Isengard

J. R. R Tolkien in his books from the Middle Earth legendarium [1] describes Isengard as an enormous and gigantic fortress situated in Middle-earth. It translates to “iron fortress” or “west guard”. Orthanc forms one of the greatest towers of Isengard. It is the place where Saruman lives and it has a crystal ball that has magical capabilities. [2] Tolkien tried to show the locations of Isengard and Orthanc through detailed drawings and sketches in his book. In the latter stages of the Third Age, Saruman had captured Isengard and thereafter, he made Isengard his residence. This happened when Saruman had returned to Middle-Earth and he was offered by Beren to be the guard of Isengard and make it his home. This offer was readily taken into consideration and Saruman was given Isengard. The intentions of Saruman were clear when he expressed that he wanted to possess the One Ring himself. After the meeting with the White Council, Saruman began his process of destroying Isengard. He fortified the entirety of Isengard and he made use of the crystal ball which is known as the Palantir that was placed in the Orthanc for his purposes. Furthermore, he started to support Sauron. It was only when Gandalf came to

Isengard that the true intentions of Saruman surfaced

Saruman asked Gandalf to submit and support Sauron in the war. Saruman had destroyed all the trees and dug huge pits. He bred the Uruk-hai and forged and made new weapons. He was making an army of orcs and also wolves. Saruman had made Isengard his base area for all the operations that were to be carried out during the War of the Ring and Rohan. After the Battle of Isengard had come to an end, the Ents took down all the walls and tried to revive Isengard back to its former state by planting more trees and tending to the trees and grass fields.

Overview

It has been reported that Isengard was created during the Second Age. It is located in the Misty Mountains. It guarded and protected the Gap of Rohan. Isengard has only one gate in the southward direction that allowed entry into Isengard. The place is made up of black stone-walls and in the center of Isengard lays the Orthanc (Tower). The river which is famously known as Isen forms the northern wall for Isengard. The remaining sides were protected and guarded by the great long wall (Ring of Isengard). The peculiarity of the gate was that whenever it opened it did not make any sound or noise. Before the coming of Saruman in Isengard in the latter stage of Third Age, it was said that Isengard was a beautiful place that was filled with trees and surrounded by grass fields throughout, and the river Isen nourished Isengard. But when Saruman came and captured the place, it lost its former beauty, he had damned Isengard.

Soon after the war of the Ring, Treebeard and the Ents took the responsibility upon themselves to restore Isengard to its former state. They also tried removing the walls and dams and they renamed the place (Treegarth of Orthanc). Orthanc is described by J.R.R Tolkien as the black tower which fell in the center of Isengard. In the book, Tolkien mentioned that this tower was built by the people that belonged to Gondor during the latter stage of the Second Age [3]. It was an architectural marvel. It was so strong that no weapons or arms could have destroyed it. The Orthanc had one of the palantíri, which is a crystal ball that possesses unique magical powers. The keys to this tower were given to a special warden. Even when the Dunlendings took over Isengard, they were unable to gain access to the tower.

Origin

Tolkien wrote that Isengard was built and created by Númenóreans [4] who were in exile during that time and they built Isengard in the Second Age. Its location was such that it fell right outside Rohan and entry to Isengard was possible only through one gate. The river Isen formed one wall for Isengard and this river was crucial as it nourished the lush trees and grass fields of Isengard. The remaining three sides were then guarded and protected by what was famously known as the Ring of Isengard. Isengard, when it was built and created, was a place that was covered by green grass fields and had enormous trees. The river Isen helped provide nourishment to these trees and grass fields making them grow lusciously and the trees grew to enormous sizes. The Orthanc assumed the center of Isengard. Isengard was guarded by a small army which was led by a captain who is chosen on a hereditary basis. It was during the middle of the Third Age that Calenardhon became very sparse in their population and soon it was given away to Éothéod [5]. Due to this, Isengard became the only fortress that was then retained by Gondor. And for the majority of the time, Orthanc was closed because the keys of Orthanc were with the Steward of Gondor. But soon the entire line of hereditary captains passed out and Isengard became quite hostile towards Rohirrim.

The Dunlendings made use of Isengard by making it their base area for them to help them raid Rohan and they were almost successful in destroying Rohirrim but the Rohirrim stood firm and tried to create blockades and stop the invaders and in this process, they eventually ended up taking Isengard. A more concrete solution became a requirement for Isengard so the steward of Gondor, Beren gave the keys to Orthanc to Saruman. Hereafter, Saruman settled in Isengard and made it his residence. The “Valley of The Wizard” was named after Saruman came and took over Isengard. When the War of the Ring began, Saruman had converted Isengard as his base for all the operations that he made towards Rohirrim. In these efforts, he destroyed the entire Isengard. He had cut down all the trees and destroyed Isengard’s former beauty. The entire place felt like a graveyard and Saruman had completely damned the place.

He used to dig deep pits which formed the breeding place for Uruk-hai and he also uprooted trees to help build new weapons for the war. Isengard, hence, became a place that was filled by Orcs. The Ents and Huorns were then guided and led by the Treebeard of Fargorn and they had attacked Isengard and took the fortress. Then in the Fourth Age, after Isengard was attacked by the Ents and Huorns, guided and led by the Treebeard of Fargorn and took over Isengard. The entire valley was then given to the Ents. And the Ents saw it to their responsibility to restore Isengard to its former state. They even went to the extent of destroying the three walls of Isengard and restored the trees and grass-fields of Isengard. Then they also renamed the forest as the Treegarth of Orthanc.

After The War of The Ring

After the Ents and Huorns guided and led by the Treebeard of Fangorn, took over Isengard; the Ents were given the entire valley and Meriadoc and Peregrin had assumed the role door-warden and they welcome the King of Rohan, Aragorn, and Gandalf at the gates. Saruman was then asked to confront but he refused to plead for any kind of forgiveness. It was then decided that he would be released and given away to the guard of the Treebeard but it was not released alone; he was released along with his servant. After the fellowship of the Ring had defeated Sauron, Saruman decided to leave Isengard.

Sauron however, made plans that when Saruman would pass away, Isengard will be passed on and given to the Mouth of Sauron, who in-fact was very loyal to Sauron. [6] During the early period of the Fourth Age, Isengard was restored to its former glory. Treebeard had planted more trees and had tried to revive the dying grass-fields. The Ents soon took down the three walls that had surrounded Isengard before and the Ents had the entire valley to themselves. Saruman had dug numerous large and deep pits to breed the Uruk-hai and to make new weapons and arms for the war, those pits were then filled and the ground was revived. After that, Isengard was revived back to its former state, even a small lake was built near the Orthanc. [7] The Ents were given the entire valley by none other than Aragorn and they had promised to keep a watch over the Orthanc and also restore Isengard.

Adaptations

The place Isengard was shown in the movie trilogy, The Lord of The Rings. In this movie trilogy, Alan Lee was the illustrator and he interpreted the descriptions made by Tolkien in his book. Legendarium and he then portrayed that on-screen. The place Isengard was also shown in the video games like in 1988, the video of the J.R.R Tolkien’s War in Middle-earth and it was also shown in the game was created in 2011, namely, The Lord of The Rings Online: Rise of Isengard.​