Why wasn't Barad Dur / 🌋Mordor watched more closely in the Third Age

[Bryan]

Hi all! New user here with a question that I was hoping you all could help answer.

I was wondering why after the fall of Sauron in the second age that Barad Dur / Mordor didn't have a closer watch to prevent it from being taken over again.

Barad Dur could not be completely destroyed because the ring was still around. Rebuilding this tower would be a large undertaking. Why didn't anyone notice the reconstruction of it and stop it before it was finished?

Shouldn't the White Council and/or Gondor have kept tabs on the place?

 

[Erestor Arcamen]

Hi Bryan, welcome to TTF!

The White Council was being misdirected by Saruman, who was looking for the ring for himself. Gondor had ceased watching the borders and manning the fortresses around Mordor for some time. From Appendix A in ROTK, it seems that King Atanatar preferred the easy way of doing things, to put it simply, and thus the watch on Mordor was simply neglected:

Atanatar Alcarin son of Hyarmendacil lived in great splendour, so that men said precious stones are pebbles in Gondor for children to play with. But Atanatar loved ease and did nothing to maintain the power that he had inherited, and his two sons were of like temper. The waning of Gondor had already begun before he died, and was doubtless observed by its enemies. The watch upon Mordor was neglected.

The second and greatest evil came upon Gondor in the reign of Telemnar, the twenty-sixth king, whose father Minardil, son of Eldacar, was slain at Pelargir by the Corsairs of Umbar. (They were led by Angamaitë and Sangahyando, the great-grandsons of Castamir.) Soon after a deadly plague came with dark winds out of the East The King and all his children died, and great numbers of the people of Gondor, especially those that lived in Osgiliath. Then for weariness and fewness of men the watch on the borders of Mordor ceased and the fortresses that guarded the passes were unmanned.

With the watch being ceased, this would have allowed the gathering of armies and the rebuilding of Barad Dur, without rival.

The third evil was the invasion of the Wainriders, which sapped the waning strength of Gondor in wars that lasted for almost a hundred years. The Wainriders were a people, or a confederacy of many peoples, that came from the East; but they were stronger and better armed than any that had appeared before. They journeyed in great wains, and their chieftains fought in chariots. Stirred up, as was afterwards seen, by the emissaries of Sauron, they made a sudden assault upon Gondor, and King Narmacil II was slain in battle with them beyond Anduin in 1856. The people of eastern and southern Rhovanion were enslaved; and the frontiers of Gondor were for that time withdrawn to the Anduin and the Emyn Muil. [At this time it is thought that the Ringwraiths re-entered Mordor.]

Sauron returned to Mordor in TA 2942 (the same year that Bilbo returned to the Shire with the Ring) so it was the Nazgul who did most of the rebuilding up to that time.

 

[Bryan]

Wow! Thanks for that detailed answer! I have asked this same question on a few different mediums but I found those other answers to be lacking.

Thank you!

 

[Squint-eyed Southerner]

Yes, much of the history of Gondor can be found in the Appendices.

 

[Bryan]

Yes, much of the history of Gondor can be found in the Appendices.

I have read LOTR many times throughout my adult life though never the Appendices. I started reading the Appendices and decided to go with the Silmarillion first. Not sure if that was the right thing, but I'll go back to the Appendices when I am done.

Thanks!

 

[Erestor Arcamen]

Wow! Thanks for that detailed answer! I have asked this same question on a few different mediums but I found those other answers to be lacking.

Thank you!

You'll find we have TON of very intelligent/well-read members here, most of which are smarter than me . Keep asking questions, it's how I've learned even more about LOTR and the legenedarium outside of reading and re-reading and everyone here is always happy to discuss.