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This page concerns the real world.
This article refers to the pass. For other namesakes, see Cirith Ungol (disambiguation).


"Its name was Cirith Ungol, a name of dreadful rumour."
The Two Towers, "The Black Gate is Closed"

Cirith Ungol, also known as the Cleft or Pass of Cirith Ungol[2], was a passage through the Ephel Dúath located near Minas Morgul in Mordor. At its heart was an Orc stronghold, the Tower of Cirith Ungol, near the caves of Shelob's lair.

History[]

Cirithungol-lee

Cirith Ungol by Alan Lee

Under Gondor[]

The Pass was originally known as Cirith Dúath and passed through the western mountains of Mordor, running parallel to the Morgul-road into Gondor to some degree. It was guarded by the Tower of Cirith Ungol, which was built by the Men of Gondor after the War of the Last Alliance was fought. It is not known whether the pass and the tower were called Cirith Ungol when the Men of Gondor held it, though it is likely since Shelob "...was there before Sauron, and before the first stone of Barad-dûr" was laid, and Cirith Ungol meant 'Spider's Cleft' in Sindarin.

The pass was reached by several sets of steep stairs leading from close by Minas Morgul up the north cliff-face of Morgul Vale and through a tunnel high in the mountains, with other steep stretches that lacked stairs. Eventually, the path ran straight into Shelob's lair, though many side-tunnels had been carved by Orcs and Men to get past her webs.[1][3][4]

1200px-Il Signore degli Anelli 285

The cleft as seen in Peter Jackson's third film

Under Sauron[]

Gondor occupied the tower guarding the pass until TA 1636 when the Great Plague killed much of Gondor's population. After the Plague, Gondor again occupied the Pass of Cirith Ungol but they were eventually distracted by the Wainriders, and evil was allowed to return to Mordor. The tower was likely occupied by evil forces before Minas Ithil was besieged in TA 2000.

In the Quest of the Ring, Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee were led to this pass by Gollum to the lair of the ancient spider Shelob. At this time, there were also three-headed statues that "watched" the gateway into the Tower of Cirith Ungol which could not be passed by mortals. Only through use of the Phial of Galadriel could the ring-bearer and his servant break these entities' will and enter.[5][6]

Etymology[]

Cirith Ungol is Sindarin for "Spider's cleft", from cirith ("cleft, pass")[7] and ungol ("spider")[8].

In adaptations[]

Rankin-Bass Cirith Ungol

The Pass of Cirith Ungol as depicted in the 1980 film

Rankin/Bass' Return of the King[]

In The Return of the King film created by Rankin/Bass, the Pass of Cirith Ungol is based similar to Tolkien's description. It has the Two Watchers, resembling their description from the book, but instead of their dreadful stare prohibiting access, they had an invisible gate that was controlled by them. When Frodo and Sam left the Pass of Cirith Ungol the gates of the tower collapse very much so to that in the book; with even a Nazgûl coming in to perch on top the ruins.

Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings films[]

Cirith ungol tower

The Pass of Cirith Ungol model used in the Jackson Films

The Pass of Cirith Ungol appears in Peter Jackson's third movie The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, first from a distant right before Frodo is attacked by Shelob. Later the inside of the tower is shown when the Orcs fight over the Mithril Coat and Sam makes his way in to save Frodo from Gorbag.

The films crew built a model of the Pass of Cirith Ungol based on Tolkien's description, however, the scene with the Two Watchers is altered different from in the book; as Sam is able to pass through with ease with no alarm setting off.

Cirith Ungol SoW

Cirith Ungol as it appears in Middle-earth: Shadow of War

Video games[]

Translations[]

Foreign Language Translated name
Arabic سيريث اونغول
Armenian Կիրիտհ Օնգոլ
Belarusian Cyrillic Кіріт Унгол
Bengali সিরথ আনগোল
Bulgarian Cyrillic Кирит Унгол
Burmese ခစ်ရစ်အန်ဂေါလ်
Catalan Cirith Úngol
Chinese 西力斯昂哥
Danish Cirith Ungol ("Edderkoppens Pas")
Georgian კირით უნგოლი
Greek Κιριθ Ονγολ
Gujarati સિરિથ અનગોલ
Hebrew קירית אונגול
Hindi किरिथ उङोल
Japanese シリスアンゴル
Kazakh Кіріт Ұнгол (Cyrillic) Kirit Ungol (Latin)
Kannada ಸಿರಿತ್ ಉಂಗೋಲ್
Korean 키리스 웅골
Kyrgyz Cyrillic Кирит Унгол
Latvian Kirit Ungola
Marathi क्रिथ उंगोल
Mongolian Cyrillic Кирит Унгол
Nepalese सर्क्रि अनगोल
Persian کیریت آنگول
Russian Кирит Унгол
Serbian Кирит Унгол (Cyrillic) Kirit Ungol (Latin)
Sinhalese සිරිල් අන්ගෝල්
Tamil சிரித் அன்கோல்
Telugu సిరిత్ అన్గోల్
Thai คิริธอุงโกล
Ukrainian Cyrillic Кіріт Унґол
Yiddish כּיריטה ונגאָל

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 The Atlas of Middle-earth, Regional Maps, "Mordor (and Adjacent Lands)"
  2. The Lord of the Rings, Appendix A: "Annals of the Kings and Rulers", (iv) Gondor and the Heirs of Anárion
  3. The Atlas of Middle-earth, The Lord of the Rings, "The Path of Cirith Ungol"
  4. The Atlas of Middle-earth, The Lord of the Rings, "The Tower of Cirith Ungol"
  5. The Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers, Book Four, chapter VIII: "The Stairs of Cirith Ungol"
  6. The Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers, Book Four, Ch. IX: "Shelob's Lair"
  7. The Silmarillion, Index, entry for Cirith Thoronath
  8. The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion, "Unfinished index for The Lord of the Rings, pg. 490
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