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Dates: First built between c. II 1000 and c. II 1600; destroyed in II 3441; rebuilding began in III 2951; Finally destroyed in III 3019 Location: On an outcrop of the Ered Lithui, in the northwest of Mordor The Dark Tower of Barad-dûr
The Dark Tower was an immense fortress of immeasurable strength. It was made of iron and extremely hard stone and its gates were steel. The tower was black and it was wreathed in veils of shadow woven by Sauron. It was very tall with many walls, battlements, and towers. The highest tower was topped with an iron crown and in it was the Window of the Eye from which Sauron gazed. Within the Dark Tower were great courts and an armory and windowless dungeons; and beneath the tower were deep pits. Sauron began building the Dark Tower around the year 1000 of the Second Age, when he chose Mordor as his realm. The tower was completed around the year 1600 S.A. Sauron forged the One Ring in Mount Doom at this time as well, and the foundations of the Dark Tower were strengthened by the power of the Ring. Sauron ruled from the Dark Tower and expanded his power in Middle-earth until he was challenged by Ar-Pharazon, King of Numenor, in 3262 S.A. Seeing the might of Ar-Pharazon's forces, Sauron came down from the Dark Tower and allowed himself to be taken to Numenor. There he persuaded Ar-Pharazon to defy the Valar and sail to the Undying Lands, which led to the Downfall of Numenor in 3319 S.A. Sauron's physical body was lost in the destruction of Numenor, but his spirit returned to the Dark Tower in 3320 S.A. There he took up the Ring again and assumed a new form. In the War of the Last Alliance, Elves and Men marched to war against Sauron and defeated his forces at the Battle of Dagorlad before the Black Gate in 3434 S.A. The armies of the Last Alliance then entered Mordor and for seven years they besieged the Dark Tower. At last in 3441 S.A., Sauron himself came down from his tower and fought with Gil-galad and Elendil. All three fell in that mortal contest and Isildur took the One Ring from Sauron and kept it for himself. The Dark Tower was destroyed, but the foundations could not be broken as long as the Ring survived.
Sauron returned around 1050 of the Third Age and established a new stronghold at Dol Guldur in Mirkwood. The White Council attacked Dol Guldur in 2941 and the next year Sauron returned in secret to Mordor. In 2951, he declared himself openly and began rebuilding the Dark Tower. Sauron had a palantir in the Dark Tower; it was most likely the Ithil-stone that had been taken by the Nazgul from Minas Ithil. Gollum was captured on the outskirts of Mordor in 3017 and he was brought to the Dark Tower, where he was questioned and tortured for information about the Ring. Prisoners brought to the Dark Tower did not usually come out alive, but Sauron released Gollum on purpose hoping the creature would lead him to the Ring-bearer. Frodo Baggins saw the Dark Tower when he sat on the Seat of Seeing on Amon Hen while wearing the Ring. All hope left him when he saw the immense strength of Sauron's great fortress. Frodo felt the Eye of Sauron seeking him from the Dark Tower and just in time he managed to take off the Ring. Grishnakh was an Orc from the Dark Tower who was sent across the Anduin seeking the Ringbearer. Another Orc named Shagrat brought Frodo's mithril shirt to the Dark Tower from the Tower of Cirith Ungol on March 17, 3019. On March 25, the mithril shirt was shown to the Host of the West by the Mouth of Sauron, who was the Lieutenant of the Tower of That same day, Frodo saw the Dark Tower once again as he stood on Mount Doom. The shadows around the tower were drawn aside, revealing its iron pinnacles, and in the window at the summit Frodo saw the Eye of Sauron. Sauron's attention was focused on the Battle of the Morannon at the Black Gate. When Frodo claimed the Ring, Sauron became aware of him and the Dark Tower shook from its foundations to its crown. But it was too late - the Ring was destroyed and Sam saw the Dark Tower collapse in ruin. 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. The First Building of Barad-dûrThe first building of Barad-dûr, when Sauron first came to Mordor, took six hundred years to complete. Soon after, Tar-Minastir of Númenor sent a fleet to Middle-earth, and Sauron's forces were driven out of the western lands that they had roamed at will to that time. Barad-dûr could not be approached by the Númenóreans, however, and Sauron was able to consolidate his power and extend it into the east.
In II 3262, Sauron left his Dark Tower to travel to Númenor with the vast forces of Ar-Pharazôn; he returned after the Downfall of Númenor in II 3319. The Last Alliance besieged Barad-dûr in II 3434, and the Tower was taken and destroyed by the forces of Elendil and Gil-galad, who both perished in the siege, in II 3441. Though Barad-dûr was destroyed, its foundations were left in place. The Second Building of Barad-dûrFor much of the Third Age, Sauron's stronghold was not in Mordor, which was ruled in his stead by the Nazgûl. Rather, the Dark Lord dwelt in the south of Mirkwood at Dol Guldur. In III 2941, the White Council sent their forces to drive him from Mirkwood, and he withdrew to Mordor once again. There, he began the rebuilding of the Dark Tower. Given that the Tower originally took some six hundred years to raise, it seems surprising that its second building can have taken no more than a few decades. This is perhaps partly explained by the fact that its foundations, laid with the power of the Ring, remained in Gorgoroth ready to be built upon. Barad-dûr was constructed as much through the personal power of Sauron as through stone and mortar; when the One Ring was destroyed in Orodruin, this power was lost and the Tower destroyed forever. The Appearance of Barad-dûrThe most complete description we have of Barad-dûr is that given in the quote at the head of this page. We know, then, that it was black, and constructed mainly of metal. 'Adamant' usually refers to diamond, but it is hard to imagine Sauron adding diamond towers to his dark fortress - in this context, it probably has the more general meaning of 'hard, unbreakable substance'. From the steel gate of the Tower, a causeway ran out into the plain of Gorgoroth, across a mighty bridge. We also know that lava from Mount Doom was channeled back across that plain to Barad-dûr.
Tolkien probably leaves details of the Tower's construction vague intentionally, as it was hidden by a cloud of shadow and darkness at all times. Frodo and Sam saw Barad-dûr as they journeyed to Mount Doom: '...rising black, blacker and darker than the vast shades amid which it stood, the cruel pinnacles and iron crown of the topmost tower of Barad-dûr...' (The Lord of the Rings 6 III: Mount Doom). The 'topmost tower of Barad-dûr' seems to have been the place where Sauron dwelt. At least, the Window of the Eye, from which the Lidless Eye stared out across Middle-earth, was located there. The Dark Tower of Barad-dûr was first raised in Mordor during the second millennium of the Second Age. Sauron first dwelt there as its Lord for a period of more than 1,600 years, between about II 1600 (when it was completed) and II 361 (when he travelled to Númenor for a time). He returned to become the Lord of the Dark Tower again after the Downfall of Nmenor, and soon after began his wars with its exiles, under Elendil and his heirs. The first of those wars ended after the Siege of Barad-dûr, when its Lord Sauron was thrown down, and his spirit cast out of his body. After that time, Barad-dûr was demolished, and the ways into Mordor were guarded by the Gondorians to prevents its old master's return. So Sauron was an exile from his own land throughout most of the Third Age, but late in that Age, with the guard of Gondor long since abandoned, he took his opportunity to escape back into Mordor, and rebuild the Dark Tower. From that time, and throughout the War of the Ring, he became the Lord of Barad-dûr once more.
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The information above comes from the The Encyclopedia of Arda and The Thain's Book - www.tuckborough.net |
