The Passage of the Marshes - Walking by night, and hiding by day, Frodo, Sam, and Gollum brave the Dead Marshes. Frodo and Sam are able to eat the lembas provided by the Elves, but this food causes Gollum to choke, so he finds his own food, to the disgust of Sam. They must pick their way carefully through the marshes, avoiding the little lights that seem to flicker like lit candles. Frodo falls, and must be rescued from a pool of muddy water. When he is helped up, he describes seeing faces of corpses. Gollum tells them there was once a great battle here, in which Orcs, Men, and Elves fought, and the graves are now covered in the marsh.

At several points, a dark, winged shape flies overhead, inspiring terror in Gollum. After the marshes, they emerge into a dead landscape, and Frodo and Sam get some much-needed sleep. Sam, half awake, overhears Gollum having a conversation with himself, as if the Gollum part of him, ruined by desire for the Ring, disagrees with the Sméagol side, who retains some of his pre-Ring personality. The Sméagol side doesn't want to violate the oath to help Frodo, but the Gollum side answers, "She might help. She might, yes." Sam isn't sure what this means, but he definitely trusts Gollum less and less as time goes on.