When Gandalf confronted the Balrog in Moria, he told it to "go back to the shadow" because, in The Lord of the Rings, good and evil rarely hide their true natures. It’s a successful, albeit predictable, characterization device when evil things are found in the dark places, and Middle-earth is filled with all kinds of evil locations.
Here are some of the vilest places in Middle-earth, why they're corrupted and what happened to them.
Morgoth was originally one of the Valar, but wanting more power for himself, he betrayed the Powers, committed many evils and fled from Valinor. In the far North of Middle-earth, he built the stronghold of Utumno and carved many caves beneath it. It was the original evil place in Middle-earth, and there – behind the Iron Mountains, where the light of the lamps could not reach – Morgoth called all of the evil in the world to himself and created trolls and orcs. After enduring for millennia, the Valar came to subdue Morgoth, so they cast down the ancient fortress during the War of the Powers, and the effects changed the shape of the world.
After Morgoth was imprisoned, his lieutenant, Sauron, was the remaining evil in Middle-earth. Over the course of many years, and playing the "good-guy" for a long time, Sauron finally claimed his place as Dark Lord and established his stronghold in the land of Mordor. With the protection from the Mountains of Shadow, he built Barad-dûr alongside Mount Doom and proceeded to subdue Middle-earth. He was cast down when he lost the One Ring during the Battle of Dagorlad, but he rose again before Frodo defeated him by destroying the One Ring.
Angmar was a kingdom of evil men during the Third Age of Middle-earth. Located in the North of Middle-earth, where Utunmo was located thousands of years before, the kingdom – which was founded by the Witch-king and future Nazgul, was responsible for the destruction of Arnor and its three: Arthedain, Cardolan and Rhudaur. Angmar fell when Prince Eärnur -- thirty-third and last King of Gondor -- defeated the Witch-king in a belated attempt to aid Arnor. Afterward, the Witch-king fled to Mordor.
The Barrow-downs were located on the borders of the Shire, and in the novels, Frodo and company traveled through them, encountering many evil spirits called Barrow-wights. Originally, the Downs were built as a burial ground by the men of the First Age, but after the last men of Cardolan were killed by a plague in the Third Age, the Witch-king of Angmar sent the evil Barrow-wights to corrupt the place and prevent men from resettling the region.
The Dwimorberg was the haunted mountain where Aragorn recruited the Army of the Dead. In ages past, the men of the mountain swore an oath to Isildur but refused to make good when called upon because their fathers worshipped Sauron in the Dark years. As a result, Isuldur cursed them to never rest until they had fulfilled their oaths. During the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, they fulfilled their oaths to Aragorn, ending their hauntings and finding rest.
Known as the Hill of Dark Sorcery, Dol Guldur was located in the South of Mirkwood. There, Sauron regained his power as the Necromancer while waiting to return to Mordor. Originally, it was the capital of the Elven King Oropher -- Sindarin King of the Silvan Elves of Greenwood the Great. He was the father of Thranduil and the grandfather of Legolas. During the War of the Ring, Galadriel herself destroyed the fortress.
Once a fortress of Gondor, the Lord of the Nazgul claimed Minas Ithil as his dwelling and primary military outpost during the War of the Ring. No longer occupied by Gondor’s men, the tower decayed and was renamed Minas Morgul because of the evil that resided there. Occupying that fortress was important because as a result Sauron was able to control all passage into Mordor since the tower overlooked both the Morgul Pass and the Pass of Cirith Ungol. After the War of the Ring, Aragorn decreed that Minas Morgul be completely destroyed because of the evil that had spoiled it.
Isengard and the Tower of Orthanc was originally one of the three primary fortresses of Gondor, but eventually, the place came into possession of Saruman the White. It was a place of beauty until the wizard succumbed to the fear of Sauron and pledged his loyalty to the Dark Lord. As commanded, he corrupted Isengard’s goodness and built an army of Uruk-hai to destroy Rohon for Sauron. Following his defeat at the hand of the Ents, Saruman abandoned the tower, and the place was restored to its prior glory under the watchful eye of Treebeard.
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