Mordor
Melkor or Morgoth, the former master of Sauron created Orodruin also known as Mount Doom and named the land Mordor that means “Black Pit”. Mordor didn’t take much part in the history of the Legendarium until Sauron arrived at Mordor during the Second Age.
Shelob, the spider and the descendant of the Giant Spider Ungoliant was the first inhabitant of Mordor even before Sauron arrived.
Sauron didn’t necessarily get rid of Shelob as the spider would become a great defense of Cirith Ungol later on. Mordor was surrounded by the mountain ranges of Ephel Dauth in the west and the south and the mountain ranges of Ered Lithui in the north.
At the north of Mordor, lay the plains of Dagorlad and the Black Gates or the Towers of the Teeth of Morannon protected the entrance to Morodor. At the west passage was located Minas Morgul and Cirith Ungol that was another entrance into Mordor.
Mordor – Economy and Food of orcs
Mordor itself was a wasteland where crops and food couldn’t be produced. At the southern region of Mordor, lay the Sea of Numen and the lands of Nurn.
The lands of Nurn around the Sea of Numen was fertile and served as a food source for the armies of Mordor. Human slaves were sent to Nurn and worked in the plantations of Mordor to feed the armies of Sauron.
The War of the Ring was not necessarily a war between orcs and the alliance of human, dwarves and elves. Mordor wasn’t the land of orcs as well and there were many humans that were allies of Sauron or slaves.
The orcs of Mordor and Sauron’s army didn’t always feed on human flesh but they would eat food that were grown from the agriculture production of the human slaves from Nurn and the Sea of Numen.
Mount Doom – Orodruin
Mount Doom was also known as Orodruin that was first created by Sauron’s former master Melkor also known as Morgoth.
Mount Doom or Orodruin was the largest volcano that was located in Mordor that was linked with Sauron’s base Barad-dur.
At the Crack of Doom also known as Sammath Naur that was the pit inside Mount Doom, Sauron would forge the One Ring.
Only by the flames and lava from the Crack of Doom or Sammath Naur, could the One Ring be destroyed. Sam and Frodo would eventually make their way to Mount Doom to destroy the One Ring.
Barad-dur – Tower of Sauron
The tower of Sauron or Barad-dur was locate right next to Mount Doom and served as the base and fortress of Mordor. After Sauron’s body perished by the defeat of the Last Alliance of Elves and Men, Sauron would dwell in Dol Guldur to recover his strength.
After Sauron recovered some of his power, the White Council would attack Dol Guldur and Sauron would flee to the east and restore his old allies.
After Sauron recovered his allies at the east, Sauron returned to Mordor where the nazguls prepared his return and greeted him. With the eruption of Mount Doom once more, Sauron would take a form as the Eye of Sauron in the tower of Barad-dur and watch over Middle Earth.
Sauron would make the Eye of Sauron or the Eye of Barad-dur as his symbol and attempted to conquer Middle Earth once more by annihilating men of the west and the elves and recover the One Ring.
Cirith Ungol
The tower of Cirith Ungol was originally a tower that Gondor built to watch over Mordor after the defeat of Sauron. However, after the Great Plague, Gondor lacked the manpower to sustain the watchout of Mordor and pulled its forces from Cirith Ungol and Morodr.
Sauron and the nazguls would take over Cirith Ungol as they reclaimed Mordor. The spider Shelob eventually dwelled in the paths of Cirith Ungol feeding on anything that tries to pass by. Sauron left Shelob as he thought Shelob served as a great defense for the paths of Cirith Ungol.
Gollum was once captured by Shelob but swore to bring Shelob food and was released. Gollum would eventually betray Sam and Frodo by bringing them to the path of Cirith Ungol to Shelob.
However, Sam was able to ward off Shelob with the Phial of Galadriel that contained the light of Earendil and the elvish dagger from Gondolin Sting. Frodo, who was paralyzed, was captured by the orcs of Cirith Ungol but Sam was able to rescue him at the tower of Cirith Ungol.
Plains of Dagorlad and the Dead Marshes
The Plains of Dagorlad were located just south-east of Emyn Muil where the Uruk Hai attacked the Fellowship of the Ring where Frodo Baggins and Sam parted off from the Fellowship of the Ring and Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli would head west again to rescue Merry and Pippin.
The Plains of Dagorlad was located north of Mordor and the final battle of the War of the Last Alliance of Elves and Men was fought on the Plains of the Dagorlad.
At the battle of the plains of Dagorlad, Gil-Galad and Elendil died but Isildur successfully cut off Sauron’s finger with the One Ring and the Last Alliance of Elves and Men achieved victory.
The Dead Marshes was located northwest of the Plains of Dagorlad where Gollum, Sam and Frodo tried to cross and first witness the nazgul on a Fell beast.
The Dead bodies of the Dead Marshes were the bodies that weren’t recovered after the Battle of the Plain of Dagorlad, the final battle of the War of the Last Alliance of Elves and Men.
As J.R.R. Tolkien experienced the brutal battle of the Somme and the cruel warfare of the trench warfare of World War 1, he input his terrible experience and descriptions by describing the Dead Marshes.
Morannon, Black Gate and the Towers of the Teeth
Morannon was the northwest region of Mordor that was the entrance point into Mordor that was guarded by the Towers of the Teeth and the Black Gate. Gondor built the Towers of the Teeth when Gondor watched over and protected Mordor after the first defeat of Sauron.
However, after Gondor pulled off forces from Mordor and Sauron took over Mordor again, Sauron built the Black Gate to fortify Mordor even more.
Sam and Frodo Baggins along with Gollum first attempted to enter Mordor by the Black Gate. However, as Sauron assembled his allies, the security of the Black Gate and the Towers of the Teeth that watched over the Black Gate increased so Frodo, Sam and Gollum had to give up entry by the Black Gate.
Their party was almost caught by the Easterling scouts that were entering Mordor through the Black Gate.
