Angband

Angband, also known as the Iron Prison, was the ancient fortress of the Dark Lord Melkor in the depths of the Iron Mountains that was built after the destruction of the Two Lamps as an arsenal of Utumno. It would later be the Dark Lord's primary stronghold, the capital of his dark realm known as Dor-na-Daerachas. From this fortress, Melkor relentlessly sought to dominate Arda throughout the First Age. Angband would be destroyed by the Host of the West at the conclusion of the War of Wrath.^[1]

Description[]

Karen Wynn Fonstad - North Beleriand — Map of Hithlum and the Northern Lands by Karen Wynn Fonstad from *The Atlas of Middle-earth*

Angband was a primarily subterranean stronghold under the three volcanic mountains of Thangorodrim, the largest mountains in Middle-earth. Before the Great Gate, there was a somber court area flanked by frightening cliffs and walled by the towers of a great battlement. Through the gate, there was a long great tunnel leading to a 'labyrinthine pyramid' of stairs to corridors, tunnels, and smithy chambers. A tall chimney went from Morgoth's gigantic blast furnaces and smithies, up through the mountain to the smokey towers of Thangorodrim. There were also many tunnels leading to the slave quarters or vaults.^[1] At the foundation of Angband was the entrance "to the seat of Morgoth in his nethermost hall". There were also mines within Angband that extended deeper than Morgoth's throne room.^[2]

History[]

Melkor originally built Angband to guard against a possible attack from Aman by the Valar, and placed it under the command of Sauron. However, at the initiation of the Battle of the Powers, the assault of the Valar leveled Angband without much difficulty, and they swiftly moved on to Melkor's primary stronghold of Utumno. However, Angband's underground vaults and caverns were left relatively intact after the Valar's onslaught, as they were in great haste to capture Melkor for the sake of keeping the newly-awakened Elves safe. After Melkor's defeat at Utumno, the Balrogs came to Angband and went into hibernation in its ruined foundations. Eventually, the Orcs began to multiply in great numbers in Angband's ruins, and soon made their way south into Beleriand, threatening the Dwarves and Thingol's kingdom. It is possible that Sauron remained in the ruins of Angband with the Balrogs, as he had presumably been commanding the fortress when it was attacked. However, it is not certain where Sauron dwelt during Melkor's imprisonment. After three ages, Melkor was released, destroyed the Two Trees of Valinor, stole the Silmarils and escaped from Aman.

After fleeing, Melkor, now named Morgoth by his enemies, returned to Middle-earth and re-delved the ruins of Angband, raising the volcanic peaks of Thangorodrim over it. These peaks were created from the slag and rubble caused by the re-delving of the fortress, and as such, it is likely that the rebuilt Angband extended for a considerably greater distance underground than its original incarnation. From his dark throne in the nethermost hall, Morgoth directed the war against the Ñoldor who had returned from the West, and all the Free Peoples that supported them in Beleriand. Ultimately, he achieved complete victory over them. At the end of the First Age, the Valar took pity on the Ñoldor and instigated the War of Wrath, which not only utterly destroyed Angband but broke most of northern Middle-earth so thoroughly that it sank beneath the ocean.^[2]

Etymology[]

Angband is a Sindarin word that literally meant "Iron Prison" or "Hell of Iron" (from ang + band).^[3]

In other versions[]

In earlier versions of J.R.R. Tolkien's mythology (see The History of Middle-earth), Angband was called Angamandu in Qenya, the precursor to Quenya.

Translations[]

Foreign Language	Translated name
Amharic	ዓንግባንድ
Arabic	أنجباند
Armenian	Անգբանդ
Assamese	আংবন্দ
Belarusian Cyrillic	Ангбанд
Bengali	আঙ্বান্দ
Bulgarian Cyrillic	Ангбанд
Catalan	Àngband
Chinese (Hong Kong)	安格班 a.k.a. 鐵之牢獄
Danish	Angband ("Jernhelvede")
French	Angband a.k.a. Enfer d'Acier
Georgian	ანგბანდი
German	Angband a.k.a. Eisenkerker
Greek	Άνγκμπαντ
Gujarati	આઙ્બન્દ
Hebrew	אנגבאנד
Hindi	अंगबैंड
Japanese	アングバンド
Laotian	າງບະນດ
Kannada	ಆಂಗ್ಬ್ಯಾಂಡ್
Kazakh	Ангбанд (Cyrillic) Angband (Latin)
Korean	앙그반드
Kyrgyz Cyrillic	Ангбанд
Macedonian Cyrillic	Ангбанд
Maithili	अंगबन्द
Malayalam	അംഗബന്ദ്
Marathi	एंगबैंड
Mongolian Cyrillic	Ангбанд
Nepalese	यान्गब्यान्ड
Pashto	آنګباند
Persian	انگباند
Portuguese	Angband a.k.a. Infernos de Ferro (Brazil) Angband a.k.a. Inferno de Ferro (Portugal)
Punjabi	आंगबँड
Russian	Ангбанд
Sanskrit	आङ्बन्द्
Serbian	Ангбанд (Cyrillic) Angband (Latin)
Sinhalese	ඇන්ග්බෑන්ඩ්
Slovak	Angbandu
Spanish (Spain and Latin America)	Angband a.k.a. Infierno de Hierro
Tajik Cyrillic	Ангбанд
Tamil	அங்க்பாண்ட்
Telugu	అంగ్బాండ్
Thai	อังก์บันด์
Tigrinya	ኣንግባንድ
Ukrainian Cyrillic	Анґбанд
Urdu	انگبند
Uzbek	Ангбанд (Cyrillic) Angband (Latin)
Yiddish	אַנגבאַנד

Places of Middle-earth and Arda during the Second & Third Age

Middle-earth Locations:

Provinces/Regions:

Forests & Mountains:

City/Fortifications:

Miscellaneous:

The rest of Arda:

References[]

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 The Atlas of Middle-earth, The First Age, The Elder Days, "Thangorodrim"
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 The Silmarillion
↑ The Complete Guide to Middle-earth

[Atlas-1] 1.0 ^1.1 The Atlas of Middle-earth, The First Age, The Elder Days, "Thangorodrim"

[Silmarillion-2] 2.0 ^2.1 The Silmarillion

[3] The Complete Guide to Middle-earth

[1]

[2]

[3]

Realms of the Dark Lords
Years of the Trees	Utumno
First Age	Dor-na-Daerachas
Second Age	Mount Gundabad • Mordor
Third Age	Witch-realm of Angmar • Mordor
Fortresses
Beleriand	Angband • Tol-in-Gaurhoth
Middle-earth	Barad-dûr • Black Gate • Carn Dûm • Dol Guldur • Durthang • Minas Morgul • Tower of Cirith Ungol • Towers of the Teeth