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In J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy writings, Isengard (/ ˈ aɪ z ən ɡ ɑːr d /) is a large fortress in Nan Curunír, the Wizard's Vale, in the western part of Middle-earth.In the fantasy world, the name of the fortress is described as a translation of Angrenost, a word in Tolkien's elvish language, Sindarin, a compound of two Old English words: īsen and ġeard, meaning "enclosure of iron".
Tolkien initially considered choosing a pair from four towers. Three such pairs (Orthanc and Barad-dûr, Minas Tirith and Barad-dûr, or Orthanc and the Tower of Cirith Ungol, black lines) could have been the two of the title. [2] [3] But he settled on a different pair (red line), with Orthanc and a fifth tower, Minas Morgul. [4]
Treebeard is still at Isengard, now renamed the Treegarth of Orthanc, when a group led by Aragorn, King of Gondor, arrives after the victory over Sauron, made possible partly because the Ents had helped to destroy Saruman's forces. Treebeard admits that he had let Saruman go.
[T 12] Orthanc rose to more than 500 feet (150 metres) above the plain of Isengard, and ended in four sharp peaks. [T 10] Its only entrance was at the top of a high stair, and above that was a small window and balcony. [T 11] The Tolkien scholar Charles A. Huttar called Saruman's city of Isengard an "industrial hell". [17]
When Gandalf refused both options, the traitorous Saruman imprisoned him in the tower of Orthanc at Isengard, hoping to learn from him the location of the Ring. Whilst on the summit of Orthanc , Gandalf observed that Saruman had industrialized the formerly green valley of Isengard and was creating his own army of Half- Orc /Half- Man fighters ...
For example, his conception of the tower of Orthanc at the centre of the ring of Isengard, for 3:8 "The Road to Isengard" and 3:10 "The Voice of Saruman", evolved considerably while he was writing. In the earliest versions, the tower was round, rising in multiple tiers, and had three small horns on its top.
These include the industrial hells of Saruman's Isengard with its underground furnaces and labouring Orcs; the dark tunnels of Moria; Sauron's evil land of Mordor; and Morgoth's subterranean fortress of Angband. The gates to some of these realms, like the guarded West Door of Moria, and the Black Gate to Mordor, too, carry echoes of the gates ...
Imitator of Sauron; creates an army in Isengard, dwells in the tower of Orthanc; has sided with death: As a Maia, should be immortal; turns to "grey mist ... like smoke from a fire"; is blown away by the wind Denethor: Lives in dying city of Minas Tirith; plans to die, killing his one remaining son Faramir with him