Mount Gundabad

Mount Gundabad by Larry Elmore
Mount Gundabad
General information
Type	Mountain
Location	At the northern end of the Misty Mountains and west of the Grey Mountains
People
Inhabitants	Dwarves (early), Northern Orcs (later)
Spoken languages	Khuzdûl (early), Orkish (later)
Governance	Dwarvish lords, Orc chieftains (later)
History
Founded/built	Early Years of the Trees

Mount Gundabad was a Northern Orc stronghold situated at the northern end of the Misty Mountains, located to the east of the ancient realm of Angmar.

History

Dwarves of Durin's Folk, including Durin the Deathless, oldest of the Seven Fathers of the Dwarves, awoke at Mount Gundabad shortly after the Awakening of the Elves in the Years of the Trees. Mount Gundabad then became a sacred place to the Dwarves.

In the middle of the Second Age, however, Orcs (ruled over by the servants of Sauron) invaded the mountains and took Gundabad. The site would not be cleansed until very late in the Second Age, possibly around or after the fall of Sauron and the loss of the One Ring.

In the Third Age, the Northern Orcs again claimed it, which was one of the reasons for the Dwarves special hatred of them. After the fall of Angmar, Gundabad remained an Orc-hold, until it was cleansed of Orcs during the War of the Dwarves and Orcs. However, hordes of Orcs seem to have trickled back to this hotly contested strong point and fortified it anew before the events of The Hobbit, menacing Wilderland for yet another time. It was from here the great Northern Orcs present at the Battle of Five Armies attacked and marched. Their leader, Bolg son of Azog, was the supreme commander of the Orcs from Gundabad, and presumably the northern Misty Mountains.

In adaptations

The Hobbit film trilogy

In The Hobbit film trilogy, Gundabad plays a key role in the series storyline. It is portrayed as a tall fortress tower in the middle of a remote mountain range. Hidden cauldrons of fire light up the tower with a dim red glow. The tower is surrounded by sharp angled cliffs.

The fortress is home to Bolg and his father Azog the Defiler, as well as an army of Gundabad Orcs. As eventually revealed in The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, Gundabad is a stronghold with connections to the Angmar kingdom that was destroyed long ago. In the aftermath, Gundabad Orcs like Azog began to take residence in Moria before forging an alliance with Sauron, in his Necromancer guise at Dol Guldur, in an attempt to revive Angmar through Smaug taking the Lonely Mountain. But when Thorin II reclaims the Lonely Mountain, Sauron is forced to send the Orc army he amassed to the Lonely Mountain. On route at the start of The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, Azog instructs his son Bolg to bring out an additional Orc army from Gundabad itself.

Fortress of Gundabad as depicted in The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

Legolas and Tauriel follow Bolg north to Gundabad. Once they arrive at the remote fortress they stop, and wait on a ridgeline above the "Red Tower". During their wait Legolas reveals that his mother died at Gundabad during the war.

For a while the area seems deserted, but without warning, huge bats start to swarm the tower. Legolas realizes that these bats are bred for war. Suddenly, Bolg appears on a precipice and bellows out a signal. A huge army of Orcs swarm out and start to march south, towards the Lonely Mountain.

Tauriel and Legolas witness the army of Gundabad Orcs emerging from the mountain, and they rush to warn the armies at Dale. 

Video games

Gundabad in The Lord of the Rings Online

• The video game The Lord of the Rings: War in the North was the first to depict Mount Gundabad in any form.
• Games Workshop's miniature of Bolg gives his full title as "Castellan of Mount Gundabad."
• In The Lord of the Rings Online, Gundabad features as a significant location.

Translations

Foreign Language	Translated name
Afrikaans	Berg Gundabad
Albanian	Mali Gundabad
Amharic	ጎንዳባድ ተራራ
Arabic	جبل جونداباد
Armenian	Գունդաբադ լեռ
Assamese	মাউণ্ট গুণ্ডাবাদ
Asturian	Monte Gundabad
Azerbaijani	Gundabad dağı
Basque	Gundabad mendia
Belarusian Cyrillic	Гара Гундабад
Bengali	গুন্দাবাদ পর্বত
Bhojpuri	माउंट गुंडाबाद
Bosnian	Brdo Gundabad
Breton	Menez Gundabad
Bulgarian Cyrillic	Планина Гундабад
Catalan	Mont Gundabad
Chinese (Hong Kong)	剛達巴山脈
Croatian	Brdo Gundabad
Corsican	Muntagna Gundabad
Czech	Hora Gundabad
Danish	Gundabad Bjerget
Dutch	Gundabadberg
Esperanto	Monto Gundabad
Estonian	Gundabadi mägi
Faroese	Gundabadfjall
Filipino	Bundok Gundabad
Finnish	Gundabadin vuori
French	Mont Gundabad
Galician	Monte Gundabad
Georgian	გუნდაბადის პიკი
German	Berg Gundabad
Greek	Όρος Γκούνταμπαντ
Gujarati	માઉન્ટ ગુંદાબાદ
Hawaiian	Mauna Gundabad
Hebrew	ג'בל גונדאבאד
Haitian Creole	Mòn Gundabad
Hindi	गुंडबड पर्वत
Hungarian	Gundabad-hegy
Icelandic	Gundabadfjall
Indonesian	Gunung Gundabad
Irish Gaelic	Sliabh Gundabad
Italian	Monte Gundabad
Japanese	グンダバード山
Javanese	Gunung Gundabad
Kannada	ಗುಂದಬಾದ್ ಪರ್ವತ
Kazakh	Тауына Гұндабад (Cyrillic) Tawına Gundabad (Latin)
Konkani	माउंट गुंडाबाद
Korean	군다바드 산
Kurdish	ماونت گوندە ئاباد (Sorani) Çiyayê Gundabad (Kurmanji)
Kyrgyz Cyrillic	Тоо Гундабад
Laotian	ພູກູນດາບາດ
Latin	Mons Gundabad
Latvian	Gundabad smaile
Lithuanian	Gundabad viršukalnė
Luxembourgish	Montéierung Gundabad
Macedonian Cyrillic	Гундабад Гора
Maithili	गुंडाबाद पर्वत
Malayalam	ഗുണ്ടാബാദ് പർവ്വതം
Malaysian	Gunung Gundabad
Manx	Beinn Gundabad
Maori	Maunga Gundabad
Marathi	गुंडाबाद पर्वत
Mongolian Cyrillic	Монт Гундабад
Nepalese	गुन्डाबाद पर्वत
Norwegian	Gundabadfjellet
Occitan	Mont Gundabad
Old English	Gundabad Beorg
Pashto	غر عونداباد
Persian	کوه گونداباد
Polish	Góra Gundabad
Portuguese	Monte Gundabad (Brazil)
Punjabi	ਪਹਾੜ ਗੁਨ੍ਦਬਦ
Romanian	Muntele Gundabad
Romansh	Muntogna Gundabad
Russian	гора Гундабад
Samoan	Mauga Gundabad
Sanskrit	गुंडबड पर्वत
Sardinian	Monte Gundabad
Scottish Gaelic	Beinn Gundabad
Serbian	Гундабад гора (Cyrillic) Gundabad gora (Latin)
Sicilian	Munti Gundabad
Sindhi	مائونٽ گند آباد
Sinhalese	ගුන්ඩාබාද් කන්ද
Slovak	Hora Gundabad
Slovenian	Gora Gundabad
Somali	Buurta Gundabad
Spanish (Spain and Latin America)	Monte Gundabad
Sundanese	Gunung Gundabad
Swahili	Mlima Gundabad
Swedish	Gundabadberget
Tagalog	Bundok ng Gundabad
Tajik Cyrillic	Маунт Гундабад
Tamil	குண்டாபாத் மலை
Telugu	గుండాబాద్ పర్వతం
Turkish	Gundabad Dağı
Turkmen	Gundabad Dagy
Urdu	کوہ گوندآباڈ
Ukrainian Cyrillic	Гора Ґундабад
Uzbek	Гундабад чўққиси (Cyrillic) Gundabad choʻqqisi (Latin)
Venetian	Monte Gundabad
Vietnamese	Núi Gundabad
Walloon	Mont Gundabad
Welsh	Mynydd Gundabad
Xhosa	Entabeni Gundabad
Yiddish	מעמד הר גונדאַבאַד
Yoruba	Òkè Gundabad
Zazaki	Gundabad Koyê
Zulu	Entabeni Gundabad

Places of Middle-earth and Arda during the Second & Third Age Middle-earth Locations: Provinces/Regions: Arnor | Dunland | Ettenmoors | Forochel | Forodwaith | Gondor | Harad | Ithilien | Khand | Lindon | Minhiriath | Mordor | Rhovanion | Rhûn | Rivendell | Rohan | The Shire Forests & Mountains: Amon Dîn | Amon Hen | Amon Lhaw | Caradhras | Emyn Muil | Erebor | Fangorn Forest | High Pass | Iron Hills | Lórien | Mirkwood | Mount Doom | Mount Gundabad | Old Forest | Orod-na-Thôn | Tower Hills | Weathertop Hill City/Fortifications: Angband | Barad-dûr | Bree | Caras Galadhon | Dol Guldur | Fornost Erain | Hornburg | Isengard | Minas Morgul | Minas Tirith | Last Homely House | Tower of Amon Sûl | Tower of Orthanc | Osgiliath | Umbar | Utumno Miscellaneous: Argonath | Astulat | Buckland | Cair Andros | Dagorlad | Dead Marshes | Enedwaith | Fords of Isen | Gap of Rohan | Grey Havens The rest of Arda: Aman | Burnt Land of the Sun | Dark Land | Empty Lands | Neldoreth | New lands | Númenor | Tol Eressëa