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| In ]'s ]al universe of ], '''Mordor''' is the dwelling place of ], in the southeast of Middle-earth. ] and ] went there to destroy the ]. Mordor was unique because of the three enormous mountain ridges surrounding it, from the North, from the West and from the South, that protected this land from an unexpected invasion by any of the people living in those directions. | In ] ]al universe of ], '''Mordor''' is the dwelling place of ], in the southeast of Middle-earth. ] and ] went there to destroy the ]. Mordor was unique because of the three enormous mountain ridges surrounding it, from the North, from the West and from the South, that protected this land from an unexpected invasion by any of the people living in those directions. | ||
| == Geography == | == Geography == | ||
Revision as of 22:17, 23 August 2004
In J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional universe of Middle-earth, Mordor is the dwelling place of Sauron, in the southeast of Middle-earth. Frodo and Sam went there to destroy the One Ring. Mordor was unique because of the three enormous mountain ridges surrounding it, from the North, from the West and from the South, that protected this land from an unexpected invasion by any of the people living in those directions.
Geography
Mordor 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 Sauron built the gates of Morannon. In front of 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 the 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 northern Ephel Dúath.
The southern part of Mordor, Núrn, was slighly more fertile, and moist enough to carry the inland sea of Núrnen.
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.
First Age
Mordor came into being early during the First Age. It was a relic of the devastating works of Morgoth. It was given the name Mordor already before Sauron settled there, because of its volcano Orodruin and its eruptions.
Second Age
Sauron settled in Mordor shortly 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, Orodruin, where Sauron had forged the One Ring. Near Orodruin stood Sauron's stronghold, Barad-dûr.
For two and a half thousand years, Sauron ruled Mordor uninterruptedly. Having wrought the Ring, it was from there that he launched the attack upon Elves of Eregion. He was repelled by Men of Númenor. He fought against Men yet again, almost a thousand years later; however that time, he was captured by Númenórians, 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 afterwards
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, and for about a thousand years, Mordor was guarded by Gondor in order to prevent any evil forces from breaking out.
However Gondor had failed in the long run, and 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. In the north of Mordor during the War of the Ring were the great garrisons and forges of war, while surrounding the bitter inland Sea of Núrnen to the south lay the vast fields tended for the provision of the armies by hordes of slaves brought in from lands to the east and south.
After Sauron's ultimate defeat, Mordor again became mostly empty as the Orcs inside it fled or were killed. Crippled by thousands of years of neglect and abuse, but nevertheless not incapable of sustaining life, the land of Mordor was given to Gondor's defeated foes as a consolation.
Naming
Mordor means "dark land" in Tolkien's contrived language Sindarin. The root "mor" (dark) also appears in Moria. "Dor" (land) also appears in Gondor (stone-land) and Doriath (fenced land).
A proposed etymology out of the context of Middle-earth is Old English morthor, which means "mortal sin" or "murder". (It is the ancestor of the latter word.) It is not uncommon for names in Tolkien's fiction to have relevant meanings in several languages, both those invented by Tolkien, and "real" ones, but this of course happens with any two languages. Mordor is also a name cited in some Nordic mythologies referring to a land where its citizens practice evil without knowing it, imposed on themselves by the society long created for that purpose, which quite fits with Tolkien's Mordor.
In The Atlas of Middle-earth, Karen Wynn Fonstad assumed that the lands of Mordor, Khand, and Rhûn lied where the inland Sea of Helcar had been, and that the Sea of Rhûn and Sea of Núrnen were its remnants. The atlas was however published before The Peoples of Middle-earth, where it turned out that the Sea of Rhûn and Mordor existed already in the First Age.
Compare: Moria
Alternatively it can also the name of a metal band.
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