Goblin-Town

Goblin-town consisted of several tunnels, deep pits, and caves that passed through the Misty Mountains. The town had a back door, famously known as the Goblin Gate. The entrance into the caves was accessible through the main gate at the throat of the mountain. The caves and the tunnels ultimately lead the way up the throne of the newest kings of the goblins. His throne is situated deep within the goblin town. A number of side caves appear on the way to the throne. Alongside countless goblins, the orcs, the cave-trolls, and several wargs form the forces of Goblin-town. Landmarks such as Slave Pens, Thundergrot, War Steadings, Gollum’s cave, Eglanur, Den of the Northern Army, the Deep Fires are all located within the Goblin-town. [1]​

Much before the Orcs came to the Misty Mountains, mysterious creatures found their dwelling in these caves. In the Third Age of 2480, the Orcs of the Misty Mountains started digging up mountains to create their secret fortress. They blocked the passages that led to Eriador and expanded those caves by building connecting tunnels within them. One of the initial owners of these caves was Gollum who stayed in an underground lake nearby and lived on a diet of raw fish and meat of the goblins he would kill. The main gate to the goblin town was located in one of the passes of the Misty Mountains. However, around the Third Age 2941, travelers had known to avoid that dangerous passage. This allowed the goblins to dig another high pass called the “Front Porch”. On their way to the Lonely Mountain, Thorin and Company snuck inside the western entrance of the caves thinking they were empty and fell asleep there.

While they were sound asleep, the backside of the cave opened with a crack and goblins captured them. Through the crack, they were taken to the Great Goblin’s cavern below where he accused them of spying. He was further enraged when he discovered that Thorin possessed the Orcrist, a sword which he knew belonged to Gondolin and had killed over 1000 goblins. The Great Goblin orders their execution but Gandalf saves them and the Great Goblin is killed. All of this enraged the goblins who followed Gandalf, Bilbo, and the Dwarves as they tried to escape through the long tunnel. Even on the goblin’s confrontation, the company managed to fight free but Bilbo got knocked down in an unconscious state. The dwarves ran away without knowing about Bilbo’s plight.​