Mordor

2009-11-12T21:04:48Z

77.97.162.34: /* The Last Alliance and Third Age */

{{kingdom
| image = [[Image:Ted Nasmith - Across Gorgoroth.jpg|300px]]
| name = Mordor
| meaning = The Black Land
| type = Dictatorship
| headofstate = [[Sauron]]
| executive =
| legislative =
| judicial =
| capital = [[Barad-dûr]]
| language = [[Black Speech]]
| location = East of [[Gondor]], South of [[Rhûn]]
| populous= [[Orcs]], [[Trolls]], [[Nurn]] slaves
| currency =
| religious =
| holiday =
| anthem =
| formed =
| established = c. [[Second Age 1000|S.A. 1000]]
| fragmented = [[Second Age 3441|S.A. 3441]]
| reorganized = [[Third Age 2943|T.A. 2943]]
| dissolved = [[Third Age 3019|T.A. 3019]]

}}
'''Mordor''' was the dwelling place of [[Sauron]], in the southeast of Middle-earth to the East of Anduin, the great river. [[Frodo Baggins|Frodo]] and [[Samwise Gamgee|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 Black Gate of Mordor. 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 northern Ephel Dúath.

The southern part of Mordor, [[Nurn]], was slighly 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]].

== Formation ==
Mordor was a relic of the devastating works of [[Morgoth]], apparently formed by massive volcanic eruptions. It was given the name Mordor already before Sauron settled there, because of its volcano [[Orodruin]] and its eruptions. Sauron however was the first to settle there.

== History ==

'''See also:''' [[Timeline]]

=== Early 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 Age|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|Dark Lord of Mordor]].

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 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.

LIES

=== War of the Ring ===

During the War of the Ring, Sauron gathered all his forces to Mordor. After the [[Battle of the Pelennor Fields]], a Host of the West went to the Black Gate. Sauron sent his army to destroy the Men of Gondor and Rohan, but then [[Frodo Baggins]] destroyed the One Ring and Mordor fell. The Dark Tower, the Black Gate and the Towers of Teeth collapsed to ruin. Mount Doom exploded. Both Sauron and his Ringwraiths were apparently destroyed.

After the ultimate defeat of Sauron, Mordor became mostly empty again as the [[Orcs]] inside it fled or were killed. Crippled by thousands of years of abuse and neglect, but capable of sustaining life, the land of Mordor was given to the defeated foes of Gondor as a consolation, as well as to the freed slaves of Nurn who were formerly forced to farm there to feed the armies of Mordor.

== Etymology ==
The term ''Mordor'' translates to "The Black Land" or "The Dark Land" in [[Sindarin]]. [[mor]] = "dark, black", [[dôr]] = "land" ([[The Silmarillion]], Appendix - Elements in Quenya and Sindarin Names).

==Inspiration==
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.

*A proposed etymology is [[Old English]] ''morðor'', which means "mortal sin" and later "murder".
*''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.

Tolkien is reported to have identified Mordor with the volcano of [[Stromboli]] off Sicily.<ref>[[Clyde S Kilby]], [[Dick Plotz]] ([[1968]]), "Many Meetings with Tolkien: An Edited Transcript of Remarks at the December 1966 [[Mythopoeic Society|TSA Meeting]]", ''Niekas'' (Niekas Publications, New Hampshire, USA) (19): 39–40 Referred to at tolkienguide.com and by another publication of the Niekas editor. Referred to at [http://www.tolkienguide.com/modules/wordpress/?p=3 tolkienguide.com ] and by [http://efanzines.com/ERM/veh36.htm another publication of the Niekas editor].</ref>

==Portrayals==
In ''[[The Atlas of Middle-earth]]'', [[Karen Wynn Fonstad]] assumed that the lands of Mordor, [[Khand]], and [[Rhûn]] lay 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.

The close proximity of Mount Doom and Barad-dûr in [[Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings]] is non-canonical.

==See also==
* [[Sauron]]
* [[Barad-dûr]]
* [[Orodruin]]
* [[Black Gate]]

[[Category:Realms]]
[[Category:Regions]]
[[Category:Mordor and Sauron]]

[[de:Mordor]]
[[fi:Mordor]]

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Mordor