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Fortress · Mordor

Black Gate

Morannon

The Morannon, a wall of iron and stone shutting the northwestern entrance to Mordor

View on map Mordor
Appears in
The Lord of the Rings
Region
Mordor
Journeys passing through
4
Black Gate on the map of Middle-earth

The Morannon sits at Mordor's northwestern corner, where the Mountains of Shadow running north and the Ash Mountains running west almost meet. Through that gap runs the road from the Dagorlad into the valley of Udun and on into the plain of Gorgoroth. The Black Gate closes it: a rampart of stone with iron doors and a single arch, watched from two towers.

Those towers, Carchost and Narchost, are called the Towers of the Teeth. Gondor built them after the Last Alliance to keep watch on an empty Mordor and prevent Sauron's servants from returning. The watch was abandoned during the Great Plague, and when Sauron came back in TA 2942 he found his own fortifications waiting.

Frodo and Sam reached a hollow in the hills in front of the Gate in March TA 3019 and lay watching companies of Easterlings and Southrons march in. Frodo intended to try the Gate. Gollum begged him not to and offered another way in, which was the stair of Cirith Ungol and Shelob.

On 25 March the host of the West came to the same place with a few thousand men, far too few to win. That was the point: Aragorn meant to look like the Ring-bearer's protectors so that Sauron would empty Mordor to meet him. The Mouth of Sauron came out to parley, showed Frodo's mithril coat and Sam's sword, and demanded surrender. Gandalf refused, the Gate opened, and the army was surrounded on two slag hills.

The battle ended when the Ring went into the fire. The towers fell, the Gate broke, and the armies of Mordor scattered or fled. The Morannon is the one point on the map where an army could enter Mordor at all, which is why both the Last Alliance and the host of the West finished their campaigns standing in front of it.

Events at this place

  1. TA 1640 · The Lord of the Rings

    The Towers of the Teeth left empty

    Gondor had raised Carchost and Narchost beside the Morannon after Sauron's overthrow to keep watch on an empty Mordor. After the Great Plague the garrisons were withdrawn and the towers stood empty.

  2. TA 3019, March 5 · The Lord of the Rings

    Frodo turns away from the Gate

    Watching armies enter Mordor, Frodo saw the Morannon could not be passed and accepted Gollum's offer of another road.

  3. TA 3019, March 25 · The Lord of the Rings

    The Mouth of Sauron parleys

    Sauron's lieutenant came out with Frodo's mithril shirt and Sam's sword, demanding terms. Gandalf rejected them and took the tokens.

  4. TA 3019, March 25 · The Lord of the Rings

    The Battle of the Morannon

    Aragorn's outnumbered army fought before the Gate to hold Sauron's attention while Frodo climbed Mount Doom.

  5. TA 3019, March 25 · The Lord of the Rings

    The Gate falls

    When the Ring was destroyed the Towers of the Teeth collapsed and the Black Gate was thrown down.

Frequently asked questions

Where is the Black Gate on the Middle-earth map?

At the northwestern corner of Mordor, in the gap between the Ephel Duath and the Ered Lithui, facing the plain of Dagorlad.

Who built the Black Gate?

Sauron raised the Morannon itself. The two watchtowers beside it, the Towers of the Teeth, were built by Gondor and later taken over by his forces.

Why did Aragorn march to the Black Gate?

To draw Sauron's armies out of Mordor and fix his attention on the army at the Gate, giving Frodo and Sam a chance to reach Mount Doom.