Mount Gundabad was a chief Orc mountain-stronghold situated at the northern end of the Misty Mountains, located to the east of the ancient realm of Angmar.
History
Dwarves, including Durin the Deathless, oldest of the Fathers of the Dwarves, awoke at Mount Gundabad in the north of the Misty Mountains shortly after the Awakening of the Elves in the Years of the Trees. Mount Gundabad then became a sacred place to the Dwarves.[1]
In the middle of the Second Age, however, Orcs (ruled over by the servants of Sauron) invaded the mountains again and took Gundabad. The site would not be cleansed until very late in the Third Age, possibly around or after the fall of Sauron and the loss of the One Ring in SA 3441.[2][3]
In the Third Age, the Orcs of Angmar yet again claimed it as their capital, which was one of the reasons for the Dwarves' special hatred of them. After the fall of Angmar, Gundabad remained an Orc stronghold, 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 strongpoint and fortified it anew during the events of The Hobbit, menacing the Wilderland for yet another time. It was from here the gargantuan Goblin-horde present during the Battle of the Five Armies attacked and marched from. Their leader, Bolg son of Azog, was the supreme commander of the Orcs from Gundabad, and presumably the northern Misty Mountains.[4][5]
It is possible that the Longbeards may have reclaimed their ancient ancestral homeland from the orcs due to the reclaiming of Khazad-dûm and the Reunited Kingdom in the Fourth Age.
Portrayal 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 died out 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 Oakenshield 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.
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 Berserker Orcs and Gundabad 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
- 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."
Translations around the world
Foreign Language | Translated name |
Afrikaans | Berg Gundabad |
Albanian | Mali Gundabad |
Amharic | ጎንዳባድ ተራራ |
Arabic | جبل جونداباد |
Armenian | Գունդաբադ լեռ |
Azerbaijani | Gundabad dağı |
Basque | Gundabad mendia |
Belarusian Cyrillic | гара Гундабад |
Bengali | গুণ্ডাবাদ পর্বত |
Bosnian | Brdo Gundabad |
Breton | Menez Gundabad |
Bulgarian Cyrillic | планина Гундабад |
Cambodian | ភ្នំ Gundabad ? |
Catalan | Mont Gundabad |
Cheyenne | Vose Gundabad |
Chinese (Hong Kong) | 剛達巴山脈 |
Croatian | Brdo Gundabad |
Corsican | Muntagna Gundabad |
Czech | Hora Gundabad |
Danish | Gundabadbjerget |
Dutch | Gundabadberg |
Esperanto | Monto Gundabad |
Estonian | Gundabadi mägi |
Filipino | Bundok Gundabad |
Finnish | Gundabadin vuori |
French | Mont Gundabad |
Galician | Monte Gundabad |
Georgian | გუნდაბადის მთა |
German | Berg Gundabad |
Greek | Όρος Γκούνταμπαντ |
Gujarati | માઉન્ટ ગોંડબાદ |
Hausa | Dutsen Gundabad |
Hawaiian | Mauna Gundabad |
Hebrew | ג'בל גונדאבאד |
Haitian Creole | Mòn Gundabad |
Hindi | गुंडबड पर्वत; Gundabad Parvat (Latin) |
Hungarian | Gundabad-hegy |
Icelandic | Fjall Gundabad |
Iloko | Bantay Gundabad |
Indonesian | Gunung Gundabad |
Irish Gaelic | Sliabh Gundabad |
Italian | Monte Gundabad |
Japanese | グンダバード山 |
Javanese | Gunung Gundabad |
Kannada | ಗುಂದಬಾದ್ ಪರ್ವತ; Gundabad Parvata (Latin) |
Kazakh | Тауына Гұндабад (Cyrillic) Tawına Gundabad (Latin) |
Korean | 군다바드 산 |
Kurdish | Çiyayê Gundabad (Kurmanji Kurdish) |
Kyrgyz Cyrillic | тоосунда Гундабад |
Latin | Mons Gundabad |
Latvian | Gundabad kalnu |
Lithuanian | Gundabad kalnas |
Luxembourgish | Montéierung Gundabad |
Macedonian Cyrillic | Гундабад Гора |
Malayalam | ഗുണ്ടബാദ് മല |
Malaysian | Gunung Gundabad |
Maori | Maunga Gundabad |
Marathi | गुंडबाडचा डोंगर |
Mongolian Cyrillic | Монт Гундабад |
Nāhuatl | Tepētl Gundabad |
Navajo | Dził Gundabad |
Nepalese | माउन्ट ङुन्दबद |
Norwegian | Gundabadfjellet |
Northern Sami | Várri Gundabad |
Occitan | Mont Gundabad |
Old English | Gundabad Beorg |
Pashto | غر عونداباد |
Persian | کوه گونداباد |
Polish | Góra Gundabad |
Portuguese (Brazil) | Monte Gundabad |
Punjabi | ਪਹਾੜ ਗੁਨ੍ਦਬਦ |
Romanian | Muntele Gundabad |
Romansh | Muntogna Gundabad |
Russian | гора Гундабад |
Samoan | Mauga Gundabad |
Sanskrit | गुंडबड पर्वत; Gundabad Parvat (Latin) |
Scottish Gaelic | Beinn Gundabad |
Serbian | Гундабад гора (Cyrillic) Gundabad gora (Latin) |
Sesotho | Thabeng Gundabad |
Sindhi | مائونٽ گند آباد |
Sinhalese | ගුන්තබාද් කන්ද |
Slovak | Hora Gundabad |
Slovenian | Gora Gundabad |
Somalian | Buurta Gundabad |
Spanish (Spain and Latin America) | Monte Gundabad |
Sudanese | Gunung Gundabad |
Swahili | Mlima Gundabad |
Swedish | Gundabadberget |
Tagalog | Bundok ng Gundabad |
Tajik Cyrillic | Маунт Гундабад |
Tamil | குண்டபடி மலை |
Telugu | గుందాబాద్ పర్వతం |
Turkish | Gundabad Dağı |
Turkmen | Gundabad dagyna ? |
Urdu | کوہ گوندآباڈ |
Ukrainian Cyrillic | Гора Ґундабад |
Uzbek | Гундабад тоғига (Cyrillic) Gundabad tog‘iga (Latin) |
Vietnamese | Núi Gundabad |
Welsh | Mynydd Gundabad |
Xhosa | Entabeni Gundabad |
Yiddish | מעמד הר גונדאַבאַד |
Yoruba | Òkè Gundabad |
Zazaki | Koyê Gundabad |
Zulu | Entabeni Gundabad |
Dwarven realms of Middle-earth throughout the Ages | |
---|---|
Years of the Trees and First Age: | Amon Rûdh | Belegost | Khazad-dûm | Mount Gundabad | Nogrod | Narukuthûn | Blue Mountains |
Second Age: | Khazad-dûm | Belegost | Nogrod | Mount Gundabad | Blue Mountains | Iron Hills |
Third Age: | Grey Mountains | Iron Hills | Khazad-dûm | Lonely Mountain | Blue Mountains | Dunland |
Fourth Age: | Glittering Caves | Khazad-dûm | Lonely Mountain | Blue Mountains | Iron Hills |
References
- ↑ The Lord of the Rings, Appendix A: Annals of the Kings and Rulers, III: Durin's Folk
- ↑ Unfinished Tales, Part Two: The Second Age, IV: "The History of Galadriel and Celeborn, and of Amroth King of Lórien"
- ↑ The Lord of the Rings, Appendix B: The Tale of Years (Chronology of the Westlands), "The Second Age"
- ↑ The Hobbit, Chapter XVII: "The Clouds Burst"
- ↑ The Hobbit, Chapter XVIII: "The Return Journey"