Morgul-road

"City of the Ringwraiths" by The Brothers Hildebrandt

The Morgul-road, also referred to as the Morgul-way, the wraith-road, or the Osgiliath Road, was a road in Gondor and Mordor.

Course

The Morgul-road ran from Osgiliath slightly north of and roughly parallel to the river Morgulduin to the Cross-roads where it crossed the road that ran from the Black Gate south to Harad.

It continued eastward for a short distance until it approached a great shoulder of rock at the western end of the mountains on the north side of the Morgul Vale where it ran southwards along the shoulder until its end where the road turned eastwards again into the Morgul Vale and climbed steeply. After a short time it turned south-eastwards to the bottom of the valley where it crossed a bridge over the river Morgulduin, and wound up to the gate of the city of Minas Morgul, which was some way further east high up on a mountain shoulder on the southern side of the valley.

The Morgul-road passed the gate of the city of Minas Morgul under the shadow of its walls and went up and up east through the valley to the great ravine at the head of the Morgul Vale over a dark pass, the Morgul Pass. It then descended to the valley between the Ephel Dúath and the Morgai, passed over a bridge of stone, and through a jagged rift in the Morgai out into Gorgoroth and on to Barad-dûr. Although it was safer than the more northerly and narrow Pass of Cirith Ungol due to avoiding the threat posed by Shelob, it was the slower way from Minas Morgul over the mountains.

History

The road was constructed in the high days of Gondor to connect Minas Tirith with Minas Morgul, when they were still called the Minas Anor ("Tower of the Sun") and Minas Ithil ("Tower of the Moon"). It is possible that the part of the road from Minas Morgul over the Morgul Pass to the point below the Tower of Cirith Ungol was constructed when Gondor built the latter tower after the War of the Last Alliance to watch Mordor.

On March 9 T.A. 3019 at dusk Frodo Baggins, Samwise Gamgee and Gollum reached the Morgul-road at the Cross-roads. On the next day they continue on the road before it crosses the bridge over the Morgulduin and decide to leave the road to climb the Stairs of Cirith Ungol to avoid continuing on to Minas Morgul and risking detection.

On March 18 and 19 T.A. 3019 the Host of the West marched on the road from Minas Tirith to the Morgul Vale.

Other versions of the legendarium

In notes on the chronology Osgiliath road is mentioned as another name for the Morgul-road.

Map

J.R.R. Tolkien made a map that shows the course of the road from its approach to the Cross-roads to the gate of Minas Morgul.

Portrayal in adaptations

The Morgul-road in The Lord of the Rings Online

2019: The Lord of the Rings Online:

Going east from the Crossroads, the Morgul-road turns somewhat to the south and passes through "Annon Morgul", a great guarded gate at the entrance to the Morgul Vale. It crosses Morgulduin at the "Gúliant" bridge, which is destroyed by Gandalf during the passage of the Army of the West to make any surpsise assault by the Enemy more difficult. After passing Minas Morgul, the road begins to climb high into the valley and eventually crosses back onto the northern shore of Morgulduin by a smaller, unnamed bridge. At the Morgul Pass the road is guarded by a great gate "Fennas Gost". It the begins to descend down into the valley of "Lhingris" in the Plateau of Gorgoroth and crosses over to the Morgai by a great bridge "Iant Angos". The road eventually arrives into the plain of "Talath Urui" where it splits into two arms: going north and east of the Mount Doom, both eventually lead to Barad-dûr.