Gates of Angband

The Gates of Angband was the main entrance point to the fortress of Angband.

The Gates were dark wide arches and above them was a thousand foot precipice. Leading up to the Gates lay a dreary dale and a road, and beside the road there were black chasms that opened and there came forth writhing serpent-like forms. A guard of some kind was also there.

History
The exact date of the building of the Gates is unknown but it is likely that it dates back to the building of Angband. Before the Sun, the place before the Gates was known for the massive quantities of filth and desolation that spread for miles southward. After the rise of Sun, a vast plain of green grass stretched across the great plain of Ard-galen south of the Gates until the end of the Siege of Angband at the conclusion of the Dagor Bragollach. The Gates were the main port from which Morgoth's vast armies of darkness issued from. Few Elves or Men save those who were captured and enslaved safely passed through the Gates, save for Beren and Lúthien who passed by stealth and enchantments. The Gates were once breached during the Nírnaeth Arnoediad by a group led by Gwindor who burst through the Gates and made it up doors of Angband, but were slain there between the Gates and the doors by Morgoth's main force. The Gates of Angband were destroyed along with the fortress itself during the War of Wrath.