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The Two Watchers
The Two Watchers were two three-headed phantom-statues located on the southeastern side of the Tower of Cirith Ungol, guarding the "gate".
They served as guardians of the tower, creating an invisible barrier between them through the force of their will alone, which prevented any enemy from passing the gate. The statues seemed to be somewhat sentient, being able to sense enemies, whether visible or invisible. The statues, seated unmoving upon thrones, one on either side of the archway, had three joined bodies-one that faced inward, one that faced outward, and one that faced the other. The heads were like vultures with glittering black eyes, and they had claw-like hands which lay upon their great knees. They seemed to be carved out of huge blocks of stone. Some evil spirit of vigilance lived within them and created what Sam felt to be, "some web like Shelob's, only invisible".
The Two Watchers in The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game, The Mountain of Fire Expansion
History[]
Encountered by Samwise[]
During the quest to destroy the One Ring, the Hobbit Samwise Gamgee came to the tower to save his friend and master, Frodo Baggins. His initial willpower was not enough to overcome their dreadful snare, and Sam was forced to use the Phial of Galadriel to pass the Watchers. Once he had done so, the Watchers let out a terrible cry, and an alarm bell was rung in the tower, alerting the Orcs within that an intruder had entered. Sam succeeded in saving Frodo, and again used the Phial to escape from the tower, along with the power of Elvish words. The Watchers again let out their terrible cry as the two Hobbits passed them; the archway collapsed behind them, and a Nazgûl settled upon the broken gate and let loose a chilling cry.
It is unknown by whom these statues were built, though it is likely they were made by Sauron.
In adaptations[]
Stone Watchers (1980)
In The Return of the King (1980 animated film)[]
In The Return of the King (1980 film), the Watchers are far more accurate, even resembling their description from the book.
In Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy[]
The Watchers appear only in the extended edition of Peter Jackson's The Return of the King. However, they do not hinder Sam's entry into Cirith Ungol.
In video games[]
The Watchers appear in the The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (video game), though in them they are nothing more than statues, and do not block the entrance or escape of enemies.
The Watchers appear in The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II and its expansion pack; in The Rise of the Witch-king, watchers can be build as an annex to Mordor's fortress. These watchers provide "fear" power which means keep off enemy units from the fortress.
Translations[]
| Foreign Language | Translated name |
| Afrikaans | Twee Wagte |
| Albanian | Dy Roje |
| Amharic | ሁለት ጠባቂዎች |
| Arabic | اثنين من الحراس |
| Armenian | Երկու Գվարդիաները |
| Assamese | দুজন চোৱাচিতাকাৰী |
| Azerbaijani | İki Mühafizəçilər |
| Basque | Bi guardia |
| Belarusian Cyrillic | два гвардзейскіх |
| Bengali | দুই প্রহরী |
| Bosnian | Dva stražara |
| Bulgarian Cyrillic | Две пазачи |
| Cambodian | ឆ្មាំពីរ |
| Catalan | Dos guàrdies |
| Cebuano | Duha Mga gwardya |
| Chinese | 两名警卫 |
| Corsican | Dui guardi |
| Croatian | Dva stražara |
| Czech | Dva strážní |
| Danish | De To Vagter foran Cirith Ungol |
| Dutch | Twee Wachters |
| Esperanto | Du policanoj |
| Estonian | Kaks piirded |
| Filipino | Dalawang bantay |
| Finnish | Kaksi vartijaa |
| French | Deux gardes |
| Galician | Dous gardas |
| Georgian | ორი მესაზღვრეებმა |
| German | Zwei Wächter |
| Greek | Δύο Φύλακες |
| Gujarati | બે ગાર્ડસ |
| Haitian Creole | De Gad yo |
| Hawaiian | ʻElua kiaʻi |
| Hebrew | שני השומרים |
| Hindi | दो गार्ड |
| Hungarian | Két gárdisták |
| Indonesian | Dua penjaga |
| Icelandic | Tveir lífvörður |
| Irish Gaelic | Dó Gardaí |
| Italian | Due guardie |
| Japanese | 2人のガード |
| Javanese | Loro pengawal |
| Kannada | ಎರಡು ಗಾರ್ಡ್ಗಳು |
| Kazakh | Екі күзетші (Cyrillic) Eki küzetşi (Latin) |
| Korean | 경비원 2 명 |
| Kurdish | Du Cerdevan (Kurmanji Kurdish) |
| Kyrgyz Cyrillic | Эки сакчынын |
| Latin | Duo custodibus |
| Latvian | Divi gvardi |
| Lithuanian | Du sargybiniai |
| Luxembourgish | Zwee Lwwerwaacher |
| Macedonian Cyrillic | два Чувари |
| Malagasy | Mpiambina roa |
| Malaysian | Dua pengawal |
| Maltese | gwardji Żewġ |
| Manx | Daa Lught Fakin |
| Marathi | दोन गार्ड्स |
| Mongolian Cyrillic | Хоёр хамгаалагч |
| Nepalese | दुई गार्ड |
| Norwegian | To Vakter |
| Pashto | دوه ساتونکي |
| Persian | دو نگهبان |
| Polish | Dwa Gwardia |
| Portuguese | Dois guardas |
| Punjabi | ਦੋ ਗਾਰਡ |
| Romanian | Doi paznici |
| Romansh | guardia Dua |
| Russian | Два охранника |
| Scottish Gaelic | Dhà Geàrdan |
| Serbian | Два стражара (Cyrillic) Dva stražara (Latin) |
| Shona | Varindi Vaviri |
| Sicilian | Dui Guardanti |
| Sindhi | ٻه محافظ |
| Sinhalese | ආරක්ෂකයින් දෙදෙනෙක් |
| Slovak | Dvaja strážcovia |
| Slovenian | Dva stražarja |
| Somali | Laba Ilaalada |
| Spanish | Dos Centinelas |
| Swahili | Mbili Walinzi |
| Swedish | Två Vakter |
| Tajik Cyrillic | Ду посбонҳо |
| Tamil | இரண்டு காவலர்கள் |
| Telugu | రెండు గార్డ్లు |
| Thai | สองยาม |
| Turkish | Iki Gardiyanlar |
| Turkmen | Iki Synçy |
| Ukrainian Cyrillic | Два Гвардія |
| Urdu | دو محافظوں |
| Uzbek | Икки Соқчилар (Cyrillic) Ikki Soqchilar (Latin) |
| Vietnamese | Hai vệ binh |
| Welsh | Dau Warchodwr |
| Xhosa | Zimbini BaGada |
| Yiddish | צוויי גואַרדס |
| Yoruba | Meji Awọn oluṣọ |