Minas Morgul

Minas Morgul
Artist´s depiction of Minas Ithil
J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium location
Other name(s)	Minas Ithil, The Dead City, The Tower of Sorcery
Type	Fortified city of the Nazgûl, Former eastern city of Gondor
Ruler	Witch-king of Angmar
First appearance	The Two Towers, The Return of the King
Location	Ithilien, on the edge of Mordor
Lifespan	Ca. S.A. 3320 – T.A. 3020
Founder	Isildur

Minas Morgul ([ˈminas ˈmorɡul]. Sindarin: Tower of Black Sorcery), also known by its earlier name of Minas Ithil (Sindarin: Tower of the Rising Moon), or in its full name Minas Ithil in the Morgul Vale, is a fictional fortified city in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth.

Minas Ithil was also called the Tower of the Moon, the Tower of the Rising Moon, and the Moon-tower. Minas Morgul was also called the Dead City and the Tower of Sorcery.

In Tolkien's fictional elvish language, Sindarin, Minas Ithil means "Tower of the Moon" and Minas Morgul means "Tower of Black Sorcery." The word minas means "tower." The word ithil is a poetic name for the Moon from sil or thil meaning "shine with white or silver light." The word morgul means "black sorcery" or "black arts." The element mor means "black, dark" and gûl means "sorcery, magic" from the stem ngol- (Quenya cognate nólë) meaning "long study, lore, knowledge."

After the destruction of Númenor, the escapees landed in Middle-earth where they founded realms-in-exile. The sons of Elendil (Isildur and Anárion) landed in Gondor, and Isildur was assigned its eastern province of Ithilien. There he built the city of Minas Ithil on the south side of a pleasant valley in the mountains bordering Mordor. (At the same time Anárion built the twin city of Minas Anor further west across the Anduin. The brothers had their thrones side by side in Osgiliath, the first capital of Gondor.) Isildur planted a sapling of the White Tree Nimloth outside his home in Minas Ithil, and one of the seven palantíri was kept in the tower. The city's white marble walls, buildings, and tower were designed to catch and reflect the moonlight, and shone with a soft silver luminescence.