MORDOR: Middle-Earth’s Black Land Explored | Lord of th… — Transcript

In the land of Mordor, in the fires of Mount Doom, the Dark Lord Sauron forged in secret a master ring.

Mordor stands as an emblem of dread, power, and darkness.

Situated in the southeast of Middle-earth, this place of evil is not just a backdrop to the climax of The Lord of the Rings, but almost a character in its own right.

So, today, I will dive into the geography, history, and architectural marvels of Mordor, revealing the intricacies of this land and its significance in the histories of Middle-earth.

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In the region of Mordor, you have the Gorgoroth plateau where at its heart you will find Mount Doom or Orodruin.

It would be here that Sauron would use his foul sorcery and will to construct a tower that made other towers like that in Isengard look like toys in comparison.

It was made of black glass, similar to the obsidian formed from the volcanic eruptions, which is even now sharper than diamond, sharper than surgical steel, everything is sharp and dangerous here, we get a brilliant vivid description from the chapter of The Breaking of the Fellowship about this where it says:

But against Minas Tirith was set another fortress, greater and more strong. Thither, eastward, unwilling his eye was drawn. It passed the ruined bridges of Osgiliath, the grinning gates of Minas Morgul, and the haunted Mountains, and it looked upon Gorgoroth, the valley of terror in the Land of Mordor. Darkness lay there under the Sun. Fire glowed amid the smoke. Mount Doom was burning, and a great reek rising. Then at last his gaze was held: wall upon wall, battlement upon battlement, black, immeasurably strong, mountain of iron, gate of steel, tower of adamant, he saw it: Barad-dûr, Fortress of Sauron. All hope left him.

Mordor's vastness and true sphere of influence peaked in the Second Age.

By the time of Sauron's attempted return to power in The Lord of the Rings, he is gathering but former strength, which had been an empire defended on three sides by mountain ranges, those of Ered Lithui or the Ash Mountains to the north, and the Ephel Dúath or Mountains of Shadow to the west and south.

These are estimated to be around 500, 350 and 500 miles long, or 800, 560 and 800 kilometers respectively.

This means that a rough estimate of the area of Mordor is around 175,000 square miles, to put this into context, the UK is about 94,000 square miles, the state of California is about 156,000 square miles, and the country of Sweden would be the closest to its size at around 174,000 square miles.

So, if you wanted to rebuild a life-size Mordor, you pretty much have to take over Sweden.

But anyway, Mordor's geography is both imposing and diverse, starting in the northwest, the deep valley of Udûn serves as the sole entry point for large armies.

This entrance is guarded by the imposing Black Gate of Mordor, strategically situated at the intersection of the Ash and Shadow mountain ranges.

On either side of the Black Gate stood two strong tall towers, the tower on the western side of the pass was called Narchost, and the tower on the eastern side of the pass was called Carchost, together they were called the Towers of the Teeth.

Now, although the Black Gate itself was built by Sauron when he first chose Mordor as his base in the Second Age, contrary to popular belief, these two towers were erected by Gondor in the Third Age very near to the beginning of it, to contain the evil within Mordor, making sure no outside evil ever returned there and no inside evil ever escaped.

And then outside of these, you then get the expansive field of Dagorlad that stretched out for many miles beyond the gates.

Now, back inside the gates, Sauron's primary stronghold, Barad-dûr, is nestled in the foothills of Ered Lithui, south of this fortress, the arid plateau of Gorgoroth dominates, while further southeast, near the brackish waters of the Núrnen Sea, one confined a vast plateau known as Lithlad, or the Ash Plains.

Another critical strategic point is the narrow pass through the Mountains of Shadow, overseen by the eerie fortress of Minas Morgul, once known as Minas Ithil, and if you would like to know why this changed, we do have a video on this subject.

However, this pass, Cirith Ungol, is further fortified by an adjacent fortress bearing the same name, the treacherous Shelob, the spawn of Ungoliant, the ancient spider resides here, and her presence alone serves as a formidable deterrent to potential intruders, a fact that Sauron leveraged by allowing her to stay there.

Contrastingly, Mordor's southern regions are actually fairly fertile, with lands moist enough to support agriculture, and it's here that the saline inland Núrnen Sea is found, so from this, you can see why Sauron wanted this to be his home.

Mordor's geography played an instrumental role in its allure for him, offering both a symbol of his dark ambitions and an impenetrable bastion for his power, naturally fortified by towering mountain ranges on three sides, ensured that the heart of Sauron's domain remained well guarded, only the northwest region where the Black Gate stood served as a significant point of entry, and this was heavily fortified, emphasizing Mordor's strategic defensive capabilities.

Furthermore, the heart of Mordor, the plateau of Gorgoroth, hosted Mount Doom, also known as Orodruin, the very furnace where the One Ring was forged, its volcanic activity not only imbued Mordor with an aura of dread, but also prevented a tangible source of power and a symbolic heart to Sauron's dominion, its central location ensured the One Ring's point of creation was deep within Sauron's territory, making attempts to unmake it perilous for adversaries.

The barren and desolate landscapes of Mordor also made it inhospitable, ensuring that no major civilizations could establish themselves within its confines and challenge Sauron's supremacy.

In contrast, the southern region of Núrnen, with its fertile lands, provided the necessary resources to sustain those vast armies that Mordor held.

All of these geographical aspects combined to make Mordor the ideal seat of power for Sauron, reinforcing his reign and serving as a daunting symbol of his might, and one of the greatest symbols of all of these was, of course, his great fortress of Barad-dûr.

Mordor, particularly the fortress of Barad-dûr, stands as a testament to the unyielding power and malice of Sauron.

Although the specifics about the interior of Barad-dûr remain elusive, being that no one that Sauron ever didn't want to leave ever did, we do know that from the vantage of Sauron's eye, one could witness the entrance to Sammath Naur, the fortress itself was a colossal entity, complete with an imposing gate beneath a magnificent mountainous throne, numerous lava pits, and a veil of shadows that cloaked its expanse.

This stronghold was fortified with walls, gates, and towers constructed of the unyielding adamant.

The southern region of Mordor, known as Núrnen, provided the labor that sustained Barad-dûr, its inhabitants were enslaved for much of the Third Age.

Their eventual liberation by Aragorn after the War of the Ring offers a glimmer of hope for Mordor's future as the Fourth Age dawns, but we will come back to this later.

Externally, Barad-dûr was an architectural marvel that mirrored the atrocities committed within its walls, its soaring and sheer towers, which, like I've said before, dwarfed even Isengard, concealed the horrors of the black pits, chambers of torture confirmed by Tolkien.

The fortress wasn't just its towers though, it contained an intricate network of underground chambers, armories, and posts teeming with Sauron's forces, Orcs, malevolent men, and the elite Black Uruks.

Connected to Mount Doom via the Sauron's Road, Barad-dûr was Sauron's dominion during the Second and Third Ages.

While its exact height does remain a topic of debate, in Robert Foster's The Complete Guide to Middle-earth, it is said to stand roughly 4,500 feet tall at its peak, which again, to put this kind of measurement into context, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, being the world's tallest building, is 2,716 feet tall, it would be a monumental fortress.

And we do actually get a rare insight into its interiors, which is provided by Frodo's vision in the Mirror of Galadriel.

The Eye was rimmed with fire, but was itself glazed, yellow as a cat's, watchful and intent, and the black slit of its pupil opened on a pit, a window into nothing.

And then later, Frodo and Sam's approach to Mount Doom provides yet another glimpse of the Eye, a manifestation of Sauron's relentless watch.

One moment only it stared out, but as from some great window immeasurably high there stabbed northward a flame of red, the flicker of a piercing Eye; and then the shadows were furled again and the terrible vision was removed. The Eye was not turned to them: it was gazing north to where the Captains of the West stood at bay, and thither all its malice was now bent, as the Power moved to strike its deadly blow; but Frodo at that dreadful glimpse fell as one stricken mortally. His hand sought the chain about his neck.

In essence, Barad-dûr was more than just a tower, it was a sprawling complex, rivaling modern cities in size, its vast underground chambers, dungeons, and courts, steeped in cruelty, would indeed make even Sauron's former master, Morgoth, proud.

Mordor's grim history is intricately tied to the dark ambitions of Morgoth and Sauron, these two dark powers wielded influence over spirits, even those of men, it was within Sauron's power to not just kill, but also imprison or even torture a soul, a torment far worse than death itself.

Orcs, the twisted slaves of Mordor, were not oblivious to these dark practices, 'No, I don't know,' said Gorbag's voice, 'The messages go through quicker than anything could fly, as a rule. But I don't enquire how it's done. Safest not to. Grr! Those Nazgûl give me the creeps. And they skin the body off you as soon as look at you, and leave you all cold in the dark on the other side. But He likes 'em; they're His favourites nowadays, so it's no use grumbling. I tell you, it's no game serving down in the city.'

Mordor's very creation traces back to the cataclysmic upheavals caused by Morgoth, shaped by colossal volcanic outbursts, the region was already known as Mordor during Sauron's time, named after its ominous volcano, Orodruin, also known, as we said earlier, as Mount Doom.

Sauron established his reign in Mordor a millennium after the First Age concluded, from that point onward, Mordor became a sanctuary for his malevolent will, persisting throughout Middle-earth's Second and Third Ages, for two and a half millennia, Sauron's dominion over Mordor remained unbroken, he waged wars against various races, from the Elves of Eregion to the Men of Númenor.

However, his capture by the Númenóreans led to the sinking of their island kingdom, an act he inadvertently instigated, upon Númenor's fall, Sauron's spirit returned to Mordor, where he resumed his rule with renewed malice.

Barad-dûr, the Dark Tower, is where the all-seeing Eye of Sauron loomed, and he watched over the significant fortification at the Morannon, the Black Gate, being built in that Second Age, it was critical to the defense, it stood at the juncture of the Mountains of the Ash and Shadow ridges.

But by the end of the Third Age, as Sauron was finally brought down, this fortification was demolished, as Sauron's dark reign finally met its demise.

When it comes to it, and the One Ring is finally destroyed, Frodo and Sam have a terrible vision of what Mordor and Barad-dûr were inside.

And there upon the dark threshold of the Sammath Naur, high above the plains of Mordor, such wonder and terror came on him that he stood still forgetting all else, and gazed as one turned to stone. A brief vision he had of swirling cloud, and in the midst of it towers and battlements, tall as hills, founded upon a mighty mountain-throne above immeasurable pits; great courts and dungeons, eyeless prisons sheer as cliffs, and gaping gates of steel and adamant: and then all passed. Towers fell and mountains slid; walls crumbled and melted, crashing down; vast spires of smoke and spouting steams went billowing up, up, until they toppled like an overwhelming wave, and its wild crest curled and came foaming down upon the land. And then at last over the miles between there came a rumble, rising to a deafening crash and roar; the earth shook, the plain heaved and cracked, and Orodruin reeled. Fire belched from its riven summit.

And so then, in the wake of Sauron's fall, Mordor, once a land shrouded in darkness and dread, began its slow journey towards rejuvenation, the very air that was once thick with malice seemed to lighten as if Middle-earth itself was taking a deep breath of relief.

The ashes from Mount Doom, which had covered the region, no longer fell with that same heavy consistency, however, the scars of Sauron's dominion remained, the vast stretches of barren wasteland, the desolate plains devoid of vegetation, and the lingering presence of Orcs and other malevolent creatures presented formidable challenges for any potential restoration.

Yet, even in such desolation, hope managed to find its way, with Sauron's oppressive rule gone, the free peoples of Middle-earth looked to Mordor with a new perspective, some saw it as a cautionary testament to the corrupting power of evil, while others saw an opportunity to reclaim and rehabilitate a lost land.

Gradually, with the leadership of King Aragorn, various kingdoms ventured into Mordor, aiming to heal the land and integrate its remaining inhabitants into the larger fold of Middle-earth, while the road to recovery was long and fraught with challenges, Mordor stood as a poignant reminder that even the darkest of realms could find redemption and hope in a post-Sauron world.

It's done. Yes, Mr. Frodo. It's over now.

So there we have it, with its vast landscapes, towering fortresses, and intricate history, Mordor stands as a monumental testament to the complex interplay of power, ambition, and resilience in Middle-earth.

A symbol of dread and dominance under Sauron, it also emerged as a land of potential and renewal in the aftermath of his downfall, while it may forever be etched in the history as the domain of darkness, its eventual transformation serves as a poignant reminder that even the most desolate places can find redemption.

Through the lens of Mordor, J.R.R. Tolkien echoes the timeless message that while evil may seem invincible, it is always the spirit of hope, courage, and unity that ultimately prevails.

With that now though, it is time for my question of the day, which is, would you like to see more videos like this on other locations, Lorien, Gondor, Mirkwood, or any others at all, let me know all of your thoughts and suggestions on this in the comment section down below.