Morgai

From Tolkien Gateway
"I shan't call it the end, till we've cleared up the mess." — Sam
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The Morgai (S. "Black Fence")[1][2] was a mountain ridge that ran parallel to the northern Ephel Dúath on their eastern side.[3]

The eastern side of the Ephel Dúath fell steeply in great cliffs into a trough. The Morgai rose on the opposite side of the trough and was much lower than the Ephel Dúath. The edge of the Morgai was notched and jagged with fang-like crags. The Morgai formed the inner wall of the fences of Mordor. The road that came over the Morgul Pass was joined by a road that came winding down from the Tower of Cirith Ungol.[4] A short way after the meeting of those two roads and following a steep incline, the road crossed a bridge of stone over the trough between the Ephel Dúath and the Morgai.[5] The road then went on through a jagged rift in the Morgai out into the valley of Gorgoroth.[4]

Thorny bushes and briars grew in the valley between the Ephel Dúath and the Morgai. The valley sloped up gently northward with a streambed at its bottom, which was dry when Frodo and Sam passed by on their Quest for Mount Doom. A track left the Morgul-road at the western bridge-end and went down by a long stair to the bottom of the valley. The track went north to lesser posts and strongholds between the Tower of Cirith Ungol and the Isenmouthe and the castle of Durthang. Trickles of water came down from the mountains into the valley. In the glens of the Morgai grew low scrubby trees, coarse grey grass-tussocks, withered mosses, and brambles, some with long thorns or hooked barbs with maggot-ridden buds. Midges and dun, grey, or black flies with an eye-shaped blotch lived in the Morgai. The tops of the Morgai were without vegetation.[5]

On 15 March T.A. 3019, Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee escaped from the Tower of Cirith Ungol, and resuming their quest, they began their journey north along the Morgai towards Orodruin.[6]

References

Route of the Fellowship of the Ring
Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas
Rivendell · Eregion · Caradhras · Moria · Lothlórien · Caras Galadhon · Anduin · Parth Galen · Amon Hen · Eastemnet · Fangorn Forest · Rohan · Edoras · Hornburg · Isengard · Dunharrow · Paths of the Dead · Gondor · Hill of Erech · Lamedon · Linhir · Lebennin · Pelargir · Minas Tirith · Osgiliath · Cross-roads · Ithilien · Dagorlad · Black Gate · Field of Cormallen · Cair Andros · Gondor · Minas Tirith · Anórien · Rohan · Edoras · Isengard
Boromir
Rivendell · Eregion · Caradhras · Moria · Lothlórien · Caras Galadhon · Anduin · Parth Galen · Amon Hen
Frodo and Sam
Rivendell · Eregion · Caradhras · Moria · Lothlórien · Caras Galadhon · Anduin · Parth Galen · Amon Hen · Emyn Muil · Dead Marshes · Black Gate · Ithilien · Henneth Annûn · Cross-roads · Morgul Vale · Stairs of Cirith Ungol · Cirith Ungol · Shelob's Lair · Tower of Cirith Ungol · Mordor · Morgai · Plateau of Gorgoroth · Mount Doom · Field of Cormallen · Cair Andros · Gondor · Minas Tirith · Anórien · Rohan · Edoras · Isengard
Gandalf
Rivendell · Eregion · Caradhras · Moria · Celebdil† · Lothlórien · Fangorn Forest · Edoras · Hornburg · Isengard · Rohan · Anórien · Gondor · Minas Tirith · Osgiliath · Cross-roads · Ithilien · Dagorlad · Black Gate · Field of Cormallen · Cair Andros · Gondor · Minas Tirith · Anórien · Rohan · Edoras · Isengard
Merry
Rivendell · Eregion · Caradhras · Moria · Lothlórien · Caras Galadhon · Anduin · Parth Galen · Amon Hen · Emyn Muil · Eastemnet · Fangorn Forest · Wellinghall · Derndingle · Isengard · Hornburg · Dunharrow · Drúadan Forest · Gondor · Minas Tirith · Anórien · Rohan · Edoras · Isengard
Pippin
Rivendell · Eregion · Caradhras · Moria · Lothlórien · Caras Galadhon · Anduin · Amon Hen · Parth Galen · Emyn Muil · Eastemnet · Fangorn Forest · Wellinghall · Derndingle · Isengard · Rohan · Anórien · Gondor · Minas Tirith · Osgiliath · Cross-roads · Ithilien · Dagorlad · Black Gate · Field of Cormallen · Gondor · Cair Andros · Minas Tirith · Anórien · Rohan · Edoras · Isengard