in front it was smooth, and the great stones of it were set with such skill that no foothold could be found at their joints, and at the top they hung over like a sea-delved cliff.” ARCHITECTURE; PHYSICAL; ROHAN; 3A

“For a staring moment the watchers on the walls saw all the space between them and the Dike lit with white light: it was boiling and crawling with black shapes, some squat and broad, some tall and grim, with high helms and sable shields.” ARMOR; ISENGARD; DUNLAND; MEN; ORCS; 3A Are these Orcs, Uruk-hai, or Dunlendings?

“Then the Orcs screamed, waving spear and sword, and shooting a cloud of arrows at any that stood revealed upon the battlements.” WEAPONS; ISENGARD; ORCS; 3A

“Brazen trumpets sounded. The enemy surged forward, some against the Deeping Wall, other towards the causeway and the ramp that led up to the Hornburg-gates. There the hugest Orcs were mustered, and the wild men of the Dunland fells. A moment they hesitated and then on they came. The lightning flashed, and blazoned upon every helm and shield the ghastly hand of Isengard was seen.” MATERIALS; ARTIFACTS (Musical?); ARMOR; ISENGARD; DUNLAND; MEN; ORCS; 3A

“Again trumpets rang, and a press of roaring men leaped forth. They held their great shields above them like a roof, while in their midst they bore two trunks of mighty trees. Behind them orc-archers crowded, sending a hail of darts against the bowmen on the walls.” WEAPONS; ARMOR; ROHAN; ISENGARD; DUNLAND; MEN; ORCS; 3A

“Hundreds of long ladders were lifted up. Many were cast down in ruin, but many more replaced them, and Orcs sprang up them like apes in the dark forests of the South.” FAUNA; HARAD; 3A

“…But the Orcs laughed with loud voices; and a hail of darts and arrows whistled over the wall, as Aragorn leaped down.” WEAPONS; ISENGARD; ORCS; 3A Difference between dart and arrow? Surely nobody’s throwing atlatl darts? Does dart imply crossbows?

“And with that shout the king came. His horse was white as snow, golden was his shield, and his spear was long.” WEAPONS; ARMOR; ROHAN; MEN; 3A Note that Theoden at first charges with spear/shield, and later wields sword.

“Over the low hills the horns were sounding. Behind him, hastening down the long slopes, were a thousand men on foot; their swords were in their hands. Amid them strode a man tall and strong. His shield was red. As he came to the valley's brink, he set to his lips a great black horn and blew a ringing blast. ‘Erkenbrand!’ the Riders shouted.” WEAPONS; ARMOR; ARTIFACTS; ROHAN; MEN; 3A

The Lord of the Rings, Book III The Treason of Isengard, Chapter 8: The Road to Isengard:

“Suddenly there was a great shout, and down from the Dike came those who had been driven back into the Deep. There came Gamling the Old, and Eomer son of Eomund, and beside them walked Gimli the dwarf. He had no helm, and about his head was a linen band stained with blood; but his voice was loud and strong. ‘Forty-two, Master Legolas!’ he cried. ‘Alas! My axe is notched: the forty-second had an iron collar on his neck.’” MATERIALS; ARMOR; ROHAN; ISENGARD; 3A Did this linen come from traveling medical gear of Gimli’s own?, or was he patched up by a man of Rohan (using Rohirric/locally-produced linen)?

“The work of burial was then but beginning; and Theoden mourned for the loss of Hama, his captain, and cast the first earth upon his grave.” CULTURAL; ROHAN; MEN; 3A

“Beneath the walls of Isengard there still were acres tilled by the slaves of Saruman; but most of the valley had become a wilderness of weeds and thorns.” ECON; ISENGARD; 3A

“A great ring-wall of stone, like towering cliffs, stood out from the shelter of the mountain-side, from which it ran and then returned again. One entrance only was there made in it, a great arch delved in the southern wall. Here through the black rock a long tunnel had been hewn, closed at either end with mighty doors of iron. They were so wrought and poised upon their huge hinges, posts of steel driven into the living stone, that when unbarred they could be moved with a light thrust of the arms, noiselessly. One who passed in and came at length out of the echoing tunnel, beheld a plain, a great circle, somewhat hollowed like a vast shallow bowl: a mile it measured from rim to rim. Once it had been green and filled with avenues, and groves of fruitful trees, watered by streams that flowed from the mountains to a lake. But no green thing grew there in the latter days of Saruman. The roads were paved with stone-flags, dark and hard; and beside their borders instead of trees there marched long lines of pillars, some of marble, some of copper and of iron. joined by heavy chains. Many houses there were, chambers, halls, and passages, cut and tunnelled back into the walls upon their inner side, so that all the open circle was overlooked by countless windows and dark doors. Thousands could dwell there, workers, servants, slaves, and warriors with great store of arms; wolves were fed and stabled in deep dens beneath. The plain, too, was bored and delved. Shafts were driven deep into the ground; their upper ends were covered by low mounds and domes of stone. …The shafts ran down by many slopes and spiral stairs to caverns far under; there Saruman had treasuries, store-houses, armouries, smithies, and great furnaces. Iron wheels revolved there endlessly, and hammers thudded. … To the centre all the roads ran between their chains. There stood a tower of marvellous shape. It was fashioned by the builders of old, who smoothed the Ring of Isengard, and yet it seemed a thing not made by the craft of Men, but riven from the bones of the earth in the ancient torment of the hills. A peak and isle of rock it was. black and gleaming hard: four mighty piers of many-sided stone were welded into one, but near the summit they opened into gaping horns. their pinnacles sharp as the points of spears, keen-edged as knives. Between them was a narrow space, and there upon a floor of polished stone, written with strange signs, a man might stand five hundred feet above the plain. This was Orthanc…” ARCHITECTURE; PHYSICAL; ISENGARD; 3A

The Lord of the Rings, Book III The Treason of Isengard, Chapter 9: Flotsam and Jetsam:

“‘I will make you some toast. The bread is three or four days old, I am afraid.’… Pippin…came back laden with dishes, bowls, cups, knives, and food of various sorts. ‘This is not orc-stuff, but man food…“Will you have wine or beer? There's a barrel inside there—very passable. And this is first-rate salted pork. Or I can cut you some rashers of bacon and broil them, if you like. I am sorry there is no green stuff: the deliveries have been rather interrupted in the last few days! I cannot offer you anything to follow but butter and honey for your bread. Are you content?'” FOOD; DRINK; ARTIFACTS; ISENGARD; 3A

“[Merry] produced a small leather bag full of tobacco. 'We have heaps of it,' he said; 'and you can all pack as much as you wish, when we go. … It was Pippin who found two small barrels…My dear Gimli, it is Longbottom Leaf! There were the Hornblower brandmarks on the barrels, as plain as plain. … I never knew that it went so far abroad. But it comes in handy now?' 'It would,' said Gimli, 'if I had a pipe to go with it. Alas, I lost mine in Moria, or before…. ‘We shall have to share pipes as good friends must at a pinch.’ 'Half a moment!' said Pippin. Putting his hand inside the breast of his jacket he pulled out a little soft wallet on a string. 'I keep a treasure or two near my skin, as precious as Rings to me. Here's one: my old wooden pipe. And here's another: an unused one. I have carried it a long way, though I don't know why. I never really expected to find any pipe-weed on the journey, when my own ran out. But now it comes in useful after all.' He held up a small pipe with a wide flattened bowl, and handed it to Gimli.” ARTIFACTS; ECON; CULTURAL; GARMENTS; SHIRE; HOBBITS; 3A Are we to understand that Longbottom Leaf is exported, but not usually as far as Isengard? Does Pippin keep his pipe wallet in a pocket of his shirt or jacket or waistcoat?, or inside his belted shirt itself? Also note how he carries a spare unused pipe!

“‘A punch from an Ent-fist crumples up iron like thin tin.’” MATERIALS; SHIRE; HOBBITS; 3A

“…a very tall handsome Ent, got caught in a spray of some liquid fire and burned like a torch…” WEAPONS; ISENGARD; 3A

“‘Pipe-weed is better after food,’ said Pippin; ‘that is how the situation arose.' 'We understand it all perfectly now,' said Gimli. 'All except one thing,' said Aragorn: 'leaf from the Southfarthing in Isengard. The more I consider it, the more curious I find it. I have never been in Isengard, but I have journeyed in this land, and I know well the empty countries that lie between Rohan and the Shire. Neither goods nor folk have passed that way for many a long year, not openly. Saruman had secret dealings with someone in the Shire, I guess. Wormtongues may be found in other houses than King Theoden's. Was there a date on the barrels?' 'Yes,' said Pippin. 'It was the 1417 crop, that is last year's; no, the year before, of course, now: a good year.'” CULTURAL; ECON; TRAVEL; ROHAN; ISENGARD; SHIRE; HOBBITS; 3A

The Lord of the Rings, Book III The Treason of Isengard, Chapter 10: The Voice of Saruman:

“They came now to the foot of Orthanc. It was black, and the rock gleamed as if it were wet. The many faces of the stone had sharp edges as though they had been newly chiselled. A few scorings, and small flake-like splinters near the base, were all the marks that it bore of the fury of the Ents. On the eastern side, in the angle of two piers, there was a great door, high above the ground; and over it was a shuttered window, opening upon a balcony hedged with iron bars. Up to the threshold of the door there mounted a flight of twenty-seven broad stairs, hewn by some unknown art of the same black stone. This was the only entrance to the tower; but many tall windows were cut with deep embrasures in the climbing walls: far up they peered like little eyes in the sheer faces of the horns.” ARCHITECTURE; PHYSICAL; ISENGARD; 3A Orthanc almost sounds like it is made of an obsidian-like material!

The Lord of the Rings, Book III The Treason of Isengard, Chapter 11: The Palantir:

“Guards were set, two at a watch. The rest, after they had supped, wrapped themselves in a cloak and blanket and slept. The hobbits lay in a corner by themselves upon a pile of old bracken.” ARTIFACTS; GARMENTS; TRAVEL; ROHAN; 3A