Minas Morgul

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.
==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.The Atlas of Middle-earth, Regional Maps, "Mordor (and Adjacent Lands)"
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.
==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.The Silmarillion, Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age Minas Ithil housed a palantír, the Ithil-stone and the first White Tree of Gondor.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. Most of the city's population perished in the Great Plague,The History of Middle-earth, Vol. XII, The Peoples of Middle-earth 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. 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===
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.
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'.The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King, Book Six, Chapter V: "The Steward and the King"
==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.The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King, Book Six, Chapter I: "The Tower of Cirith Ungol"
==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 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
==References==
de:Minas Morgul
es:Minas Morgul
fr:Minas Morgul
it:Minas Morgul
nl:Minas Morgul
pl:Minas Morgul
pt-br:Minas Ithil
ru:Минас Итиль
uk:Мінас-Морґул
Category:Cities
Category:Sauron's fortress & strongholds
Category:Strongholds of Nazgûl
Category:Mordor
Category:Locations in Middle-earth: Shadow of War
Category:Cities of Gondor
Category:Places having held a palantír
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