- "A long-tilted valley, a deep gulf of shadow, ran back far into the mountains. Upon the further side, some way within the valley's arms, high on a rocky seat upon Ephel Dúath, stood the walls and towers of Minas Morgul. All was dark about it, earth and sky, but it was lit with light. Not the light welling through the marble walls of Minas Ithil long ago, fair and radiant in the hollow of the hills. Paler indeed than the moon ailing in some slow eclipse was the light of it now, wavering and blowing like a noisome exhalation of decay, a corpse-light, a light that illuminated nothing."
- —The Two Towers, "The Stairs of Cirith Ungol"
Minas Morgul, the Tower of Black Arts, was once a fortress of Gondor, initially called Minas Ithil or the Tower of the Moon. As the easternmost fortification in the Kingdom of Gondor, Minas Ithil safeguarded the eastern borders of the realm and protected the capital Osgiliath from the forces of Mordor during the early part of the Third Age. As Gondor's power weakened, it was then taken by the forces of Mordor, and used as a base to attack Gondor and in the process, decayed into the dark fortress and was renamed as a result.
Minas Morgul as concieved for The Lord of the Rings films
Description[]
Minas Ithil was established in the upland valley known as the Morgul Vale at the feet of the Mountains of Shadow. It overlooked the region of Ithilien and controlled the only passes through the mountains that led into Mordor, the Morgul Pass and the Pass of Cirith Ungol.[1]
In its heyday, Minas Ithil was a beautiful sight, with moonlight filling its inner courts, causing its walls to gleam silver and white. It was a walled city of white marble built on a high shelf of rock. Within the walls, there were white houses and a tall tower, which had many windows, and the top of the tower revolved slowly back and forth. The Morgul-road ran from Osgiliath on the Anduin through Ithilien to the city and crossed the Mountains of Shadow into Mordor via the pass.[citation needed]
History[]
Minas Ithil[]
Minas Ithil was built by the Faithful Númenóreans, who escaped Númenor's destruction in the Second Age, as a defense against Mordor, and was the dwelling of the family of Isildur.[2] Minas Ithil housed a palantír, the Ithil-stone and the first White Tree of Gondor.
Minas Morgul's location
In SA 3429, Sauron sent a great army against Minas Ithil in a surprise attack. The city was captured, and the White Tree was burned (Isildur fled with a seedling and planted it in Minas Anor in TA 2). However, in SA 3430, Anárion recaptured the city, and it remained held by Isildur's sons for the duration of the War of the Last Alliance. After Sauron was defeated in SA 3441, a watch was kept at Minas Ithil to prevent the return of evil to Mordor.[2] Most of the city's population perished in the Great Plague,[3] leaving it deserted, save for a garrison.
The Nazgûl, led by the Witch-king of Angmar, the most fearsome of Sauron's minions, returned to Mordor in TA 1980 to prepare for Sauron's return. In TA 2000, the forces of the nine Nazgûl laid siege to Minas Ithil. In TA 2002 after two years of siege, the city fell and was transformed into a bastion of evil, with its palantír falling into the hands of Sauron. As a result, it came to be called Minas Morgul.[2] In TA 2050 King Eärnur was challenged by the Witch-king and ride to Minas Morgul with a small escort, never to return.
Minas Morgul aglow, by Stephen Hickman
Minas Morgul[]
With the ending of the Watchful Peace terror and war were directed at Gondor from Minas Morgul until Osgiliath was finally ruined and Ithilien became deserted.
In fashion, Minas Morgul seems to have been much like Minas Tirith, only corrupted. Originally the city's walls glowed with pale moonlight, but under the control of the Ringwraiths it became a city of horror, where the minds of living men would run to madness if they remained too long. The topmost course of the tower revolved slowly, and the walls were illuminated by a pale luminous sickly glow.
Pre-visualization concept of the beacon of Minas Morgul by Jeremy Bennett, for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003), shown in Gary Russell's The Art of The Return of the King
The city had a strange watchfulness about it, and intruders to Morgul Vale were always noted. Most who approached the city could not stand to set eyes on it, and felt watched.
In the War of the Ring, the main army that attacked Minas Tirith set out from Minas Morgul, commanded by the Witch-king of Angmar, observed by Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee. Later, Aragorn and Gandalf broke the bridge outside the city gates and set the fields around the city on fire to keep any force from passing that way to the Cross-roads of the Fallen King.
After the war, Aragorn (as King Elessar) counseled Faramir to make his abode in Emyn Arnen southeast of Minas Tirith, in Ithilien, and decreed that Minas Ithil in the Morgul Vale, despoiled by its years as Minas Morgul, be completely destroyed, for 'although it might in time come to be made clean, no man might dwell there for many long years'.[4]
Minas Morgul, by Roger Garland
Iconography[]
When the city was Minas Ithil, its symbol was the moon. When the city was taken and occupied by the Nazgûl, the moon symbol was still used for the city but was disfigured additionally featuring "a ghastly face of death" alongside.[5]
In adaptations[]
The Lord of the Rings film trilogy[]
In Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Minas Morgul is shown as a spectral fortress on the other side of a moat. Frodo is drawn to it by the power of the One Ring, but Sam and Gollum hide him just as the city fires a column of green fire into the sky. Afterward, the Morgul army of Orcs leaves the city and pass the group; the Nazgûl on their mounts are not seen, except for the Witch-king who leaves the fortress on his Fellbeast. It also makes a brief appearance in the first film, The Fellowship of the Ring, when the Ringwraiths (mounted on horses) are shown exiting the fortress en-route to the Shire far away.
The gates of the city open inward in the first film and outward in the third.
Middle-earth: Shadow of War[]
The city shortly after its capture by the Witch-king, as portrayed in Middle Earth: Shadow of War
The video game Middle-earth: Shadow of War features Minas Ithil throughout, and depicts its transformation into Minas Morgul after being besieged by the Nazgûl. In the game, the main character, Talion, aided by the wraith of the Elf-smith Celebrimbor, attempts to hold back the siege only to be betrayed from within. The city falls into the hands of Sauron and becomes Minas Morgul.
Later in the game, after Talion is betrayed by Celebrimbor and forced to take possession of one of the Nine Rings of Power to return to undeath, he recaptures the city as his stronghold and from it, engages in a decades-long struggle with the forces of Sauron to restrain the Dark Lord's power in Mordor.
Decades later, Talion finally succumbs to the power of the Ring and becomes one of the Nine, and Minas Morgul once again falls back under the control of the Witch-king. As in canon, however, when the One Ring is destroyed in Mount Doom, defeating the Dark Lord and the Ringwraiths including Talion, Minas Morgul is freed from the darkness.
Gallery[]
 |
 |
 |
 |
Translations[]
| Foreign Language | Translated name |
| Amharic | ሚናስ ሞርጉል |
| Arabic | ميناس مورغول |
| Armenian | Մինաս Մորգուլ |
| Belarusian Cyrillic | Мі́нас Мо́ргул (Minas Morgul)
Мінас Ітыль (Minas Ithil) |
| Bengali | মিনাস মর্গাল |
| Bulgarian Cyrillic | Минас Моргул (Minas Morgul)
Минас Итил (Minas Ithil) |
| Catalan | Minas Mórgul (Minas Morgul)
Minas Íthil (Minas Ithil) |
| Chinese (Hong Kong) | 米那斯魔窟 (Minas Morgul)
米那斯伊希爾 (Minas Ithil) |
| Georgian | მინას მორგული (Minas Morgul)
მინას ითილი (Minas Ithil) |
| Greek | Μίνας Μόργκουλ (Minas Morgul)
Μίνας Ίθιλ (Minas Ithil) |
| Gujarati | મિનસ મોર્ગુલ્ |
| Hebrew | מינאס מורגול (Minas Morgul)
מינאס איתיל (Minas Ithil) |
| Hindi | मीनास मोर्गुल |
| Japanese | ミナス・モルグル (Minas Morgul)
ナス・イシル (Minas Ithil) |
| Kannada | ಮೈನಸ್ ಮಾರ್ಗುಲ್ |
| Kazakh | Мінас Моргұл (Cyrillic) Minas Morgul (Latin) |
| Korean | 미나스 모르굴 |
| Kyrgyz Cyrillic | Минас Моргул |
| Macedonian Cyrillic | Минас Моргул |
| Marathi | मिनस मॉरगुल |
| Mongolian Cyrillic | Минас Моргул |
| Nepalese | मीनास मोर्गुल |
| Pashto | میناس مورګول |
| Persian | میناس مورگول (Minas Morgul)
میناس ایتیل (Minas Ithil) |
| Punjabi | ਮਿਨਸ ਮੋਰਗੂਲ |
| Russian | Минас Моргул |
| Sanskrit | मिनस् मोर्गुल् |
| Serbian | Минас Моргул (Cyrillic) Minas Morgul (Latin) |
| Sinhalese | මිනස් මොර්ගුල් |
| Tajik Cyrillic | Минас Моргул |
| Tamil | மிநஸ் மொர்குல் |
| Telugu | మినస మొర్గుల్ |
| Thai | มินัสมอร์กูล (Minas Morgul)
มินัสอิธิล (Minas Ithil) |
| Ukrainian Cyrillic | Мінас Морґул (Minas Morgul)
Мінас-Ітіль (Minas Ithil) |
| Urdu | میناس مورگول |
| Uzbek | Минас Моргул (Cyrillic) Minas Morgul (Latin) |
| Yiddish | מינאַס מאָרגול |
|
Middle-earth Locations:
Provinces/Regions: Arnor | Dunland | Ettenmoors | Forochel | Forodwaith | Gondor | Harad | Ithilien | Khand | Lindon | Minhiriath | Mordor | Rhovanion | Rhûn | Rivendell | Rohan | The Shire Forests & Mountains: Amon Dîn | Amon Hen | Amon Lhaw | Caradhras | Emyn Muil | Erebor | Fangorn Forest | High Pass | Iron Hills | Lórien | Mirkwood | Mount Doom | Mount Gundabad | Old Forest | Orod-na-Thôn | Tower Hills | Weathertop Hill City/Fortifications: Angband | Barad-dûr | Bree | Caras Galadhon | Dol Guldur | Fornost Erain | Hornburg | Isengard | Khazad-dûm (Moria) | Minas Morgul | Minas Tirith | Last Homely House | Tower of Amon Sûl | Tower of Orthanc | Osgiliath | Umbar | Utumno Miscellaneous: Argonath | Astulat | Buckland | Cair Andros | Dagorlad | Dead Marshes | Enedwaith | Fords of Isen | Gap of Rohan | Grey Havens The rest of Arda:
Aman | Burnt Land of the Sun | Dark Land | Empty Lands | Neldoreth | New lands | Númenor | Tol Eressëa |
| 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 |
References[]
- ↑ The Atlas of Middle-earth, Regional Maps, "Mordor (and Adjacent Lands)"
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 The Silmarillion, Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age
- ↑ The History of Middle-earth, Vol. XII, The Peoples of Middle-earth
- ↑ The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King, Book Six, Chapter V: "The Steward and the King"
- ↑ The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King, Book Six, Chapter I: "The Tower of Cirith Ungol"