2002 Lord of the Rings II

The Two Towers.
See my complete collection of Lord of the Ring / The Hobbit stamps.

For a collection of all the miniature sheets released with this issue,
       
        Almost exactly one year after the release of Fellowship of the Ring, the first Lord of the Rings movie, Peter Jackson released the second of J.R.R. Tolkien trilogy, The Two Towers. NZ Post marked the release of this movie with the second issue of six stamps along with six miniature sheets. I have included both the stamps and the sheets in this post. It is too much to write about the whole movie so I will just give some background on the scenes shown on the stamps. Want to know more, go watch the movie.

        At the end of the first movie, the fellowship was divided into three groups, Frodo and Sam who crossed the river to continue on the journey toward Mount Doom in Mordor, Merry and Pippin who were taken captive to be taken to Saruman, and Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli who went after Merry and Pippin. This made the second movie a more difficult one to make. Tolkien handled this in the book by devoting a chapter to each group before going back to pick up the next group. Peter Jackson tried to get them all closer to real-time by cutting between the three stories. I believe it worked well in a movie but might not have in the book.



Aragorn and Éowyn - 40c
 Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) is a descendant of the lost line of the ancient kings of Men,  who sees himself fated to one day claim the empty throne of Gondor, should he prove himself worthy of that office.
Beautiful and strong, the Lady Éowyn of Rohan (Miranda Otto) is the niece of King Théoden (Bernard Hill). As her uncle's health began to fail and the influence of his manipulative aide, Gríma Wormtongue (Brad Dourif), grew, Éowyn despaired that the realm of Rohan would fall to evil.


Orc Raider - 80c.
Orcs are vile black-blooded creatures, the chosen slaves of Sauron, bred out of both elves and men. Mostly short squat and bow-legged, they have individual facial features and piranha-like teeth.  Orcs have a violent nature. They like blood and raw flesh and are cannibals and sadists. They lack intelligence, except for a few ruthlessly conniving exceptions.  Thuggish and viciously primitive, they hunt in packs. Alone they are pathetic and weak-minded, their strength lies in numbers.



Gandalf the White - 90c
Though thought lost by all in his duel with the ancient creature, the Balrog, Gandalf the Grey (Ian McKellen) did not indeed pass permanently out of Middle-earth. Returning beyond hope from fire and death to muster the forces of light, the wizard sheds his grey mantle and takes up the title of Gandalf the White. The power that had lain veiled beneath his old grey visage now shines undiluted in the eyes of the pale wizard. It is he who must lead the forces which are the only hope left of Middle-earth.

          

Frodo captured - $1.50
Frodo (Elijah Wood), like all hobbits, is a most unlikely hero. A Hobbit, small and quiet, but possessing a true and noble spirit, Frodo becomes the bearer of the One Ring when it is left to him by his famous Uncle Bilbo Baggins (Ian Holm). The task, therefore, falls to him to do what no one else can, and destroy the ring by casting it into the fires of Mount Doom. The burden of this charge continues growing ever heavier on Frodo, pulling at him constantly to reveal himself to Sauron,  as he takes the perilous path to Mordor.




The Easterlings - $1.30
Among the thralls of the Dark Lord, not all were Orcs. Many races of men are represented in Sauron's armies of the Third Age, including the savage and violent Easterlings. Having marched from their lands in the distant East, a great host of these richly garbed warriors assemble before the Black Gates of Mordor, there to join the already vast legion within.
Have a close look at the Easterlings next time you watch this movie, look at their eyes, they all appear to be women.


The Shield Maiden of Rohan - $2.00
Beautiful and strong, the Lady Éowyn of Rohan (Miranda Otto) is the niece of King Théoden (Bernard Hill). Despite her noble blood, Éowyn is not one to shy from combat. Skilled with sword and shield, the Lady is quite capable of defending herself. When the men of Rohan leave to do battle in defence of their realm, Éowyn longs to be allowed to take arms and join them, though her gender and office forbid it.
Edoras was the capital of Rohan built on a rocky outcrop overlooking the surrounding shingle plains. The king's hall was found at its highest point. The set of Edoras took eleven months to build and was on the Mt Potts Station on a mound called Mt Sunday.


Technical information

Date of issue:4 December 2002
Number of stamps:Six
Denominations and designs:40c Aragorn and Éowyn, 80c Orc Raider, 90c Gandalf the White, $1.30 The Easterlings, $1.50 Frodo - captured, $2.00 The Shield Maiden of Rohan
Stamps designed by:Sacha Lees, Weta Workshop, Wellington
First day covers designed by:Sacha Lees, Weta Workshop, Wellington
Stamps and self-adhesive booklet printer and process:                                                      Southern Colour Print, Dunedin by offset lithography
Number of colours:Four process colours
Stamp size and format:Gummed: 25mm x 50mm (vertical and horizontal); Self-adhesive: 26mm x 37mm (vertical and horizontal)
Paper type:Gummed: De la Rue 103gsm red phosphor stamp paper; Self-adhesive: JAC non DC PS1 B1000 PSA stamp paper
Number of stamps per sheet:25
Perforation gauge: Gummed: 14.4 x 14
Special blocks:Plate/imprint blocks could be obtained by purchasing at least six stamps from a sheet. Barcode, value blocks and logo blocks could be obtained by purchasing at least two stamps from a sheet. Barcode blocks were available in both A and B formats for sheet stamps.
Period of sale:These stamps remained on sale until 3 December 2003.



Some of the images in this post were used with permission from the illustrated catalogue of StampsNZ
You can visit their website and On-line Catalogue at, http://stampsnz.com/