What is the History of Dol Guldur?

Q: What is the History of Dol Guldur?

ANSWER: Dol Guldur (Sindarin for “Hill of Sorcery”) is a tall, stony hill in southern Mirkwood (Greenwood the Great) where Sauron builds his first fortress after taking shape again in the Third Age. In the Tolkien books, readers only learn from the appendices to The Lord of the Rings that Sauron took possession of the hill around Third Age year 1050. We do learn from Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth that the hill’s history is more ancient.

During the Second Age, before the year 1000 (when Sauron began building the fortress of Barad-dûr in Mordor) many Sindarin Elves leave Lindon and migrate eastward. They settle among the Silvan (“wood”) Elves in the Vales of Anduin (and perhaps beyond) and establish kingdoms among them. By the end of the Third Age, when The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings take place, only two of these realms appear to remain (Thranduil’s kingdom in northern Mirkwood and Lothlorien). It is a matter of speculation among Tolkien fans that Dorwinion may have been another of these surviving Sindarin-Silvan Elf realms.

According to one essay published in Unfinished Tales Oropher, father of Thranduil, established his kingdom around Amon Lanc (“bald hill”), which would later become Dol Guldur. Oropher eventually led his people north as the influence of he Noldor passed through Khazad-dûm (Moria) and into Lothlorien. Oropher settled in the Emyn Duil (the small range of mountains in the central part of the forest).

From these few notes we can derive a relatively thin chronology of what happened, although Tolkien may have had something else in mind even though he apparently never wrote it out. The Sindar may have left Lindon before the founding of Eregion in Second Age year 750 (the founding of the realm is given as 700 in “The History of Galadriel and Celeborn” in Unfinished Tales, and the city of Ost-in-Edhil was built in 750). When mithril was discovered in Khazad-dûm the Noldor took an interest in the region and thus established this second kingdom next to the Dwarven realm. If Oropher really resented the intrusions of the Noldor and the growing wealth and influence of the Dwarves, it seems logical that he must have settled in southern Greenwood before Eregion was founded.

Amon Lanc must have remained under the influence and protection of the Silvan Elves throughout much of the Second Age, although it could have been abandoned during the War of the Elves and Sauron (Second Age year 1693-1701) as the Elves, Men, and Dwarves who opposed Sauron fled into hidden refuges across the northern lands. If that is the case, then Amon Lanc probably remained abandoned and unused by Elves altogether until Sauron seized it around Third Age year 1050.

The Wise (the leaders of the Eldar and the Istari) learned of the fortress’ existence around Third Age year 1100. By this time Easterlings had been living in or near southern Mirkwood for several centuries. They had already begun attacking Gondor without Sauron’s guidance in Third Age year 490. According to an early draft for “The Tale of Years” (published in The Peoples of Middle-earth, Volume XII of The Peoples of Middle-earth):

…[The Hobbits] are thought to have long dwelt in Greenwood the Great or near its western eaves, and in the vale of the upper Anduin. But at this time they began to move westward over the Misty Mountains into Eriador. It is said that they moved from their earlier dwellings because Men increased much at that time; and because a shadow fell on Greenwood, and it became darkened, and was called Mirkwood, for an evil spirit stirred there.

In the essay “Dwarves and Men” (published in the same book) we read:

The vague tradition preserved by the Hobbits of the Shire was that they had dwelt once in lands by a Great River, but long ago had left them, and found their way through or round high mountains, when they no longer felt at ease in their homes because of the multiplication of the Big Folk and of a shadow of fear that had fallen on the Forest. This evidently reflects the troubles of Gondor in the earlier part of the Third Age. The increase in Men was not the normal increase of those with whom they had lived in friendship, but the steady increase of invaders from the East, further south held in check by Gondor, but in the North beyond the bounds of the Kingdom harassing the older ‘Atanic’ inhabitants, and even in places occupying the Forest and coming through it into the Anduin valley. But the shadow of which the tradition spoke was not solely due to human invasion. Plainly the Hobbits had sensed, even before the Wizards and the Eldar had become fully aware of it, the awakening of Sauron and his occupation of Dol Guldur.

It is clear from other notes and essays published in various books that Sauron brought Easterlings to southern Greenwood, or else found them there, and also populated that part of the forest with Orcs, Trolls, giant Spiders, and perhaps other evil creatures including Wargs. His pseudonym, The Necromancer, implies that people associated him with death and the spirits of the dead. So he must have used evil spirits (perhaps only the Nazgul, perhaps the Nazgul and other spirits he had enslaved) to fill the forest with horror.

Around the year 1300 Sauron’s evil servants were numerous enough that he was able to send Orcs to establish colonies in the Misty Mountains (the traditional home of the Longbeard Dwarves) and the Lord of the Nazgul to northeastern Eriador to establish the realm of Angmar. This happen less than 100 years after Gondor establishes its supremacy among the Northmen living close to Mirkwood; presumably Sauron withheld his forces at Dol Guldur from involvement in Gondor’s wars with the Easterlings and those Northmen who had sided with them.

In the year 1636 the Great Plague ravaged Middle-earth. Sauron was able to repopulate Mordor (now abandoned by Gondor) with evil creatures but he did not openly claim it for himself.

Angmar was destroyed by Gondor and its allies in the year 1975. Frumgar led the Éothéod north away from the Gladden Fields in the year 1977. Sauron sent the Lord of the Nazgul to Mordor in 1980, where the other Nazgul joined him. They spent 20 years preparing for their assault on Gondor, and in 2002 they seized the city of Minas Ithil.

In the year 2063 Gandalf went to Dol Guldur to attempt to learn who was there and what his purpose was. By this time it was probably obvious to the Wise some very long-lived and most likely ancient dark power was dwelling at Dol Guldur. They assumed it was one of the Nazgul. Sauron fled in order not to be discovered for though he was fully re-embodied by this time he was still very weak, lacking the One Ring. The Watchful Peace began with Sauron’s retreat.

Sauron returned to Dol Guldur in 2460 (“with increased strength”), thus ending the Watchful Peace. From Dol Guldur he directed his servants in Gondor to begin attacking Gondor again in 2475. It was at this time that the new race of Orcs, the large Uruks, first appeared.

The Misty Mountains had long been deserted by both Orcs and Dwarves but by 2480 Sauron began sending evil creatures to inhabit the mountains again. They seized Khazad-dûm. The Peoples of Middle-earth says that Orcs occupied Gundabad sometime in the Third Age (they had previously seized it during the War of the Elves and Sauron in the Second Age). Gundabad was in Orcish control by the time of the War of the Dwarves and Orcs, and also by the time of the Battle of Five Armies. It appears to have changed hands several times, so I think it reasonable to infer that Gundabad must have been seized around the time that Khazad-dûm was as well.

The wars between the Rohirrim (formerly the Éothéod) and the Easterlings and between the Dwarves and Orcs do not appear to have affected Dol Guldur. Sauron must have kept his profile very low during these conflicts so as to avoid having to deal with a direct assault. Nonetheless, Sauron was bold enough to send out hunters to find Thrain II and bring him back to Dol Guldur in 2845. Gandalf entered the fortress again in 2850, discovered Sauron’s true identity and found Thrain.

By this time Saruman was in near-direct competition with Sauron. He had begun searching for the One Ring near the Gladden Fields and for that reason he persuaded the White Council not to attack Dol Guldur.

The White Council finally took action in 2941. Presumably, Lothlorien’s army was used to launch an assault against the fortress. Sauron withdrew to the east. He never returned to Dol Guldur but after he reclaimed Mordor for himself in 2951 he sent three of the Nazgul back to Dol Guldur.

Dol Guldur remained in the hands of Sauron’s forces until the end of the War of the Ring. It launched three attacks against Lothlorien, which the Elves repelled. Celeborn and Galadriel then led a counter-attack across the Anduin. The took the fortress and destroyed it. Celeborn then took the southern forest for his new kingdom, East Lorien, and with Thranduil’s help he began cleansing the forest, which they renamed Eryn Lasgalen (“Wood of Green-leaves”). Amon Lanc once again became the seat of Elvish power in the great forest.

See also:

• How Did Gandalf Sneak Into Dol Guldur?
• How Much Did Tolkien Write About Gandalf’s Journey to Dol Guldur?

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