what are the two towers

The Two Towers is the second volume of J.R.R. Tolkiens high fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings. The title is ambiguous, as five towers are named in the narrative, and Tolkien himself gave conflicting identifications of the two towers. However, he eventually settled on the decision that the "two towers" in question were Orthanc and Minas Morgul. Orthanc is Sarumans tower, while Minas Morgul is the Tower of Sorcery, which was originally named Minas Ithil, the Tower of the Rising Moon. The cover illustration of the book shows Orthanc as a black tower with Sarumans sign of the White Hand beside it, and Minas Morgul as a white tower with a thin waning moon above it. The significance of the two towers is not explicitly explained in the book, but it is suggested that both towers held Palanti (seeing stones) and it was through their use that much evil came to pass during the later years of the third age of Middle-earth.