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Fortress · Mirkwood

Dol Guldur

Sauron's hidden stronghold in southern Mirkwood, held for over a thousand years

View on map Mirkwood
Appears in
The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, Appendices
Region
Mirkwood
Journeys passing through
1
Dol Guldur on the map of Middle-earth

Dol Guldur sits at the southern tip of Mirkwood on a hill that was once called Amon Lanc, the Bare Hill. Look at the map and you will see it directly across the Anduin from Lothlorien, with the Gladden Fields to the north and the Brown Lands to the south. That position is the whole point of it: it watched the Elves of Lorien, the river crossings, and the road east.

Amon Lanc had been the height of the Silvan Elves' early realm before they moved north. Around TA 1050 a shadow crept into the forest, and men began to speak of a Necromancer in the south wood. Nobody knew for a long time that this was Sauron, returned from hiding after his defeat at the end of the Second Age.

Gandalf entered the fortress in TA 2063 to learn who lived there. The Necromancer fled east and the Watchful Peace began, lasting nearly four hundred years. Sauron came back in TA 2460. Gandalf went into Dol Guldur a second time in TA 2850, confirmed that the Necromancer was Sauron, and found Thrain son of Thror dying in the pits. Thrain gave him the key and the map of Erebor, which Gandalf later handed to Thorin at Bag End.

The White Council attacked in TA 2941, in the same weeks that Bilbo and the dwarves were traveling to the Lonely Mountain. Sauron abandoned the fortress and returned in secret to Mordor, which was his plan already. In TA 2951 three of the Nazgul reoccupied Dol Guldur, and from it Sauron's servants watched the north.

In March TA 3019 three separate assaults came out of Dol Guldur against Lothlorien, and each was thrown back. After the Ring was destroyed Celeborn led the Galadhrim across the Anduin, took the fortress, and Galadriel pulled down its walls and laid bare its pits.

Events at this place

  1. TA 1050 · Appendices

    The shadow comes to Amon Lanc

    Sauron settled secretly on the bare hill in southern Greenwood. He was called the Necromancer, and the forest took the name Mirkwood.

  2. TA 2063 · Appendices

    Gandalf's first entry

    Gandalf went into Dol Guldur to learn who ruled there. The Necromancer withdrew to the east and the Watchful Peace began.

  3. TA 2850 · Appendices

    Gandalf finds Thrain

    Entering a second time, Gandalf confirmed the Necromancer was Sauron and received the key and map of Erebor from the dying Thrain.

  4. TA 2941 · The Hobbit

    The White Council attacks

    The Council drove Sauron from Dol Guldur while Bilbo and the dwarves were crossing Mirkwood. Sauron went back to Mordor as he had already intended.

  5. TA 3019 · Appendices

    Assaults on Lothlorien

    Three attacks came from Dol Guldur against the Golden Wood in March and all were repulsed by Celeborn and Galadriel.

  6. TA 3019 · Appendices

    The fortress is thrown down

    After the fall of Barad-dur, Celeborn took Dol Guldur and Galadriel broke its walls and uncovered its pits.

Frequently asked questions

Where is Dol Guldur on the Middle-earth map?

At the southwestern corner of Mirkwood on the hill of Amon Lanc, directly across the river Anduin from Lothlorien.

Who was the Necromancer of Dol Guldur?

Sauron. Gandalf suspected it from TA 2063 and confirmed it when he entered the fortress a second time in TA 2850.

Does Dol Guldur appear in The Hobbit?

Indirectly. Gandalf leaves Bilbo's company to attend to urgent business in the south, which was the White Council's attack that drove the Necromancer out in the same year.