After the sun sets on the Black Gate, Frodo, Sam, and Gollum set out and take the road south towards Minas Morgul. They soon find themselves in the “garden of Gondor”: Ithilien, a land of fragrant herbs and other exotic flora that even Sam does not have names for in the horticultural word-hoard of his mind. We let the sensory imagery wash over us as Tolkien mentions one new plant after another, many of which never appear anywhere else in the legendarium. But Gollum thinks something stinks, and it’s not just the pits of Orc filth to be found along the road.

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