In J. R. R. Tolkien's fiction universe of Middle-earth, Mordor (from Sindarin Black Land and Quenya Land of Shadow) is the dwelling place of Sauron, in the southeast of Middle-earth to the East of Anduin, the great river. Orodruin, the sole mountain in Mordor, was the destination of the Fellowship of the Ring (and later Frodo Baggins and Sam Gamgee) in the quest to destroy the One Ring. Mordor was unique because of the three enormous mountain ridges surrounding it, from the North, from the West and from the South. The mountains both protected the land from an unexpected invasion by any of the people living in those directions and kept those living in Mordor from escaping. Tolkien is reported to have identified Mordor with the volcano of Stromboli off Sicily.
Its walls, on three sides, were mountain ranges, arranged in a rough rectangle: Ered Lithui in the north, Ephel Dúath in the west, and an unnamed (or possibly still called Ephel Dúath) range in the south. In the northwest corner...
