Talk:Barad-dûr

Needs improvement
Hmm, this really needs improvement (by someone with way more knowledge of the subject than I). It would be nice if someone could add:
 * 1) whether Sauron built the tower himself (or was it one of those Numenorian ones that I read about somewhere)
 * 2) what the name means in english
 * 3) a rather better description of where it actually was
 * 4) (stretching it a bit) what was it for (i.e. why didn't Sauron live in a normal house, like everyone else)?

1-Sauron built the tower himself, or rather, had his slaves do it for him.

2-"dark tower", as indicated

3- Very good question. The film has it much closer to the Black Gate than Tolkien's maps would indicate. I'll update with information from The Encyclopedia of Arda.


 * Barad-dûr was located on the western end of the southern (incomplete) mountain wall that fences of Gorgoroth from Núrnen. Thus not exactly close to the Morannon.

4-It was Sauron's favorite fortress, apparently. He seems to have liked towers. See Dol Guldur. More seriously, it was really enormously high and therefore a good place to keep his ceaseless watch on Middle-earth. --[[User:Aranel|Aranel ("Sarah")]] 00:20, 6 Sep 2004 (UTC)


 * Also, Barad-dûr was built using the power of the Ring, and therefore it was a part of Sauron's being as much as the Ring. Only in Barad-dûr and with the Ring was Sauron his complete self again (he had diluted himself). [[Image:Anarion.png]] 07:57, 6 Sep 2004 (UTC)

Sauron also probably didn't want to appear normal, he wanted to appear as frightning and omnimous as possible. So where he lives reflects that. A normal house does not appear frightning, unless its haunted, in which case it is no longer normal.

Don't Forget
What about entries on other "fortresses" featured in LOTR like Helm's Deep and Minas Tirith or if they are already in existence why are they not in this sub-category as well?

Also - maybe an article on the Death Star, yet another well-known fictional fortress? ewok37 08:37, 2 January 2006 (UTC)

Infobox and Picture
I have added an infobox. Also, the very misguiding picture (it would have you believe Mount Doom was across the street from Barad-dur!) has been moved lower down in the article to the Portrayal in Adaptations section, where it belongs. --Barnikel 08:03, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:Mordor.png
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Help Needed!! 12 Feb 2016
This article has come a long way since the previous comments thanks to the contributions of many.

I've been working on this article for a while now and would like to ask for your help!!!


 * 1. The article is in the 'start class' category, but as it is now fairly comprehensive and referenced it should presumably be in another category - please could someone look at this, thanks.


 * 2. While I have a lot of Tolkien books which I have used for the article, I only have one title from The History of Middle-earth series that being The End of the Third Age. I used it for info mainly from the chapters "In the Land of Shadow," and "Mount Doom."  I do not have Hammond and Scull's "The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion."  This book and the others are very difficult to get in the country I live in, so if some kind person could consult them and add any relevant content into the article I would be extremely grateful!

I will try to find published reviews of JRR Tolkien's painting of Barad-dûr (please let me know of any), and film reviews for Peter Jackson's "The Return of the King" which mention the portrayal of Barad-dûr so that we can include those published comments as opposed to using wiki-editor's views - something that we are not technically supposed to do.

Many thanks for your help

Lord Gorthol (talk) 15:05, 12 February 2015 (UTC)


 * I have upgraded the article to "C" class. You may want to solve the issue in the article where it may contain possible research. If you want to find more info, try this link. You might attain some great sources. :-) Burklemore1 (talk) 16:03, 29 March 2015 (UTC)
 * let's leave it to the members of the project in question to rate it how they see fit. GimliDotNet (talk) 16:11, 29 March 2015 (UTC)
 * Reasonable enough, I won't question that. Burklemore1 (talk) 16:21, 29 March 2015 (UTC)

Adaptations
A discussion has been started at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Middle-earth about this article's "Portrayal in adaptions" section. De728631 (talk) 17:59, 15 February 2015 (UTC)


 * I can't find any sources among published reviews of "The Return of the King movie" (2003) to back up the statements made in the "Adaptations" section, the film reviews simply aren't that detailed (although I believe the statements in the Adaptations section to be true). See Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Middle-earth for details. Lord Gorthol (talk) 16:27, 20 February 2015 (UTC)

J.R.R. Tolkien this, J.R.R. Tolkien that
There's no need to use the author's "full" name every time; it's pointless and just gets tedious. And for that matter, there's no need to name him at all at every mention of one of the books: we know who wrote them. The only reason would be to distinguish the books from the films (or conceivably some other renditions, such as, I don't know, a radio play?)-- and that's not necessary here, because Jackson's films are only mentioned in the section Depiction in adaptations. -- Thnidu (talk) 05:22, 4 January 2017 (UTC)

Sentence regarding construction needs rewrite
Under the heading "History: Concept and creation", the first sentence states "Little information is seems to be constructed of immense masonry blocks." Clearly, this needs to be rewritten as it is nonsensical as-is. Perhaps it was intended to say something like "Little information is available, but it seems to be constructed of immense masonry blocks." (revisions in bold) Bricology (talk) 20:34, 19 May 2019 (UTC)
 * It is also unclear whence all these observations came:
 * "Little information is  seems to be constructed of immense masonry blocks.  The few existing windows are small and either dark or red; one is clearly barred.  One high, thin vertical spire is visible in the background.  The fortress on this side seems to stand on top of a large monolithic rock, with a relatively flat top and a sheer cliff face.  Mount Doom can be seen erupting in the background, with what appears to be a lava stream flowing from there towards Barad-dûr.  A narrow stone bridge leads across the chasm to a single door in the tower."
 * Str1977 (talk) 21:41, 27 June 2019 (UTC)