Abby Epplett, Historian

This instrumental introduces the “fathers of the fathers of the Stoors”, the character of Sméagol/Gollum, and the death of Déagol at the hands of Sméagol after discovering the Ring. During this instrumental, I introduce a new percussion motif to represent Stoors and related hobbit-kind, along with referencing previously used themes to create a complex musical landscape.

Among the most famous fortresses in modern English-language literature, Orthanc was a stone tower at the center of the fortification Isengard located in Gondor and built during the Second Age. As described in Book III, “Chapter 8 The Road to Isengard” in The Two Towers , the “black and gleaming” tower was made of “four mighty piers” holding up a narrow floor of polished stone that allowed a visitor to stand at a height of “five hundred feet above the plain” . The black stone contrasts the White Towers near the Shire and the Grey Havens of Lune , playing into the themes of darkness, shadow, and light that appear throughout the text.