Tower of Cirith Ungol

The Tower of Cirith Ungol, or Cirith Ungol, was a fortress in western Mordor that guarded the Pass of Cirith Ungol.
== Description ==
At the top of the pass was a cleft with two rock horns on each side, with the tower on the northernmost. The tower was built of black stone against the eastern rock face. There were three tiers, each set back from the last. The two sides faced northeast and southeast, and met to form a bastion pointing eastward. At the top of the tower was a tall round turret overlooking the pass. A high, outer wall surrounded the bottom tier, and formed an overhanging parapet to prevent enemies from climbing over. A road ran from the pass of Cirith Ungol to the tower, with the fortress to the north and a sheer precipice to the south. In the southeastern side of the outer wall was the main gate, guarded by two hideous statues on each side, called Watchers. Each statue was of three bodies connected to one vulture-like head. Also on the southeastern wall of the lowest tier of the tower itself was the gateway leading inside. A hallway with rooms branching off traveled back through the building to a curved archway called the Undergate, which led to Shelob's Lair. To the right of the Undergate was a spiral staircase leading up through the tower, opening up onto the roof of the third tier. On the western side of the roof was the round turret. A winding staircase went up to a passageway running across the turret. Above the passage was a trapdoor leading to a room in the very top of the tower.
The fortress was associated with the mountain fortress of Durthang in northwestern Mordor, and the Towers of the Teeth at the Morannon. All had been part of Gondor's defensive scheme that proved too costly to maintain in the course of long hardship.The Atlas of Middle-earth, pgs. 92 & 143-5.
== History ==
=== Under Gondor ===
The tower was built by the Men of Gondor after the War of the Last Alliance to guard the province of Ithilien and to prevent evil from returning to Mordor. For this reason its two bastions were directed to the north and south-east. At some date prior to the fall of Minas Ithil and possibly through treachery, the tower fell to the forces of the Witch-king of Angmar.
=== Under Sauron ===
The tower itself became a stronghold of the enemy and was garrisoned by Uruks and Orcs. After Sauron's second return it was used by Orcs to watch the lands of Mordor to prevent the desertion of any of Sauron's forces. During the War of the Ring, Frodo Baggins was imprisoned here after being captured by Shagrat's Orc party as he lay on the ground paralyzed by the poison of Shelob. They intended to hold him for questioning; when he was searched, his mithril-shirt was found, to the Orcs' great amusement. Afterwards, Orcs from Minas Morgul led by Gorbag battled with Shagrat's Orcs to possess the shirt. By the end of this skirmish, Orcs and Uruks from both sides had slain each other almost entirely, allowing Samwise Gamgee to enter the tower unopposed and rescue Frodo.The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King, Book Six, Ch. I: "The Tower of Cirith Ungol"
==In adaptations==
In The Lord of the Rings Online, after Shagrat makes his report to Lugburz, a new garrison is sent from Durthang to reoccupy the Tower. These orcs soon discover that something has happened to Shelob, who is summoning to her side all of her children from across the Middle-earth. The Undergate is breached by spiders who then overrun the Tower.
==Translations==
Foreign Language 	Translated name
Afrikaans 	Toring van Cirith Ungol
Arabic 	برج سيريث اونغول
Armenian 	Կիրիտհ Օնգոլ աշտարակ
Assamese 	চিৰিথ উংগল টাৱাৰ
Azerbaijani 	Cirith Ungol qülləsi
Basque 	Cirith Ungoleko dorrera
Belarusian Cyrillic	Кірыт Унгол вежа
Bengali 	সিরিথ আনগোল টাওয়ার
Bulgarian Cyrillic 	Кула на Кирит Унгол
Catalan 	Torre de Cirith Úngol
Croatian 	Toranj Cirith Ungol
Czech 	Cirith Ungol Věž
Danish 	Tårnet i Cirith Ungol
Dutch 	Toren van Cirith Ungol
Esperanto 	Turo de Cirith Ungol
Estonian 	Cirith Ungoli torn
Filipino 	Tore ng Cirith Ungol
Finnish 	Cirith Ungolin torni
French 	Tour de Cirith Ungol
Galician 	Torre de Cirith Ungol
German 	Turm von Cirith Ungol
Greek 	Πύργος του Κιριθ Ονγολ
Gujarati 	સિરિથ અનગોલ ટાવર
Hebrew 	מגדל קירית אונגול
Hungarian 	Cirith Ungol tornya
Irish Gaelic 	Túr Cirith Ungol
Indonesian 	Menara Cirith Ungol
Italian 	Torre di Cirith Ungol
Japanese 	シリスアンゴルの塔
Konkari 	सिरिथ उंगोल गोपुर
Korean 	키리스 웅골 탑
Latin 	Turris Cirith Ungol
Latvian 	Cirith Ungol tornis
Lithuanian 	Cirith Ungol bokštas
Luxembourgish 	Tuerm vu Cirith Ungol
Macedonian Cyrillic	Кирит Унгол кула
Malagasy 	Tilikambon'i Cirith Ungol
Malayalam 	സിരിത്ത് അങ്കോൾ ടവർ
Malaysian 	Menara Cirith Ungol
Marathi 	सिरिथ उंगोल टॉवर
Mongolian Cyrillic 	Кирит Унголын цамхаг
Norwegian 	Tårnet i Cirith Ungol
Persian 	برج کیریت آنگول
Polish 	Wieża Cirith Ungol
Portuguese 	Torre de Cirith Ungol
Punjabi 	ਸਿਰਿਥ ਅਨਗੋਲ ਟਾਵਰ
Russian 	Башня Кирит Унгол
Sinhalese 	සිරිත් උන්ගොල් කුළුණ
Slovak 	Veža Cirith Ungol
Slovenian 	Stolp Cirith Ungol
Spanish 	Torre de Cirith Ungol
Swedish 	Tornet av Cirith Ungol
Tagalog 	Torre ni Cirith Ungol
Tamil 	சிரித் உங்கோல் கோபுரம்
Thai 	หอคอยคิริธอุงโกล
Turkish 	Cirith Ungol Kulesi
Turkmen 	Cirith Ungol Diňi
Ukrainian Cyrillic 	Кіріт Унґол вежа
Vietnamese 	Tháp Cirith Ungol
Welsh 	Tŵr Cirith Ungol
Yiddish 	טורעם פון כּיריטה ונגאָל
== References ==
Category:Towers
Category:Mordor
Category:Sauron's fortress & strongholds
de:Turm von Cirith Ungol
pl:Wieża Cirith Ungol
ru:Башня Кирит Унгол