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17-08-2006, 23:38
Geography
Location of Mordor in Middle-earth marked in redMordor was protected from three sides by mountain ranges, arranged roughly rectangularly: Ered Lithui in the north, Ephel Dúath in the west, and an unnamed (or possibly still called Ephel Dúath) range in the south. In the northwest corner of Mordor the deep valley of Udûn was the only entrance for large armies, and that is where Gondor built the Black Gate of Mordor and the Towers of Teeth placed behind the Black Gate to watch over Mordor during the time of peace between the Last Alliance and Sauron's return. In front of the Morannon lay the Dagorlad or the Battle Plain. Sauron's main fortress Barad-dûr was at the foothills of Ered Lithui. To southwest of Barad-dûr lay the arid plateau of Gorgoroth and Mount Doom; to the east lay the plain of Lithlad. A narrow pass led through Ephel Dúath and the fortress of Minas Morgul (earlier Minas Ithil) was guarding that; an even more difficult pass was guarded by the giant spider Shelob and the fortress of Cirith Ungol. Another known fortress was Durthang in the northern Ephel Dúath.
The southern part of Mordor, Núrn, was slightly more fertile, and moist enough to carry the inland sea of Núrnen. Nurn was made somewhat fertile because the ash blown from Mount Doom left its soil nutrient rich, thus allowing dry-land farming. Unfortunately, the inland sea of Núrn was salty, not freshwater.
To the west of Mordor was the narrow land of Ithilien with the city of Osgiliath and the great river Anduin, to the northeast Rhûn, and to the southeast, Khand.
Important Places in Mordor
The Black Gate
Minas Morgul
History
Sauron settled in Mordor 1,000 years after the end of the First Age, and it remained the pivot of his evil contemplations for the whole of the Second and Third Ages of Middle-earth. In the north-western corner of this land stood Mount Doom or Orodruin, where Sauron had forged the One Ring. Near Orodruin stood Sauron's stronghold Barad-dûr. After this time, Sauron was known as the Dark Lord of Mordor.
For 2500 years, Sauron ruled Mordor uninterruptedly. Having wrought the Ring, it was from there that he launched the attack upon the Elves of Eregion. He was repelled by the Men of Númenor. He fought against the Men again, almost a thousand years later; that time, he was captured by the Númenóreans and brought to their island kingdom, eventually causing its destruction (see Akallabêth). Immediately after Númenor's destruction, Sauron returned to Mordor as a spirit and resumed his rule.
The Last Alliance and Third Age
Sauron's rule was interrupted yet again when his efforts to overthrow the surviving Men and Elves failed, and they fought their way back to their foe's domain. After several years of siege, forces of the Last Alliance of Elves and Men came into Mordor. Sauron was defeated in a final battle on the slopes of Orodruin. For about a thousand years, Mordor was guarded by Gondor to prevent any evil forces from breaking out.
Casualties from the Great Plague, during the reign of King Telemnar, were so high that fortifications guarding Mordor were abandoned as the troops were called back to Gondor's cities. Deprived of guard, Mordor began to fill with evil things again. Minas Ithil was conquered by the Nine Ringwraiths; other fortifications that were supposed to defend Gondor from the menace inside Mordor were turned into a means of shielding Mordor. By the time Sauron returned into Mordor after his false defeat in Dol Guldur (in the events that took place at the time of Bilbo Baggins's quest), Mordor was protected too well to be captured by any military might that was available in Middle-earth at the end of the Third Age.
Army 500,000 total
9 Nazgûl(Ring Wraith)
Olog-hai
Battering Rams
Siege Towers
Catapults
Nazgûl
Biography
Second Age
The nine Nazgûl arose as Sauron's most powerful servants in the Second Age of Middle-earth. It is said that three of the Nine were originally "great lords" of Númenor. They were all powerful mortal Men to whom Sauron each gave one of the nine Rings of Power.
The corrupting effect of the rings caused their bodily forms to fade over time until they had become wraiths entirely. Given visible form only through their attire, their original form was completely invisible to mortal eyes. The red reflection in their eyes could be plainly distinguished even in daylight, and in a rage they appeared in a hellish fire. They had many weapons, which included long swords of steel and flame, daggers with magical venomous properties and black maces of great strength.
Their arsenal of deadly armaments was not confined to physical weapons: they were perpetually surrounded by an aura of terror, which affected all but the most powerful living creatures; their breath (called the Black Breath) was poisonous, and their cries caused terror and despair.
The Nazgûl first appeared around 2251 of the Second Age and were soon established as Sauron's principal servants, less than three centuries after the rings were forged. The Nazgûl were dispersed after the first overthrow of Sauron in 3434 at the hands of the Last Alliance of Elves and Men, but their survival was nonetheless assured while the One Ring persisted.
Third Age
They re-emerged around 1300, when the Lord of the Nazgûl, the Witch-king of Angmar, led Sauron's forces against the successor states of Arnor; Rhudaur, Cardolan and Arthedain. He was eventually defeated in battle in 1975 and returned to Mordor, gathering the other Nazgûl in preparation for the return of Sauron to that realm, having achieved his goal of destroying all of Arnor's successor states.
In 2000, the Nazgûl besieged Minas Ithil and captured it after two years. The city thereafter became Minas Morgul, the stronghold of the Nazgûl, from where they directed the rebuilding of Sauron's armies, also acquiring a palantír for the Dark Lord. In 2942, Sauron returned to Mordor and declared himself openly in 2951. Two or three of the Nazgûl (The Second of the Nine was put in charge) were sent to his fortress in Mirkwood, named Dol Guldur, to garrison it.
Olog-hai
Olog-hai are "strong, agile, fierce, and cunning" trolls created by Sauron, and are able to withstand sunlight while under the sway of Sauron's will. They seldom speak and are said to know no language other than the Black Speech, in which 'Olog-hai' means 'troll-folk'. They have just started to apear and can be found near Dol Guldur and in the mountains around Mordor.[6]
Location of Mordor in Middle-earth marked in redMordor was protected from three sides by mountain ranges, arranged roughly rectangularly: Ered Lithui in the north, Ephel Dúath in the west, and an unnamed (or possibly still called Ephel Dúath) range in the south. In the northwest corner of Mordor the deep valley of Udûn was the only entrance for large armies, and that is where Gondor built the Black Gate of Mordor and the Towers of Teeth placed behind the Black Gate to watch over Mordor during the time of peace between the Last Alliance and Sauron's return. In front of the Morannon lay the Dagorlad or the Battle Plain. Sauron's main fortress Barad-dûr was at the foothills of Ered Lithui. To southwest of Barad-dûr lay the arid plateau of Gorgoroth and Mount Doom; to the east lay the plain of Lithlad. A narrow pass led through Ephel Dúath and the fortress of Minas Morgul (earlier Minas Ithil) was guarding that; an even more difficult pass was guarded by the giant spider Shelob and the fortress of Cirith Ungol. Another known fortress was Durthang in the northern Ephel Dúath.
The southern part of Mordor, Núrn, was slightly more fertile, and moist enough to carry the inland sea of Núrnen. Nurn was made somewhat fertile because the ash blown from Mount Doom left its soil nutrient rich, thus allowing dry-land farming. Unfortunately, the inland sea of Núrn was salty, not freshwater.
To the west of Mordor was the narrow land of Ithilien with the city of Osgiliath and the great river Anduin, to the northeast Rhûn, and to the southeast, Khand.
Important Places in Mordor
The Black Gate
Minas Morgul
History
Sauron settled in Mordor 1,000 years after the end of the First Age, and it remained the pivot of his evil contemplations for the whole of the Second and Third Ages of Middle-earth. In the north-western corner of this land stood Mount Doom or Orodruin, where Sauron had forged the One Ring. Near Orodruin stood Sauron's stronghold Barad-dûr. After this time, Sauron was known as the Dark Lord of Mordor.
For 2500 years, Sauron ruled Mordor uninterruptedly. Having wrought the Ring, it was from there that he launched the attack upon the Elves of Eregion. He was repelled by the Men of Númenor. He fought against the Men again, almost a thousand years later; that time, he was captured by the Númenóreans and brought to their island kingdom, eventually causing its destruction (see Akallabêth). Immediately after Númenor's destruction, Sauron returned to Mordor as a spirit and resumed his rule.
The Last Alliance and Third Age
Sauron's rule was interrupted yet again when his efforts to overthrow the surviving Men and Elves failed, and they fought their way back to their foe's domain. After several years of siege, forces of the Last Alliance of Elves and Men came into Mordor. Sauron was defeated in a final battle on the slopes of Orodruin. For about a thousand years, Mordor was guarded by Gondor to prevent any evil forces from breaking out.
Casualties from the Great Plague, during the reign of King Telemnar, were so high that fortifications guarding Mordor were abandoned as the troops were called back to Gondor's cities. Deprived of guard, Mordor began to fill with evil things again. Minas Ithil was conquered by the Nine Ringwraiths; other fortifications that were supposed to defend Gondor from the menace inside Mordor were turned into a means of shielding Mordor. By the time Sauron returned into Mordor after his false defeat in Dol Guldur (in the events that took place at the time of Bilbo Baggins's quest), Mordor was protected too well to be captured by any military might that was available in Middle-earth at the end of the Third Age.
Army 500,000 total
9 Nazgûl(Ring Wraith)
Olog-hai
Battering Rams
Siege Towers
Catapults
Nazgûl
Biography
Second Age
The nine Nazgûl arose as Sauron's most powerful servants in the Second Age of Middle-earth. It is said that three of the Nine were originally "great lords" of Númenor. They were all powerful mortal Men to whom Sauron each gave one of the nine Rings of Power.
The corrupting effect of the rings caused their bodily forms to fade over time until they had become wraiths entirely. Given visible form only through their attire, their original form was completely invisible to mortal eyes. The red reflection in their eyes could be plainly distinguished even in daylight, and in a rage they appeared in a hellish fire. They had many weapons, which included long swords of steel and flame, daggers with magical venomous properties and black maces of great strength.
Their arsenal of deadly armaments was not confined to physical weapons: they were perpetually surrounded by an aura of terror, which affected all but the most powerful living creatures; their breath (called the Black Breath) was poisonous, and their cries caused terror and despair.
The Nazgûl first appeared around 2251 of the Second Age and were soon established as Sauron's principal servants, less than three centuries after the rings were forged. The Nazgûl were dispersed after the first overthrow of Sauron in 3434 at the hands of the Last Alliance of Elves and Men, but their survival was nonetheless assured while the One Ring persisted.
Third Age
They re-emerged around 1300, when the Lord of the Nazgûl, the Witch-king of Angmar, led Sauron's forces against the successor states of Arnor; Rhudaur, Cardolan and Arthedain. He was eventually defeated in battle in 1975 and returned to Mordor, gathering the other Nazgûl in preparation for the return of Sauron to that realm, having achieved his goal of destroying all of Arnor's successor states.
In 2000, the Nazgûl besieged Minas Ithil and captured it after two years. The city thereafter became Minas Morgul, the stronghold of the Nazgûl, from where they directed the rebuilding of Sauron's armies, also acquiring a palantír for the Dark Lord. In 2942, Sauron returned to Mordor and declared himself openly in 2951. Two or three of the Nazgûl (The Second of the Nine was put in charge) were sent to his fortress in Mirkwood, named Dol Guldur, to garrison it.
Olog-hai
Olog-hai are "strong, agile, fierce, and cunning" trolls created by Sauron, and are able to withstand sunlight while under the sway of Sauron's will. They seldom speak and are said to know no language other than the Black Speech, in which 'Olog-hai' means 'troll-folk'. They have just started to apear and can be found near Dol Guldur and in the mountains around Mordor.[6]