The Lord of the Rings

Isengard was a great fortress located within a valley at the southern end of the Misty Mountains near the Gap of Rohan. In the centre of the Ring of Isengard stood the stone tower of Orthanc.

The fortress of Isengard was located in a valley at the southern tip of the Misty Mountains; the Ring of Isengard was a great wall of stone that ran out from the mountain-side and then back again. The only entrance to Isengard was found delved into the southern wall of Isengard. One entering Isengard would pass through its only gate, travel down the long tunnel and pass through the iron doors to come to the plain of Isengard. In the centre of the plain, half a mile from the gate, stood the looming tower of Orthanc. For most of its history the lands of Isengard were green and a river ran from the mountains to form a lake. However after the treason of Saruman all green things that grew were removed and the river was dammed. The inner-ring was riddled with houses which cut into the walls. About the plain great shafts had been dug deep and many stone-flags paved the roads of the surface.

TOWER OF ORTHANC

Orthanc was the impregnable tower of Isengard built by the Dúnedain during the Second Age.

The tower of Orthanc was composed of four welded pillars of many-sided stone that stood in the centre of the Ring of Isengard like an island, roughly half a mile from the rim. At its peak the tower reached a height of just over five hundred feet. The colour of the rock was a deep, gleaming black. At Orthanc's pinnacle the four piers opened out to form four pinnacles of sharp rock; between these isles of rock there was a narrow, polished floor on which many strange signs were written.

FORESTS OF FANGORN

Fangorn Forest was a deep, dark woodland that grew beneath the southern Misty Mountains, under the eastern flanks of that range. It gained ill repute as the habitat of the Ents in the Third Age. The forest, known as Entwood in Rohan, was named after the oldest Ent, Fangorn (S. ‘Treebeard’). Fangorn Forest was the oldest part of Treebeard's realm, and it is here the Ents retreated following the widespread deforestation caused by Númenóreans and other events leading up to the War of the Last Alliance at the end of the Second Age. Fangorn was within the borders of Gondor, but centuries passed without any Gondorian visiting to prove or disprove the legends around the Forest.

CAVERNS OF ISENGARD

The Caverns of Isengard were naturally dug caverns, dug further by the Isengard Orcs. It was created into an Orc Forge where weapons, armor, and shields were crafted; and orcs were dug up from the earth below.