Lovers of The Lord of the Rings will be aware of some impressive strongholds in the books and movies. Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings and Hobbit movies explored many of the iconic locations from Tolkien’s work. The trilogies were both based on the eponymous novels by legendary fantasy writer J.R.R. Tolkien. While not entirely faithful to the books, the trilogies did offer stunning recreations of Elvish strongholds like Rivendell and Lothlórien, plus dark forts like Dol Guldur, and citadels like Minas Tirith. But some of Tolkien’s toughest strongholds have not yet been committed to the screen.
J.R.R. Tolkien created a whole mythology around his 1954 novel The Lord of the Rings. The novel refers throughout to myths and legends of a distant past, and Tolkien went into these in detail in The Silmarillion, which was finally edited and published posthumously. Tolkien’s son, Christopher, went on to publish many more selections of Tolkien’s work that inform the world of Middle-earth. Some of the fortresses of lesser-known Tolkien lore are more than a match for the strongholds of the movies, making a case for those who appreciate good world-building to dive into Tolkien’s legendarium.
You are watching: Lord Of The Rings’ 10 Toughest Strongholds, Ranked
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10 Khazad-Dûm
The Misty Mountains
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Khazad-Dûm is described as the “Greatest of all the mansions of the Dwarves” in The Silmarillion. The Dwarves were incredible miners, cavers, and smiths, leading them to create some of the hardiest and most impressive structures in The Lord of the Rings. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring movie explored Khazad-Dûm, otherwise known as Moria, near the end. The beauty of Khazad-Dûm was obvious, even despite its dilapidated state.
Moria only doesn’t rank higher because it was destroyed by a Balrog in the year 1980 of the Third Age, and despite a Dwarvish attempt to recolonize it, it fell to Orcs in 2994. It was as sturdy as Dwarvish strongholds came, but the Dwarves “delved too greedily and too deep,” unearthing the Balrog and leading to their downfall. Nonetheless, the cavernous halls and great pathways of Moria remained standing, even if the Orcs had let them fall into disrepair.
9 Gondolin
Tumladen
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Gondolin is a city of Tolkien lore that has never been adapted for the screen, big or small, but its legend makes it one of the toughest strongholds in the legendarium. Founded by the High King of the Noldor, Turgon, in the year 64 of the First Age, Gondolin was eventually sacked by Morgoth and came to ruin. But in its heyday, it was a thriving city built on a hill in a secret valley, circled by a mountain range called the Echoriath, or the Encircling Mountains. Gondolin was impressively fortified.
|
Tolkienian Age |
Event Marking The Start |
Years |
Total Length In Solar Years |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Before time |
Indeterminate |
Indeterminate |
Indeterminate |
|
Days before Days |
The Ainur entered Eä |
1 – 3,500 Valian Years |
33,537 |
|
Pre-First Age Years of the Trees (Y.T.) |
Yavanna created the Two Trees |
Y.T. 1 – 1050 |
10,061 |
|
First Age (F.A.) |
Elves awoke in Cuiviénen |
Y.T. 1050 – Y.T. 1500, F.A. 1 – 590 |
4,902 |
|
Second Age (S.A.) |
The War of Wrath ended |
S.A. 1 – 3441 |
3,441 |
|
Third Age (T.A.) |
The Last Alliance defeated Sauron |
T.A. 1 – 3021 |
3,021 |
Not only did it have a top-secret location, but no one was allowed in, and no one was allowed out, unless the king allowed a rare exception. It was also protected by the Great Eagles, who were led by Thorondor. The Hidden Way into Gondolin, if found, confronted travelers with seven gates, each greater than the last. Nargothrond and Menegroth, other Elvish strongholds of the First Age, deserve a special mention, but their ruin came from multiple angles, whereas Gondolin would never have been found by Morgoth if it wasn’t for the shock betrayal of one closest to the king.
8 Rivendell
Eriador
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In some ways, Rivendell was a pale shadow of the Elvish fortresses of the First Age, but unlike them, it withstood all assaults from the enemy until its leader willingly abandoned it. Also known as Imladris, Rivendell was led by the titanic Elrond, one of the Elves of the Eldar. Elrond founded Rivendell in the Second Age as a refuge while Sauron’s power grew.
Rivendell housed the Fellowship at the Council of Elrond, as moviegoers know, but it also withstood a siege by Sauron himself in the year 1700 of the Second Age. Sauron’s forces had overrun Eriador, but Imladris triumphed, with some help from Númenor and the Elves of Eregion. Rivendell was besieged again in the Third Age by Angmar, and again managed to subdue Sauron’s forces.
7 Caras Galadhon
Lothlórien
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Caras Galadhon was the main city and fortress of the realm of Galadriel and Celeborn, Lothlórien. Although seemingly fragile compared to mighty forts like Minas Tirith, Gondolin, or Nargothrond, Caras Galadhon had a secret. It was protected by magic, and specifically by one of the Elvish Rings of Power. Worn by Galadriel, Nenya kept Galadriel’s realms safe from the enemy and the passage of time.
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This inevitably helped Galadriel, who was a mighty Elf even before Nenya, secure victory when Orcs swarmed Lothlórien on March 11, 3019, in the Third Age. Galadriel, Celeborn, and their Elves were victorious yet again a few days later during another assault, and again during a third a while later. After the War of the Ring, Lothlórien was abandoned gradually as its Elves sailed West.
6 Barad-Dûr
Mordor
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Barad-Dûr was, for all intents and purposes, an impregnable fortress, but fell due to its reliance on the power of the One Ring. In The Lord of the Rings, Frodo saw “wall upon wall, battlement upon battlement, black, immeasurably strong, mountain of iron, gate of steel, tower of adamant… Barad-dûr, fortress of Sauron.” The tower’s might was clear, but once Frodo dropped the One Ring into the fires of Mount Doom, he destroyed it completely.
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Melting the ring in Mount Doom annihilated it, undoing its effects on everything it had helped build, including Barad-Dûr, and decimating Sauron’s body. Barad-Dûr had already been rebuilt after an attack, proving its resilience. After winning the War of the Last Alliance at the end of the Second Age, Isildur and his forces had crushed Barad-Dûr but couldn’t remove its foundations.
5 Minas Tirith
Gondor
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The famous citadel of Gondor went through more strife than perhaps any other city in Middle-earth, situated right on the borders of Mordor. Minas Tirith was originally built in the Second Age of Middle-earth by the Realms in Exile – Elendil and his sons, Isildur and Anárion. Fleeing Númenor in the wake of its destruction, Elendil’s family led the survivors of Númenor to create the Realms – Gondor and Arnor.
Originally called Minas Anor, the fort was first attacked by Sauron in S.A. 3429. It was restored in the early Third Age before a civil war, a plague, wars with Easterlings and the Corsairs of Umbar, and a constant stream of fighting with the neighboring Morgul Vale. This was all before the War of the Ring shown in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings, which saw Minas Tirith fight the seemingly hopeless Battle of the Pelennor Fields. Minas Tirith was breached, but its army won, in the end.
4 Orthanc
Isengard
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Orthanc was miraculously unassailable. Orthanc was the tower standing in Isengard, managed by Saruman during the events of The Lord of the Rings. Saruman’s magic may have backed Orthanc up in the Third Age, but the credit for this tower must ultimately go to the Realms in Exile. Orthanc was built as part of the extended realm of Gondor during its early days, and remained impregnable until the end of The Lord of the Rings, despite numerous assaults. The Ents attacked Isengard and overtook it completely, but this powerful species couldn’t move Orthanc.
Saruman remained safe inside it. Tolkien described the tower as “fashioned by the builders of old,” mentioning that “it seemed a thing not made by the craft of Men, but riven from the bones of the earth in the ancient torment of the hills.” Orthanc hosted one of the powerful palantíri, a Seeing Stone that enabled users like Saruman to see other times and other places, aiding in its defense. There were also Stones in Gondor and Barad-Dûr, but neither stronghold held fast quite like Orthanc.
3 Angband
The Iron Mountains
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Angband did not feature in Peter Jackson’s movies, harking back to the earliest days of Middle-earth, but was one of Tolkien’s toughest fortresses. Angband was the second stronghold formed by Morgoth, the original Dark Lord. Before Sauron was Middle-earth’s biggest concern, his predecessor, Morgoth, lived at Angband, which was built under the Iron Mountains. The great tunnel to this labyrinthine underground stronghold was under three volcanic mountains called Thangorodrim.
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Thangorogrim was used to Morgoth’s advantage, with his enemies Maedhros and Hurin both meeting a terrifying fate on its peaks. Elf princess Lúthien and her mortal romance, Beren, were able to infiltrate Angband and steal a Silmaril from Morgoth’s Crown, most laudably. However, no Elf, Man, or Dwarf ever succeeded in taking it down, until the Valar stepped in to put it to bed. The 15 Valar were the demigods of Tolkien’s world, second only to the One creator, Eru Ilúvatar, in power.
2 Utumno
The Iron Mountains
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Utumno was Morgoth’s first fortress, built in the Days before Days, and it was so mighty that the Valar permanently disfigured Middle-earth in their attempts to breach it. The Valar withheld from extensive attacks against Morgoth’s forces in the lead-up to the creation of Men, in the fear that they would ravage Middle-earth further. Morgoth sent out “the blight of his hatred” from Utumno, spreading poisonous and dangerous flora and fauna during his many battles with the Valar.
Morgoth also “ensnared” some of the first Elves to awaken and brought them to Utumno, where “by slow arts of cruelty” they were corrupted into the first Orcs. Although Utumno was eventually defeated by the Valar, it “was delved exceeding deep, and its pits were filled with fires and with great hosts of the servants of Melkor.” Even though Morgoth was captured, the Valar never discovered the extent of Utumno (or Angband, for that matter) and ended up leaving a large portion of it undiscovered, along with its evil beings.
1 Valinor
Aman
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Valinor was a large realm in the central part of the continent of Aman, constituting the heavily fortified residence of the Valar. Many Elves also lived in Valinor, which covered the city of Valmar and its neighboring area. Other than Valmar, Valinor encompassed Ilmarin, the Halls of Manwë and Varda on Mount Taniquetil, as well as the Halls of Mandos, the Halls of Aulë, and other Valarin and Elvish residences. As the second-highest powers in the universe that Tolkien created, the Valar were well-positioned to defend their realm.
The great Valar Morgoth had delved great fortresses in Angband and Utumno, but it was the other Valar who kept their realm standing over the long years, while Angband and Utumno were defeated.
Morgoth was also a Valar, unfortunately, and his assaults on Valinor cost Middle-earth two of its greatest assets – the Lamps and the Trees. These two light sources were a tragic loss for Aman and Middle-earth, but Valinor and its main halls remained standing after their loss. The great Valar Morgoth had delved great fortresses in Angband and Utumno, but it was the other Valar who kept their realm standing over the long years, while Angband and Utumno were defeated.
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The Lord of the Rings is a multimedia franchise consisting of several movies and a TV show released by Amazon titled The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. The franchise is based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s book series that began in 1954 with The Fellowship of the Ring. The Lord of the Rings saw mainstream popularity with Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies.
Movie(s) The Lord of the Rings (1978) , The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring , The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers , The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King , The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey , The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug , The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies , The Lord of The Rings: The War of The Rohirrim Created by J.R.R. Tolkien First Film The Lord of the Rings (1978) Cast Norman Bird , Anthony Daniels , Elijah Wood , Ian McKellen , Liv Tyler , Viggo Mortensen , Sean Astin , Cate Blanchett , John Rhys-Davies , Billy Boyd , Dominic Monaghan , Orlando Bloom , Christopher Lee , Hugo Weaving , Sean Bean , Ian Holm , Andy Serkis , Brad Dourif , Karl Urban , Martin Freeman , Richard Armitage , James Nesbitt , Ken Stott , Benedict Cumberbatch , Evangeline Lilly , Lee Pace , Luke Evans , Morfydd Clark , Mike Wood , Ismael Cruz Cordova , Charlie Vickers , Markella Kavenagh , Megan Richards , Sara Zwangobani , Daniel Weyman , Cynthia Addai-Robinson , Lenny Henry , Brian Cox , Shaun Dooley , Miranda Otto , Bilal Hasna , Benjamin Wainwright , Luke Pasqualino , Christopher Guard , William Squire , Michael Scholes , John Hurt TV Show(s) The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Expand
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