The History of Dol Guldur, Fortress of the Necromancer - Region Spotlight

Поделиться
HTML-код
  • Опубликовано: 16 апр 2022
  • Dol Guldur was the fortress of Sauron during his time as the Necromancer, and it would serve him well, even though Gandalf and the White Council would eventually oust him from this place. Thank you all so much for watching, let me know your thoughts on Dol Guldur in the comments below! As always, a great thanks to the online artists whose visual works made this video possible! If you are one of the artists, please let me know and I will post your name and a link to your work in this description!
    #TheLordoftheRings
    #TheHobbit
    #Lore
    Consider donating to our Patreon for the Westernesse Podcast and Discord Server:
    / menofthewest
    Check out our Merch:
    www.spreadshirt.com/shop/user...
    Check out our music channel:
    / @musicmotw
    Join us on Facebook at:
    / yoystan
    Join us on Twitter at:
    / yoystan
    Related articles:
    tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Attack...
    tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Dol_Gu...
    lotr.fandom.com/wiki/Dol_Guldur
    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dol_Gul...
    The History of Mirkwood, Greenwood the Great - Region Spotlight:
    • The History of Mirkwoo...
    The Watchful Peace & Finding of the One Ring - Timeline of Arda #14:
    • The Watchful Peace & F...
    What Happened in the North During the War of the Ring?:
    • What Happened in the N...
    Thank you for your (Valar and Elf tiers) patronage!
    Adrian De la Torre
    Peter Sheppard
    Chris Ortner
    Blair Scouten
    Sam McBee
    Matt Sibbach
    Elizabeth Calvert
    Ben Gardner
    Jonathan Putnam
    Mark Kralick
    Tobias Göldner
    Merten
    Ryan Ramsay
    John Hume
    Jennifer Wood
    Condar
    Kyle Wetzel
    Rhys Jenkins
    Adam Petrlik
    Khuzan
    Brandon Glidden
    Dorwin Gray
    Anthony Harmon
    Diego Perez
    Berni McCoy
    Daniel Orlandi
    John Crowley
    Susan Henry
    Atlas
    Maz Gibs
    Ryan Warren
    Renato Filipe
    Imiel Elenen
    Chiara Siasat
    Tyler Lund
    Hydro Knight
    Joshua W
    Ádám Kis
    Memory Troll
    Dale Starbuck
    April Green
    Corwin Nemeth
    Bryar Keyes
    Matthew Rivas
    Holy
    OneErlend
    Hjertholm
    Metalguy87
    Peter DeVault
    Van Hardison, PhD
    Matthew Jacoby
    Margaretann Litawa
    Brent Paredes
    Maximilian Zim
    Molly Sullivan
    Matthew Shrubsole
    Daniel Burns
    Xanadu-King
    The new Men of the West logo & thumbnail overlay was created by Raffe - Twitter: RaffetheRandom
    The new Men of the West intro was created by Tyler Lund:
    Tyler Josef Lund on Strikingly (mystrikingly.com)
    The final image “Bag End” was created by Wayne Glassbrook at designly.net
    The first song used in this video:
    Shadowlands 4 - Breath Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
    Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
    creativecommons.org/licenses/...
    The second song used in this video:
    Shadowlands 5 - Antechamber Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
    Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
    creativecommons.org/licenses/...
    The last song used in this video is from:
    library.techsmith.com/
    Many related and/or used art come from these artists and sources:
    Ted Nasmith:
    www.tednasmith.com/
    Jenny Dolfen:
    goldseven.wordpress.com/
    Alan Lee:
    www.iamag.co/the-art-of-alan-...
    John Howe:
    www.john-howe.com/portfolio/g...
    Hildebrant brothers:
    www.brothershildebrandt.com/Br...
    DonatoArts:
    www.deviantart.com/donatoarts
    Magali Villeneuve
    www.magali-villeneuve.com/
    Wolfanita:
    www.deviantart.com/wolfanita
    Gerwell:
    / gerwell
    Mirach Ravaia:
    www.deviantart.com/mirachrava...
    Kaprriss:
    www.deviantart.com/kaprriss/g...
    EKukanova:
    www.deviantart.com/ekukanova/...
    steamey:
    www.deviantart.com/steamey
    Laurelinartistry:
    / laurelinartistry
    SaMo-art:
    www.deviantart.com/samo-art/g...
    kimberly80:
    www.deviantart.com/kimberly80...
    Anke Eissmann:
    anke.edoras-art.de/anke_illust...
    Jon Hodgson:
    www.deviantart.com/jonhodgson...
    VonSeltei:
    www.deviantart.com/vonseltei/...
    loremastersguild:
    www.deviantart.com/loremaster...
    b.rpg.creativearts:
    inkarnaterpg/stat...
    Joel G. Porto:
    www.artstation.com/artwork/2q...
    Volkan Baga:
    artists4earth.com/product/my-...
    Léo Fers:
    www.artstation.com/artwork/Jl...

Комментарии • 165

  • @jamesfrost2399
    @jamesfrost2399 2 года назад +114

    For all the flaws of The Hobbit movies, they did give the fortress of Dol Guldur some epic visuals.

    • @masa461
      @masa461 2 года назад +16

      Yes, and they captured that creepy vibe too

    • @brunofreitas9314
      @brunofreitas9314 2 года назад +11

      They should have spent more time there, instead of the time wasted with the unibrow.

    • @johncoffy
      @johncoffy 2 года назад +4

      Flaws? Appears that you need to widen your horizons - dinner at Elronds place was a great addition, Thranduil was excellent, Legolas coming out wasn't bad idea either I could go on and on....now - name me one movie which perfectly had illustrated even the thinnest of books? There is none, because your imagination is the greatest producer ever and since all our producers have their unique vision...well rest figure out yourself. N.B. I have read the book as well and not once or twice or thrice....and on movies - I rather see that movies & book compliment each in a various ways.

    • @dhutchens5934
      @dhutchens5934 2 года назад +4

      Considering in the book "The Hobbit" there was very little mention of Dol Guldur or the Necromancer. The epic visuals should have never been included for it was all just a money grab for Peter Jackson using it and Azog.

    • @DirtySouthJR
      @DirtySouthJR 2 года назад +1

      Sauron was super cool as well. The flaming eye doing that unlimited flashing thing was awesome. I just learned his form is actually the slit in the eye and you can see him struggling to escape when the ring is destroyed. Seen the trilogy 53 times and never noticed that smh

  • @rangerofthenorth1970
    @rangerofthenorth1970 2 года назад +87

    I found Dol Guldur far more creepy and scary than Mordor, for Mordor you know that it is evil, but here in lonely creepy fortress you never know what you are gonna find! And I just wanted to mention that White Council and Dol Guldur in Hobbit movies is one of the best moments in trilogy, just my opinnion!
    Yoystan, as always great and interesting video....Happy Easter to you and all of Middleearth!!

  • @BossGaming-vg6zh
    @BossGaming-vg6zh 2 года назад +101

    You should totally make a video EACH about “The history of Udun” and “The history of angband” that would be really cool to watch because these fortresses are very interesting to learn about!

    • @monitor-mindtheover-void6712
      @monitor-mindtheover-void6712 2 года назад +2

      Yes

    • @farahahmed8201
      @farahahmed8201 2 года назад +2

      YES PLEASE!!

    • @yanerdyboi
      @yanerdyboi 2 года назад +3

      he already has one on angband

    • @hannah.lindseyy
      @hannah.lindseyy 2 года назад

      I thought udun was a region in mordor. Have I missed something?

    • @farahahmed8201
      @farahahmed8201 2 года назад +1

      @@hannah.lindseyy well bro there are two udun one is the region in mordor and the other is melkor's old fortress utumno which is also called udun

  • @sauron3488
    @sauron3488 2 года назад +16

    It was the capital city of Oropher's Silvan Elves.

  • @orrointhewise3913
    @orrointhewise3913 2 года назад +43

    "It looks completely abandoned."
    "As it was meant to."
    As far as fortresses go it's definitely got the sinister/ominous look going.
    Strategically I see it as a stepping stone that could b used to connect to other locations. Mt gundaband, the misty mountains, even isengard are relatively close.
    But I would have loved to have seen Galadriel bring down the walls of this place. Like an epic version of spring cleaning lol

  • @chpet1655
    @chpet1655 2 года назад +20

    I like the idea of it being near the spot of Isildur’s loss of The Ring as to answer why Sauron chose this fort over other places to gather his power

    • @brianh9358
      @brianh9358 2 года назад +2

      Isildur lost the ring further north near the Gladden fields - a swampy area besides the Gladden river which is a tributary of the Anduin. It isn't far from the Beornings. Another thought I had was maybe southern Mirkwood was where the Entwives were killed. Of course, nothing is said about where the Entwives went....

  • @seekthevisceral
    @seekthevisceral 2 года назад +4

    I had a rough day at work (again), but the day is slowly being redeemed with the generous boon of Yoystan. Thank you for being a light in the dark, as we slowly watch them all go out.

  • @tatenbradley8030
    @tatenbradley8030 Год назад +1

    Dol Guldur is actually one of my favorite places in Middle-earth. It has so much mystery surrounding it that it makes sense that everyone in the vicinity didn't realize that Sauron had returned, rather I bet they thought an entirely new enemy had arisen. I love how it looks in "The Hobbit" movies and the fact that the scenes of the White Council attacking the fortress were included made me so excited as someone who had only read about it in other works.

  • @HistoryGarden
    @HistoryGarden 2 года назад +15

    Dol Guldur was always one of my favorite evil strongholds in LOTR, and I always wished Tolkien had written more about The Necromancer phase of Sauron's existence. As far as why Tolkien had Sauron choose Amon Lanc to rebuild his power rather than Angband or other First Age strongholds, it's because there was nothing left of First Age anything west of the Ered Luin - Angband was broken and with the exception of the Western Isles, all the lands of Beleriand -- including Angband and Sauron's watchtower at Tol-in-Gaurhoth, -- were underwater. Mordor had a close watch on it at the start of the Third Age, so that was out, and Tolkien was always very vague about where Sauron went in the lands to the east. For narrative purposes he apparently wanted someplace in the middle of the map, and not too far from the route that Bilbo and Dwarves took on the Quest to Erebor. It is interesting that Tolkien picked this location, but lands further west like Enedwaith were still heavily traveled by men; it wasn't until the Great Plague in the 1630s that Tharbad fell into decline, and Sauron had already taken up residence in Dol Guldur circa 1050 TA. Greenwood/Mirkwood is also far enough away from Eriador so Sauron could remain arguably ignorant about the Hobbits and The Shire at the beginning of the Fellowship of the Ring.
    I have also wondered how the spiders found their way to Mirkwood from their First Age stomping grounds in southern Middle Earth. That they were attracted to the corruption of Sauron is clear, but how did that even work? Was it just raw instinct, or was there some kind of low-level evil throbbing emanating from Dol Guldur that called to them? They were talking spiders after all, not just dumb beasts. In any event, the spiders probably had to sneak up the valley of the Anduin to come up form the south, hiding out in caves and dense underbrush from the men of Gondor during the day and furtively hiking north by night until they arrived to the safety of Mirkwood.
    Thank you Yoystan for another great video!

    • @gandalf8216
      @gandalf8216 2 года назад +1

      My two cents is a favor for Shelob, to spread her offspring to more nourishing lands. Not that their relationship was the best, that of Sauron and Shelob, but they were in an alliance that stood without oaths and promises.

    • @cofpaddy
      @cofpaddy Год назад +2

      Until the Numenoreans came and other men, there were unbroken forests from Beleriand to Rhovanion. So they probably spread and escaped Beleriands ruin. They would have been attracted by dark powers and prey.

  • @stalhandske9649
    @stalhandske9649 2 года назад +16

    When deliberating on these peculiar premises of Dol Guldur mentioned in the video, it serves us well to keep in mind that in Tolkien's creative chronology Mirkwood, Dol Guldur & Sorcerer lording over it are early phase creations - part of the narrative topography of The Hobbit.
    Only later, with him starting to write this immensely larger, more mature and serious world of Middle-Earth did he attach the people, places & events of The Hobbit into his larger world, which grew beyond its edges. What may seem narrative conveniences are more properly read as attachment points between older and newer layers in Middle-Earths emergence into JRRT's imagination.
    Sauron taking residence as 'The Sorcerer' in Dol Guldur instead of Mordor during events leading to his banishment from there serve as very pointed example. While leading the bad guys' efforts from close at hand seems plausible enough, one still wonders why the added risk? Him being there led to his being alive being exposed to White council, after all. The simple reason is that when he was written into Dol Guldur, Mordor probably didn't exist yet - even in JRRT's mind. Frankly, he wasn't even _Sauron_ then, just a powerful dark sorcerer.
    Sauron's flight from Dol Guldur into Mordor is veritably Middle-Earth expanding - made into flesh.

  • @Longshanks1690
    @Longshanks1690 2 года назад +27

    3:00
    I can accept that explanation but I’ve always thought it would have been cool if Sauron got the chance to use the powers of a necromancer, as we understand it now, more fully.
    That instead of legions of orcs at his command, Sauron instead was using reanimated waves of men and elves he had slaughtered - or commanded the Nazgul to slaughter on his behalf.
    I don’t even think it’s beyond the realm of possibility as Sauron was always settling with the orcs to begin with. He had wanted to bend the Elves to his will but failed to do so. If he had used the powers of reanimating the dead, it would have been a very bitter, twisted way of getting what he wanted after all. As in “You wouldn’t serve me in life, so you will serve me in death.” It would also have removed the moral questions around ALL the orcs being evil, as these zombies would be Sauron’s thralls with no free will of their own.
    Additionally, that might have also had some ironic mirroring for Aragorn when he brought the Dead Men of Dunharow to his banner. Even if they didn’t do what they did in the movie, it would still be a bitter irony that they had both used the dead for their own purposes when it suited them.
    Obviously we didn’t get that but I think that would have been an interesting path for an alternative version of Sauron to have gone down in any case.

    • @timonsolus
      @timonsolus 2 года назад +1

      I’m quite happy that Tolkien didn’t make zombies part of Middle Earth lore.

    • @Sara3346
      @Sara3346 2 года назад

      @@timonsolus Why?

    • @timonsolus
      @timonsolus 2 года назад

      @@Sara3346 : Because of how Hollywood and the gaming industry massively overuses zombies today. I’m sick to death of zombies.

    • @brianh9358
      @brianh9358 2 года назад

      @@timonsolus Well he sort of did. The Barrow wights in the Barrow downs are evil spirits that are able to inhabit dead bodies and make them move as if alive. Tolkien doesn't say this precisely but they definitely have a physicality to them because they are able to grab Frodo and their touch is said to be "icey".

    • @timonsolus
      @timonsolus 2 года назад

      @@brianh9358 : There’s a big difference between wights and zombies. Zombies are virtually mindless flesh eating monsters, while wights have intelligence and a purpose to their actions beyond just killing and eating.

  • @tangwenxi6683
    @tangwenxi6683 2 года назад +2

    Hi Men of the West, thank u so much for featuring my depiction of Amon Lanc! It means a lot

  • @paulwagner688
    @paulwagner688 2 года назад +12

    During the early part of the Third Age, and until Gandalf ventured in, it was long thought that Dol Guldur was inhabited by one or more of the Nazgul, perhaps lessening the concern of the Wise as to what was happening.

  • @Halbared
    @Halbared 2 года назад +3

    I think DolGuldur was probably perfectly suit for Sauron. Located in the heart of Middle Earth yet with the protction of the wood, and to add extra joy it would be taking over and corrupting more Elvish dwellings, as Sauron and Morgorh always did. I would also guess that in DolGuldur Sauron felt more powerful or comfortable, being maybe subconsciously aware he was closer to his ring there.

  • @danclancy5319
    @danclancy5319 2 года назад +1

    I'm really enjoying your videos Yoystan, great stuff!!! I seem to remember reading a passage that said Sauron "fained" defeat and withdrew to Mordor to prepare for the war. This stuck out in my mind because it suggested that Sauron could have made a fight of it (if he had wanted to) but didn't. I'm assuming that he did not wish to risk spending the power he had so carefully gathered in a fight against his most potent enemies. However, he was on his home turf (something Tolkien seemed to feel was a real advantage) and his greatest enemies were there gathered in one group on his doorstep, if he had been able to...he could have won the War of the Ring then and there by killing his most powerful foes. This leads me to believe that it was either too close a call for him to roll the dice (and risk being captured or spending another 3000 years recuperating) or he truly did not have the juice to face them all at once (this seems to fly in the face of practically everyone saying that Sauron is too powerful to challenge in the trilogy books, this is a discrepancy that I've pondered for many years). The last point is that Sauron could have taken them but needed the power he had gathered to set his plans in motion (he would draw evil things to Mordor once he arrived, and that must have taken some effort to do) and wasn't about to risk himself when he could simply unleash an army that no-one could stand against with no risk to himself. I'd love to hear your thoughts if you have the time (but if you don't I understand) =) Thanks again!

  • @jackolantern147
    @jackolantern147 2 года назад +9

    How bout a region spotlight on Barad'dur? How strong was the dark tower in the 2nd and 3rd age?

  • @glennross85
    @glennross85 2 года назад +3

    As a young boy, long before I read LOTR, I read the Hobbit and the mentions of this mysterious Necromancer in his fortress was really spine chilling.

  • @johanabigasova6770
    @johanabigasova6770 2 года назад +6

    Dol Guldur - in the beginning elven fortress, then Sauron got it and later it was utterly destroyed.
    It is interesting that in Middle-Earth were Elves, who saw and witnessed it's history. One of them was Elvenking Thranduil.

  • @chrisschmitt291
    @chrisschmitt291 2 года назад +4

    Sauron probably had a few reasons for choosing Dol Guldur but the fact that it was strategically located near the great river where Islidur lost the ring is the chief reason

    • @praywithpio6028
      @praywithpio6028 10 месяцев назад +1

      Would Sauron have know that? How would he know?

    • @michaelslowmin
      @michaelslowmin 10 месяцев назад

      ​@@praywithpio6028His orcs killed Isildur in an ambush there, so that woulda been the last known place.

    • @praywithpio6028
      @praywithpio6028 10 месяцев назад +1

      @@michaelslowmin But did the orcs know who it was, I guess is my question. If he was shot while in the river, would they know they were successful? I need to stop thinking about this as if it were real history!

    • @michaelslowmin
      @michaelslowmin 10 месяцев назад

      @@praywithpio6028 I would think they'd know. It's not like the King of Gondor isn't a famous person. Sauron would have known he had the ring or at least that a leader of men had it. When you narrow it down it makes sense to camp out near the last known place of Isildur before his death.

    • @praywithpio6028
      @praywithpio6028 10 месяцев назад +1

      @@michaelslowmin Yes, but he had just been defeated and was in some kind of exile at the time. I'm not arguing, it's fiction and I'm thinking of it as if it actually happened.

  • @monitor-mindtheover-void6712
    @monitor-mindtheover-void6712 2 года назад +1

    Thumbnail is so cool! And the video is as amazing as ever.
    I think you should make a video on "Udun" I've heard it has some connection to the Lamps destroyed by Melkor.

  • @kimwand
    @kimwand 2 года назад +1

    Where I live there's a folly visible from the Cheshire plane called Mow Cop castle, Mow Cop means bald hill in Anglo Saxon and it makes you wonder if it's related, we have a references to Tolkien in Stoke-on-Trent.

  • @oisinomahony8255
    @oisinomahony8255 2 года назад +4

    Good video Yoystan - your work is always enjoyable ! Keep it up!

  • @annandune
    @annandune 2 года назад +1

    I think you are right to point out the mystery of Dol Guldor. At times it seems like it should not have been possible for it to become what it did. However, I also think it is difficult for many of us who are now city dwellers, particularly if you live in a country like mine ( the UK ) where there are no big forests, to really get the magnitude of Mirkwood.
    If Sauron had returned to Mirkwood and the corruption he brought with him had begun to spawn spiders and other malicious creatures, people would not want to go there. Then you have miles and miles of dense woodland and foliage to obscure what is going on there. The idea that it could then begin to manifest in its later form without many people knowing much about it isn't so unbelievable.
    I play The One Ring RPG and they use Wilderland as the main setting for their first edition game. I found this difficult to get my head around at first as so much of what I associated with Tolkien is in Eriador. However, it made perfect sense as Eriador seems to be a large land mass without big population centres and with fewer large geographical features. Wilderland, on the other hand, has far more in the way of towns, cities, and populations, and at the centre of it is this mysterious and malevolent structure which houses some unknown ( to the folk who live there ) evil. It really is quite eerie.

  • @shanenolan8252
    @shanenolan8252 2 года назад +1

    Thanks guys. Happy Easter and passover for those who celebrate

  • @geviesanta3631
    @geviesanta3631 2 года назад +4

    Happy Easter Yoystan, nice video as always!

  • @thebrotherskrynn
    @thebrotherskrynn 2 года назад +1

    Another great video, this is a fortress that has so much impact upon the lore and the tale of the Hobbit. So glad you made this video my friend, definitely going to have to link to it in a few of my Hobbit podcast videos later.
    Gotta say you never screw up with these videos, which is amazing Yoystan.

  • @fatleg1000
    @fatleg1000 2 года назад +2

    Great stuff as usual. Thanks for the continued content.

  • @MrLag2024
    @MrLag2024 2 года назад +5

    I would agree that its was probobly taken by sauron for its position in middle earth much like Erebor. I think like Angmar, Dol guldur was just a stronghold in the north. Either that or its his summer home

  • @annaroselarsen4218
    @annaroselarsen4218 2 года назад +2

    Happy Easter!

  • @mantas68
    @mantas68 2 года назад

    I'm really enjoying your videos and the way you present this material. You use excellent narration skills and your diction is very clear. We need more channel hosts like yourself. I also love your choice of illustrations very much. You have fine taste in these choices. Thanks for all of your hard work and may it always be a labor of love for you. ⚔🗡🗡⚔🏹🏹🗡🗡⚔🛡🛡🛡🛡

  • @eacalvert
    @eacalvert 2 года назад

    Another wonderfully done video. Your words ring true as ever and more strikingly today about not allowing evil to take hold.

  • @Comicnut64
    @Comicnut64 2 года назад +3

    Happy Easter Yoystan also awesome video as always

  • @berserkerofthrawn5707
    @berserkerofthrawn5707 2 года назад +4

    Dol Guldur is my top 5 favorite Fortress names in Middle Earth

  • @MewnBoi
    @MewnBoi 4 месяца назад

    Love your videos man keep making them please

  • @Wolfogre
    @Wolfogre 2 года назад +1

    "On second thought, let's not go to Dol Guldur. It is a silly place." :D

  • @ianheins650
    @ianheins650 Год назад

    Nice work dude

  • @JaymesMedia
    @JaymesMedia Год назад

    I love the messages at the end of each video

  • @LuisCarlosAlvarezRebaza
    @LuisCarlosAlvarezRebaza 2 года назад

    Great video, thanks.

  • @danite620
    @danite620 2 года назад

    I do indeed love these educational vedios . Thank you for your efforts.

  • @darthmorgoththesecond9990
    @darthmorgoththesecond9990 2 года назад +4

    HAPPY EASTER

  • @jasperhare7251
    @jasperhare7251 11 месяцев назад

    Excellent!

  • @cofpaddy
    @cofpaddy Год назад +1

    Dol Guldor rose because Gondor power was waning in Rhovanion, the Éothéod, had moved south to Calenardhon. Most thought it was a human necromancer, it wasn't until Gandalf went there did he discover it was something else. The Elves esp. Lorien kept to themselves and I honestly don't think they thought Sauron would be as blazen to set up shop across the river from them.

  • @greghouse5103
    @greghouse5103 2 года назад +3

    Dol Guldur is brutal fortress!

  • @DraconimLt
    @DraconimLt 9 дней назад +1

    Ok, a question. If Thrain was captured by Sauron, how did he manage to hide the map and key/why wasn't it taken from him?

  • @nathaniellong4281
    @nathaniellong4281 Год назад

    Thank you for clarifying exactly what Tolkien meant when using the "Necromancer" name; I have been confused about why Tolkien chose that name for years.

  • @anniebiggs1217
    @anniebiggs1217 2 года назад

    I love the history of Dol gul dor I think it’s so cool and I especially loved how it was portrayed in the Movie Hobbit so dark and epic great video loved it! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👍🏻😊

  • @ZeoDarkaxe
    @ZeoDarkaxe 2 года назад +17

    Well now its Dol No More hahaha I'll leave now

  • @EmpyreanFrost
    @EmpyreanFrost 2 года назад +1

    It is scary how powerful Galadriel is.

  • @thewilhelmscream7912
    @thewilhelmscream7912 2 года назад

    I find this very cool as a small dungeon before the final boss of the main quest, very interesting!!!

  • @livewyr7227
    @livewyr7227 2 года назад

    Necromancer video on Easter.
    Well played!

  • @Thomas.Wright
    @Thomas.Wright 2 года назад +12

    Christ our Lord is risen!

  • @johanabigasova6770
    @johanabigasova6770 2 года назад

    I'm looking forward to your next video, Men of the West.

  • @DWSP101
    @DWSP101 2 года назад +1

    Love your work man you need to do Warhammer fantasy stories!👍👌😀

  • @NickSibz
    @NickSibz 2 года назад

    Always found Dol Guldur to be one of the cooler places/stories in Middle Earth. I found those scenes from The Hobbit to be some of the best and the White Council vs the Nazgul/Sauron was the best scene.

  • @NPHfann
    @NPHfann 2 года назад +1

    I feel like dol guldor is a teaching about what happens when things are left unattended.

  • @dietrichahlers6125
    @dietrichahlers6125 2 года назад

    I've been waiting for this. Even since I saw the movies in theaters as a kid, I've been fascinated with Dol Guldor and the Witch King of Angmar. Seeing the tower shoot out the giant beam of green light was so mind blowing. I need to rewatch the movies lol

    • @lchamp7946
      @lchamp7946 2 года назад

      You may already be aware, but the name of the fortress/tower that shot forth the green light in The Two Towers was Minas Morgul.

    • @dietrichahlers6125
      @dietrichahlers6125 2 года назад

      @@lchamp7946 that's what I thought, but thought I was wrong when i was actually right. I'm an amateur Tolkien fan, been obsessed with Lord of the Rings since I saw it in theaters at 7. Now as an adult, I'm trying to learn more about Middle Earth by reading the actual works. It's very difficult, but I want to learn it all.

  • @Longshanks1690
    @Longshanks1690 2 года назад +4

    The real reason is obviously narrative convenience so that Gandalf didn’t have to travel THAT far to investigate the fortress when he was nearby in Mirkwood with the dwarves and Bilbo for the sake of the plot… but really, in the grand scheme of the completed lore, it makes little sense that Sauron would choose this place so close to Mirkwood and Lothlorien where he risked being found out by the White Council.
    If he could not yet return in strength to Mordor, then surely he would have fled north to the ruins of his master’s fortress at Angband. It is isolated, built for his purposes and somewhere the followers of the Dark Ways would naturally be attracted to rather than somewhere so close to the Elven kingdoms. Or perhaps even further south or east into the lands of the Haradrim or the men of Rhun who would have good reason to shelter the Dark Lord from his enemies.
    Frankly, since he was there from about 1050, I’m amazed it took the Council as long as they did to realise that this was the source of the rising evil.

    • @sweeperboy
      @sweeperboy 2 года назад +2

      The ruins of Angband (and Morgoth's original fortress of Utumno) were long gone by this time, as I believe the Iron Mountains (which housed both) were destroyed in the War of Wrath.
      I think the risk of your viewpoint is of the all-knowing reader: yet in Middle Earth it was felt that Sauron was defeated to the point of no return - as he was supposed to have been in the Fourth Age. Obviously, that was incorrect, but that probably coloured the opinions of the Wise, who must have assumed it was another evildoer responsible for Dol Guldur, and I believe I recall they thought it was perhaps one of the Nazgul.

    • @donutlovingwerewolf8837
      @donutlovingwerewolf8837 2 года назад

      tl;dr the elves thought it was a Nazgul inhabiting Dol Guldor and not Sauron himself cuz everyone thought he died or perhaps he would have returned later

    • @Longshanks1690
      @Longshanks1690 2 года назад

      @@sweeperboy But the actual location would still have been known to Sauron himself even if the old hallmarks were long since gone and since it’s implied that Carn Dum would be built in a similar location, obviously the Witch King thought it a fitting fortress for the forces of darkness so why would Sauron not make it his own?
      But I’ll grant the premise that Angband is gone down to the last stone and the foundations irrecoverable, swept into the mists of time; Carn Dum was still a fortress in the north and considered a fitting capital to be used by the Witch King. And since they did not plan on being defeated, surely it would have been appropriate for Sauron to raise the fortress there and allow the Witch King to present as the public face until he was able to regain strength? It probably would have added a greater sense of desperation to them during the fall as the Witch King’s primary aim would not be saving his kingdom but ensuring Sauron could escape undetected lol.
      I also don’t think it’s much better that they decided it was ok if some random evil doer had taken up residence in Dol Guldor either. If the ruins of Hitler’s Berghof started to emit Nazi music every night, I wouldn’t expect people to think Hitler was back from the dead but you would probably be a little concerned that some kind of Neo Nazi movement was using it and investigate rather than ignoring it, surely?
      Likewise, it should not have taken until Thorin’s company’s journey for Gandalf to have thought it necessary to investigate who The Necromancer was. Even if he wasn’t Sauron, he was the clear source of the rising darkness and a threat in his own right and should have been taken care of. The White Council never showed a Jedi level of arrogance about its own capabilities, generally speaking so if they thought that one of the Nazgul had taken up residence there, why was that not incentive enough to act within the first century of his activity there, and even that’s being generous imo.

    • @Longshanks1690
      @Longshanks1690 2 года назад

      @@donutlovingwerewolf8837 And why was dethroning a Nazgul not just as important as Sauron himself?
      The last time a Nazgul has a fortress of power, he caused the end of Arnor and the sack of Fornost. From their perspective, the Nazgul didn’t need Sauron to be dangerous and yet they still allowed this one to have a fort so close to their own borders? Why?

    • @cyperwerewolf4689
      @cyperwerewolf4689 2 года назад

      @@Longshanks1690 Saruman is your answer, as the impostor in the white council I believe he did everything he could to persuate the council not to take any action regarding dol guldur

  • @WhiteWave3
    @WhiteWave3 2 года назад

    I think perhaps Sauron wanted a foot hold in the green wood (that would become Merkwood) because of its position. If he could control the wood, he divide the west and has a central position from which to strike at any direction.

  • @loganw1232
    @loganw1232 2 года назад +6

    If Dol Guldur wasn’t an option, where would Sauron fortify himself before his return to Mordor?

  • @TheSaneHatter
    @TheSaneHatter 2 года назад

    Your questions about Dolg Guldur are valid, and yet . . . it never occurred to me to think of the same things! Perhpas Tolkien had unfinished stories or thoughts in his mind to explain the fortress's construction and why it was ignored for so long, but without them, this seems to be a major group of plot holes.

  • @johnnydoe7616
    @johnnydoe7616 2 года назад

    Don’t ever stop making videos

  • @Huskytabby
    @Huskytabby 2 года назад +1

    Can't wait for the what-if video for what if Gandalf never fell at the Bridge of Khazad-dum and continued with the fellowship to Lothlorien and on forward?

  • @daniell1483
    @daniell1483 2 года назад

    Reading Return of the King for the first time, Dol Guldur and Sauron's interests there fascinate me. I have to think that Sauron was hoping to touch base with Smaug and form an alliance. After preventing the two evils from linking up, Sauron fled the scene, though using it later. Mordor being the fortress it is would have given Sauron all the protection he could want, but he ventured out. I don't think he would pick a more vulnerable position unless there was some other gain to be had. Finding the Ring, making an ally of Smaug, whatever it was, he saw value in the location.

  • @guilherme5094
    @guilherme5094 2 года назад

    It's a fascinating place.

  • @ilo2224
    @ilo2224 2 года назад +1

    Hi, why do you say the "return" of the wizards? had the wizards been to middle earth before, or as Maiar in the past??

    • @sweeperboy
      @sweeperboy 2 года назад

      No, I think he misspoke a little there. The Istari (in that form) were never in Middle Earth before this, the only one of them to have "gone back" to Middle Earth and much later than this, was Gandalf as the White. However, it's undoubtedly the case that the Maiar they were would have been to Middle Earth before Valinor was established as the home of the Valar. After all, the original home of the Valar in Arda was in Middle Earth, not in the continent of Aman. Perhaps that's what he meant.

  • @TheGeekMonster
    @TheGeekMonster 2 года назад

    Anyone know the source of the gorgeous artwork at 1:40?

  • @lopirobinson1991
    @lopirobinson1991 Год назад +1

    Everything, everything Sauron does is strategic; unless you piss him off enough or dare to make him feel fear lol Then he'll throw everything, the kitchen sink and the plumber at you.

  • @codymcteer5898
    @codymcteer5898 2 года назад

    Ok Yoisten, big question for you...who do you feel were more powerful, the first men like Hurin, Turin, and Beren...or the men of Numenor?

  • @stimpsonjcat67
    @stimpsonjcat67 2 года назад +1

    Can you talk about Halifirien?

  • @HerrrLuna
    @HerrrLuna 2 года назад

    It might have been built as the capital for the silvan elves before the end of the first age, before the sindar and the noldor elves setteled there. Back then, the silvan elves ruled both Lorinand and the Greenwood. The name "Bald Hill" might have been given to the place if it was a lonely hill without trees in the middle of the forest. And the silvan elves built the structures.

  • @Erik-um1zn
    @Erik-um1zn 2 года назад

    The Shadow fell on Southern Mirkwood gradually over many years, such that the Elves nearby would not be overly suspicious. It is unclear when exactly the Fortress of Dol Guldor was built during this time. Somewhat like the old story of boiling the frog (gradually increase the temperature of the water the frog is swimming just a few degrees at a time so he doesn't hop out).

  • @venkelos6996
    @venkelos6996 2 года назад

    This was fun, bur what i am going to say is only tangentially related. There once was a video that discussed why Saruman, while holding Gandalf in Isengard, didn't confiscate his Elven Ring of Power. Maybe he couldn't, or didn't want to force the fight that otherwise didn't happen in the book, even though it would have been incredibly valuable to Sauron, but it leads me to this. Thrain is captured, and held prisoner. He is tortured till madness, and his Dwarven Ring of Power is taken. It probably wasn't doing much for him, so maybe it wasn't the biggest loss, but what about the map and key? Why weren't they found, and confiscated? A stray key, and a blank piece of paper, might have seemed inconsequential to Sauron, in his guise as the Necromancer, but why not take them? Why didn't some Orc roughing him up take them? I'd almost ask why, in his own madness, did he even keep them? It just seems so unlikely. I have D&D friends who basically refuse to ever be allowed to be taken prisoner specifically because they don't want to have to function without their kit, and need to try and nab it back, during an escape. Maybe a medieval Orc dungeon wouldn't strip him nude, or throw him in an orange jumpsuit, and he'd keep his raggedy-becoming, filthy clothes, but I'd think his effects would all have been stolen. Oh well.

  • @iwasanMBTInerd
    @iwasanMBTInerd 2 года назад

    Dol Goldur reminds me of Harrenhal from A Song of Ice and Fire

  • @davidseligman6445
    @davidseligman6445 2 года назад

    When I was a younger man I wanted to build Utumno in Minecraft. Soon after starting I realized I did not yet have the skill nor a year to spend on it.

  • @wilhufftarkin8543
    @wilhufftarkin8543 2 года назад

    1:41 This picture makes me realize how awesome an isometric CRPG set in Middle Earth would be! Honestly, we got so many LOTR games but never a proper RPG (if you don't count LOTRO)! Why? It's the perfect setting for one! It wouldn't even have to be isometric, it could be like Dragon Age Origins.

  • @user-cx7kg6ok9b
    @user-cx7kg6ok9b 9 месяцев назад

    My guess is that, in Tolkien's works, certain places are simply places of power. The hill upon which first the elves, then Sauron, built a settlement or fort is probably one such place.

  • @kravstema6287
    @kravstema6287 2 года назад

    This place and the High Fells Of Rhudaur give me the creeps

  • @dmdebruijn
    @dmdebruijn Год назад +1

    I dont know whether this sounds familiar to anyone, but compared to Yoystan, the Nerd of the Rings sounds like he plays a…. discordant harmony to me 🤔 i very much wonder if there are darker motives driving the “nerd”

  • @albertgreene313
    @albertgreene313 2 года назад

    I’m sure ya got plans for 350k. I’d ask, if you may, for you to find a fellow RUclipsr who can put a song of Tolkiens, perhaps that of elendil from early in the fellowship, to music, record or preform it, and then you offer an account of the song in its meaning, history, and setting. Thatd be dope

  • @matthiasweiss1144
    @matthiasweiss1144 2 года назад +1

    When it comes to raising the dead, successfully, nobody competes with Aragorn...

  • @kaidorade1317
    @kaidorade1317 2 года назад

    Ah fitting that you talk about the fortress of our lord and savior Sauron on Easter Sunday

  • @jhallam2011
    @jhallam2011 2 года назад

    Love your videos. RUclips unsubscribed me.

  • @madambutterfly1997
    @madambutterfly1997 2 года назад +2

    I wouldn't count the nine ringwraiths as a form of necromancy. So it only makes sense to use the archaic definition of that word

    • @MenoftheWest
      @MenoftheWest  2 года назад +1

      That makes sense, but they are also deathless, so it may be a form of it perhaps?

    • @madambutterfly1997
      @madambutterfly1997 2 года назад

      @@MenoftheWest the only way they should be calling him the Necromancer is if he was resurrecting the many elves dwarves men and spawn of shelob that died within Murkwood

  • @klaashoogland5831
    @klaashoogland5831 2 года назад

    My favourite map at bfme2

  • @jasperhare7251
    @jasperhare7251 11 месяцев назад

    ❤❤❤

  • @magusmelanie828
    @magusmelanie828 2 года назад

    I believe Dol Guldur was already established as a place of evil, of some unknown variety, but that ancient dark energy is where Sauron's spirit retreated to, or rather the closest place to find rest for his incorporeal form, after being separated from the ring

  • @rachdarastrix5251
    @rachdarastrix5251 2 года назад

    At first I was laughing at the idea of an evil aligned castle. You know what I can do to stone?
    But those air patrols up there, that is for intercepting me if I try it.

  • @charliebridgewater2270
    @charliebridgewater2270 2 года назад

    ⭐Pipeweed. The history of pipeweed.⭐⭐

  • @FATE522
    @FATE522 2 года назад

    Are there root meanings to the name "Yoystan"?

  • @dfringlord
    @dfringlord 2 года назад

    🔥👁🔥

  • @madambutterfly1997
    @madambutterfly1997 2 года назад +1

    But considering the Woodland realm is that close why didnt Thranduil stop the fortress's construction

    • @MenoftheWest
      @MenoftheWest  2 года назад +1

      I also wonder about this hehe

    • @Longshanks1690
      @Longshanks1690 2 года назад

      Because then the rest of the story wouldn’t happen lol.

    • @sweeperboy
      @sweeperboy 2 года назад +2

      Actually Oropher (Thandruil's father) had that very place - Amon Lanc - as his capital, but Sauron captured it and it was Thranduil who led his people north to cross over the Forest River to the relative safety of North Mirkwood. They didn't have the ability to stop the construction of the fortress as they were fleeing from a defeat.

  • @yodaslovetoy
    @yodaslovetoy 2 года назад +2

    Previously used as a domino's....

  • @Grancigul
    @Grancigul 2 года назад

    The white council vs sauron with the ring(as he was during the war of the last alliance)
    Who wins?

    • @donutlovingwerewolf8837
      @donutlovingwerewolf8837 2 года назад

      Sauron wins, this has been explained in other videos about What If Sauron got the One Ring, and basically the White council took off all their rings, some retreat to Valinor, and others make a last stand against Sauron

  • @tonyblais3798
    @tonyblais3798 2 года назад

    Is the one Ring kinda like a horcrux from Harry Potter

  • @beatleblev
    @beatleblev 2 года назад +2

    Sauron is the worst tenant ever. So abhorrent the once beautiful places he inhabited had to come tumbling down. RIP OG Minas Tirith and Amon Lanc.

  • @charleslathrop9743
    @charleslathrop9743 2 года назад

    I get the impression that the Necromancer wasn't really sending out a lot of forces or attacks from Dol Guldur. He was just building up and gaining strength. So, the elves didn't do anything about it because it would be costly and time consuming to attack him, and there wasn't much need to.

    • @donutlovingwerewolf8837
      @donutlovingwerewolf8837 2 года назад

      well duh, It'd be dumb for Sauron to play his cards when he just survived a many year long war consisting of his entire armies falling and his trump card being lost. so he had no choice but to rally small bands of orcs and other evil minions in what is essentially a fort and its not even as big as Isengard too

  • @travisgould5423
    @travisgould5423 2 года назад

    after watching the three films speculated as bait for Gandalf and the white council to give bim a ticket home to Mordor then return when the one ring is in his hand again.

  • @louisbrown4620
    @louisbrown4620 2 года назад

    It’s currently where Amazon resides.

  • @sockshistorychanel7715
    @sockshistorychanel7715 2 года назад

    Epic carecter history of J.R.R Tolkien?

  • @bobschenkel7921
    @bobschenkel7921 2 года назад +3

    Your final comment about not letting evil grow in strength, has meaning in the current situation in Ukraine I think. I know this channel is about fantasy, but occasionally, fantasy and reality meet.

    • @donutlovingwerewolf8837
      @donutlovingwerewolf8837 2 года назад +1

      especially if fantasy has a moral or a message, or is about polititcs like Star Wars