Mordor/Timeline

## First Age

Much of Mordor originally lay under the Sea of Helcar, which was later drained in the geological calamities at the end of that age.

The name "Mordor" may have been given to the land before Sauron settled there because of its eruptions, although its southern parts - surrounding the Sea of Nurn - weren't quite as blackened and lifeless, and served as the land's source of crops.

Second Age
At the end of the First Age, Sauron fled into the East. In SA 500 or so, he returned and in SA 1000 began construction on Barad-Dûr, his new Dark Tower, near Mount Doom.

In about S.A. 1600 Sauron forged the One Ring in Orodruin, and set about conquering Middle Earth, ushering in the Dark Days. He controled Anorien, Harad and much of Rhun, but his expansion into Eriador halted at Rivendell. In SA 1700 he was eventually repelled by the Men of Númenor, an island kingdom far to the west of Middle-earth. Sauron returned to Mordor, which continued to dominate the surrounding lands.

Over a thousand years later, in SA 3261, the Númenóreans under Ar-Pharazôn sailed to Middle-earth to challenge Sauron's claim to the title of "King of Men". Sauron realized that they would overthrow him if he decided to fight, so he let them capture him and take him back to Númenor, becoming an advisor who filled the king's mind with vanity, which eventually caused its destruction in SA 3319. Immediately after Númenor's destruction, Sauron returned to Mordor as a spirit (the last of his living being having been bound to the One Ring), where his servants waited his return, and resumed his rule.

The Last Alliance of Men and Elves marched into Mordor and fought Sauron and his forces on the slopes of Mount Doom. Elendil and Gil Galad were lost, but Sauron was defeated when Isildur cut the Ring off his hand. He refused to destroy it, however, claiming it for his own, and while Mordor was depopulated, Sauron's spirit endured.

The Gondorians set-up multiple strongeholds in and around Mordor to keep the Orc population in check. Among these forts were Minas Anor, Minas Ithil, Cirith Ungol, Durthang and the Towers of Teeth (Carchost and Narchost). In TA 1600, the Nazgul, servants of Sauron reappeared, and in TA 2001, eight of them took Minas Ithil, which was eventually overran by the Gondorians in 2475. However, after the pestilence of 1635, most other forts around Mordor were largely abandoned.

When Sauron first reappeared, it wasn't in Mordor but Dol Guldur, an abandoned Gondorian fortress in south Greenwood, appearing under the guise of a human sorcerer. He intended to first retake the realm of Angmar in the North (previously subjugated to his servant, the Witch King of Angmar) and use it to wipe out the Elvish realms of Eriador and Rhovanion before he sends the forces of Mordor against Gondor and Rohan.

He was, however, driven out by Galadriel in TA 2941, flying to the South and soon returned, secretly, to Mordor, where Elrond insisted a Gondorian watch must be reassembled, in vain. Sauron secretly built his army and announced his return within ten years time, but was still kept in check by Gondor and the wizards. Only in TA 3001 did he renew his assault on Middle Earth.

### Third Age

Among his journey, Gandalf saw Mount Doom spitting fire again, and went to Minas Tirith, uncovering the account of Isildur and the secret to ascertaining the Ring's identity. At this time, Barad Dur was being reconstructed and the Nazgul, sent by word from a captured Gollum, were sent to find The Shire. As a distraction, Sauron's forces attacked the ruins of Osgiliath and took it before Boromir claimed it back.

Mordor continued to harass Gondor, but its efforts to recruit forces from Harad were kept in check by the Rangers of Ithilien, led by Faramir. An attack was staged on Osgiliath, but seem to have ceased when the Ringbearer was removed from the city. Earlier, Frodo and Sam contemplated sneaking into the Black Gates, but Gollum advised against it.

After the defeat of its ally Isengard at Helm's Deep, Sauron moved quickly to attack Gondor. His forces took Osgiliath by surprise and besieged Minas Tirith. They were defeat by the intervention of both the Rohirrim and the Army of the Dead, and Aragorn later led the surviving forces to an attack on the Black Gate while Frodo and Sam marched into Mordor.

Having snuck past Minas Morgul, up the secret stairs and through Shelob's Lair and Cirith Ungol, Sam and Frodo descended from the Morgai into Gorgoroth, where they were (disguised as Orcs) drafted into the Orc forces. They used the mayhem to flee through an Orc camp near Isenmouthe and into the plains of Gorgoroth, where they eventually reached the slopes of Mount Doom.

### Fourth Age

After the Ring's destruction, Barad Dur collapsed and a cataclysm shook Mordor and swallowed much of its army. The land remained inhospitable, but wasn't as foreboding and most of its Orc population was destroyed or routed. It became part of the reunited Kingdom.