Dol Guldur was Sauron's stronghold in Mirkwood in the fictional world of J. R.
R. Tolkien's Middle-earth. It is first mentioned in The Hobbit. The hill
itself, rocky and barren, was the highest point in the southwestern part
of the forest. Before Sauron's occupation it was called Amon Lanc
"Naked Hill". It lay near the western edge of the forest, across the Anduin
from Lothlórien. In a passage that appears to apply the name Dol Guldur
principally to the fortress rather than the barren hill it rose above, the
company of the Ring first catch sight of it from Cerin Amroth in Lórien.
In the Second Age, before Sauron occupied the hill, Silvan Elves of the
Woodland Realm under Oropher, father of Thranduil, populated the area of
Rhovanion around Amon Lanc, but they withdrew northward, evidently to avoid
conflict with Lórien and Moria. Various Elf-lords and wizards perceived evil
growing there early in the Third Age, starting about T.A. 1100. During the
latter part of the Third Age, Sauron used this fortress as a base to attack
Lothlórien and the surrounding area. Tolkien suggests that Sauron settled on
Dol Guldur as the focus for his rise during the period before the War of the
Ring in part so that he could search for the One Ring in the Gladden Fields just
up the river. Etymology
According to Unfinished Tales, Dol Guldur was originally known in Tolkien's
fictional language of Sindarin as Amon Lanc. After Sauron came to reside there,
it became known instead as Dol Guldur "Hill of Sorcery", acquiring a
connotation of corruption and evil. The word dol strictly means "head" in
elvish, but is frequently applied to hills or mountains in Tolkien's work, as
in Dol Amroth and Dol Baran. The word guldur signifies "black magic": gûl
means "sorcery, magic", from the stem ngol or nólë meaning "long study, lore,
knowledge"; and dûr means "dark". Fictional setting
= Geography= Dol Guldur appears on the maps published
with The Lord of the Rings. The hill rose above the River Anduin across from
Lórien within the great forest east of the River. Sauron's influence caused a
great shadow of sickness and death to fall over the forest, which became known
as Mirkwood. To the northeast on the other side of
the forest lay Thranduil's kingdom and Erebor, the Lonely Mountain. Further
north was Ered Mithrin, the Grey Mountains, where the Dwarves once
prospered. According to the Appendices of the book,
at a meeting in the forest after the defeat of Sauron, Celeborn and Thranduil
renamed the forest Eryn Lasgalen, "The Wood of Greenleaves". Thranduil claimed
the northern regions of the forest as far south as the mountains in the centre
of the forest, and Celeborn took the southern part of the forest below the
Narrows, calling it East Lórien. = History=
The fictional history of Dol Guldur is laid out across several of Tolkien's
works, including The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, The Silmarillion, and
Unfinished Tales. Sauron's history at the site begins in the Third Age, around
the year 1100. Due to its situation inside Mirkwood and east of Lórien, Dol
Guldur was a key stronghold in Sauron's return to power.
After Sauron was defeated in the War of the Last Alliance, he retreated to Amon
Lanc and built a fortress, where he hid in secrecy while recovering his
strength. As the evil force residing there became apparent to the outside
world, it was named the Necromancer. It was not known at first that Sauron had
regained physical form and power; it was believed that a Nazgûl dominated the
tower and land. But as the power grew in strength, Gandalf the Grey became
suspicious and in T.A. 2063 travelled to Dol Guldur to investigate. Sauron
anticipated his coming and withdrew to the East to remain hidden in secrecy.
Thus began what later became known as The Watchful Peace, which lasted until
T.A. 2460, when Sauron finally returned to Dol Guldur after years of hiding.
In T.A. 2845, Thráin II, King of Durin's folk, the last bearer of one of the
seven Rings of Power given to the Dwarves, was captured by Sauron's forces
and was kept at Dol Guldur, where he yielded his ring to Sauron under
torture. Gandalf went again to Dol Guldur in T.A. 2850 to investigate his
suspicions of the power that was rising, learned that this was indeed Sauron, and
found Thráin in the dungeons close to death. Thráin had forgotten his own
name, but gave Gandalf a map and key to the Lonely Mountain for Thráin's son,
Thorin Oakenshield. Again anticipating the Wise, Sauron left Dol Guldur for
Mordor in T.A. 2941. Ten years later, when Sauron declared himself openly in
Mordor, he sent three nazgûl back to reoccupy Dol Guldur. Khamûl commanded
the fortress in Sauron's absence. In March of T.A. 3018, scouts from Dol
Guldur became aware that Gollum had been brought to Mirkwood and was being held
prisoner by Thranduil. On 20 June T.A. 3018, orcs from Dol Guldur attacked the
Elves who had imprisoned Gollum; in the chaos, Gollum escaped and disappeared.
In March, T.A. 3019, during the final days of the War of the Ring, Dol Guldur
sent forces against Lothlórien and Thranduil's realm in what came to be
known as the Battles of Lothlórien and Mirkwood: three attacks on Lórien and
one, "The Battle under the Trees", against Thranduil. All were fiercely
fought, but the power of Galadriel and the strength of the Elves proved too
great for Dol Guldur to overcome. After the defeat of Sauron on March 25,
Celeborn marched on Dol Guldur and overthrew it. Galadriel then destroyed
the fortress so that the forest was free from the shadow of the tower.
= Politics= Tolkien described how, in the history of
Dol Guldur, Sauron's growing activity and power increased the tensions among
his enemies. The Wise had sensed an evil power growing in Dol Guldur, and they
tried to determine whether Sauron was alive and regaining strength. Tolkien
had portrayed the war fought by the Last Alliance of Elves and Men against Sauron
at the end of the Second Age as a devastating struggle, one the Wise hoped
not to have to repeat. In response to the growing threat at Dol Guldur, they
formed the White Council in T.A. 2463, shortly after Sauron's return to the
fortress. Much later, in T.A. 2850, Gandalf infiltrated the area to probe
Dol Guldur, and discovered that the evil presence whose identity he had long
suspected was indeed Sauron. The following year he pressed the White
Council for an attack on Sauron. Saruman, the head of the Council, who
had become corrupted by desire for Sauron's One Ring, spoke against this
move, reassuring them that without the Ring Sauron could not regain his full
strength. Saruman put the Council off by suggesting that the Ring had most likely
been lost in the River Anduin and had been carried out to the sea. But in
fact, Saruman was himself seeking the One Ring, and in this pursuit secretly
betrayed the Council. He believed the Ring lay hidden in the Gladden Fields
not far from Dol Guldur, and was searching for it there. For Isildur had
perished in the Gladden Fields when his army was ambushed by orcs after the
defeat of Sauron — and it was Isildur who had taken Sauron's Ring and was its
last known bearer. Saruman therefore did not want Sauron disturbed, hoping that
if Sauron continued searching, the Ring might reveal itself while trying to
reach Sauron, its one true master. Sauron thus was left to his devices.
Gandalf remained troubled by Sauron's presence, and at the White Council in
T.A. 2941 he once again argued that an attack on Dol Guldur was inevitable and
necessary for the security of Middle-earth and its peoples. Saruman
agreed this time, but only because he had learned two years earlier that
Sauron too was searching for the One Ring in the Gladden Fields. Saruman
hoped too that with Sauron and his servants out of the way, he himself
might have more leisure to continue the search. The Council gathered its
strength and drove Sauron from Dol Guldur. But the victory was hollow:
Sauron had foreseen and prepared in advance for the assault, and he
travelled in secret to Mordor to rebuild Barad-dûr to be his new sanctuary — and
Dol Guldur was shortly reoccupied by nazgûl sent by Sauron from Mordor. It
was not until the War of the Ring, when Saruman was unmasked and Sauron fell,
that the Wise finally purged the dark influence from Dol Guldur.
= Culture= In Tolkien's universe, Mirkwood is
populated predominantly by elves, and has included King Oropher and his son
Thranduil and grandson Legolas. However, the race of Silvan Elves are the
dominant dwellers of Mirkwood. Their homes lie deep in the forest in the
Fellowship of the Ring. Sauron however secretly built a stronghold in the
region and slowly took the southern regions of the land from the elves
without battle over time. As a result, the forest began to host Orcs, Nazgûl,
and giant spiders. The elves from Lothlórien led by
Galadriel and Celeborn crossed the Anduin river to reclaim Amon Lanc after
the defeat of Sauron, and the fortress was destroyed. Celeborn renamed the land
"East Lórien", and the Silvan Elves prospered in what had formerly been
Mirkwood. Adaptations
Several portrayals of Dol Guldur are included in the Games Workshop game, The
Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game, appearing prominently in the "Fall of
the Necromancer". A number of enemies are listed, including Spider Queens,
Castellans of Dol Guldur, Sauron the Necromancer, Wild Warg Chieftain, and
their respective armies. Giant Bats are also included in the game. The entire
set of game figurines is featured on the Games Workshop website; these are
similar in many ways to those from the Warhammer franchise.
Dol Guldur has been featured in many of the game adaptations of The Lord of the
Rings, including the Iron Crown Enterprises portrayal, which contains
scenarios and adventures for the Middle-earth Role Playing game In the
strategy battle game The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II,
Dol Guldur appears as an iconic building. The campaign-scenario called
"Assault on Dol Guldur" appears as the final part of the good campaign.
Released in 1996, the music album Dol Guldur from the black metal band
Summoning features the name Dol Guldur. The Canadian artist John Howe has
portrayed Dol Guldur in several of his sketches and drawings. Howe drew these
for Electronic Arts. In Myth and Magic: The Art of John Howe, Howe includes Dol
Guldur among other fortresses of Middle-earth, such as Dol Amroth In
addition, Howe created many drawings for Peter Jackson during the filming of The
Lord of the Rings trilogy in New Zealand, worked for Tolkien Enterprises,
and also drew for Iron Crown Enterprises' collectable Middle-earth
card game, which mentions Dol Guldur on Gandalf's card.
Mirkwood was added to the massively multiplayer online role-playing game The
Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar in the expansion pack entitled
the Siege of Mirkwood, released on December 1, 2009 and depicting southern
area of Mirkwood and Dol Guldur. The storyline is depicting a small Elven
assault upon the fortress of Dol Guldur. Making a bold strike deep into enemy
territory, the Elves of Lothlorien then prepare to regroup and quickly move back
to the west shore of Anduin before the Enemy can retaliate in force. While most
participants are unaware of the true purpose of the assault, it is eventually
revealed to be a ploy to draw Sauron's attention away from Lothlorien and allow
the Fellowship to safely depart it and travel down the river Anduin.
Dol Guldur is depicted in Peter Jackson's 2012-2014 film trilogy
adaptation of The Hobbit. The first installment, The Hobbit: An Unexpected
Journey, Dol Guldur as a massive castle in ruins, situated on a hill. It is
visited by the wizard Radagast, who has a brief skirmish with the shade of the
Witch-king of Angmar, before encountering the Necromancer and then
fleeing to tell Gandalf what he has discovered. The second part of the
trilogy, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, depicts Gandalf himself entering
Dol Guldur, where he discerns that a spell of illusion hangs over the entire
fortress, making it appear abandoned even though a growing army of Orcs is
amassing there. Gandalf encounters the Necromancer and engages in a magical
duel with him, but is ultimately overpowered when the Necromancer unveils
his true strength and identity as Sauron. In the third film, The Hobbit:
The Battle of the Five Armies, Galadriel, Elrond and Saruman enter Dol
Guldur, where they rescue the wounded Gandalf, and battle the Nazgûl. Radagast
takes Gandalf out of Dol Guldur to recover, and Galadriel uses her power to
force Sauron out of Dol Guldur. Merchandise
A small Lego set was released in 2012, entitled "Gandalf at Dol Guldur", which
included Gandalf, a rock, and a map. See also
Tower of Orthanc Minas Morgul
List of Middle-earth wars and battles References