Mount Doom

Mount Doom, also known as Orodruin and Amon Amarth, was a volcano in Mordor where the One Ring was forged, and finally destroyed. It was the ultimate destination for Frodo's Quest of the Ring.

Description


Mount Doom was located in the Plateau of Gorgoroth in northwestern Mordor. It was connected to Barad-dûr through the steaming fissures of Sauron's Road. It stood about 4,500 feet with its base about 3,000 feet tall.

History
During the Second Age, Sauron chose the land of Mordor as his dwelling-place. He used the fire that welled there from the heart of the earth in his sorceries and his forging. Around SA 1600, Sauron forged the One Ring in the depths of Sammath Naur, which was built within Mount Doom itself. On SA 3429, Mount Doom erupted, signalling Sauron's attack on Gondor, where it earned its name "Amon Amarth".

After the War of the Last Alliance and Sauron's disappearance, it seemed to be dormant and only sprung into life when the One Ring was rediscovered.

On TA 3019, Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee trekked the slopes of Mount Doom and entered Sammarth Naur.

With the destruction of the Ring, Mount Doom had a massive eruption, sending massive lava flows down its sides and scattering the area with volcanic debris. The fiery eruption destroyed the Nazgûl and their mounts as they tried to reach Frodo on their Fell Beasts to reclaim the Ring.

Etymology
Orodruin was the common Sindarin name for Mount Doom. It means "Fire Mountain", from orod ("mountain") and ruin ("burning, fiery red"). However, the literal Sindarin translation for Mount Doom is Amon Amarth, from amon ("hill, mountain") and amarth ("doom, fate").

Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings film trilogy


In Peter Jackson's trilogy of movies, the New Zealand volcano Mount Ngauruhoe was used as Mount Doom in some scenes. In long shots, the mountain is either a large model or a CGI effect, or a combination. Filming the summit of Ngauruhoe itself was not permitted because it is sacred to the Māori of the region. However, some scenes on the slopes of Mount Doom were filmed on the actual slopes of Mount Ruapehu.

On November 22, 2012, it was incorrectly reported by media outside New Zealand that "Mount Doom" Ngauruhoe had erupted. The reported eruption was actually from nearby Mount Tongariro, not Mount Ngauruhoe.

Real-life
The International Astronomical Union names all mountains on Saturn's moon Titan after mountains in Tolkien's work. In 2012, they named a Titanian mountain "Doom Mons" after Mount Doom.

In the real world, Mount Doom corresponds to Mount Etna in Sicily.