The Encyclopedia of Arda - an interactive guide to the world of J.R.R. Tolkien
Dates
Goblin-town was probably established in about III 2480, so the gate would have existed in some form from that date; it definitely existed in III 2941
Location
The eastern entrance to the underground complex of Goblin-town in the Misty Mountains
Race
Culture
Settlements
An entrance to Goblin-town
Other names
Sometimes referred to as the Goblins' 'back-door'

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About this entry:

  • Updated 12 August 2018
  • This entry is complete

Goblin-gate

The eastern entrance to Goblin-town

Map of the Goblin-gate

In a narrow valley between two peaks in the eastern Misty Mountains, a short series of steps led up to a heavy stone door in the rockface. This was the Goblin-gate (also sometimes seen in the marginally different form 'Goblin Gate'),1 the eastern entrance to the underground domain of the Orcs known as Goblin-town. It was through this gate that Bilbo Baggins escaped during the Quest of Erebor, squeezing through the closing doorway and thus losing the buttons from his waistcoat.


Notes

1

The name 'Goblin-gate' is not used anywhere in the text of The Hobbit, but it does appear in two of Tolkien's captions to his own illustrations in that book. On the Wilderland map it is given in the hyphenated form 'Goblin-gate', while in the caption to an illustration in Chapter 6 (Out of the Frying-Pan into the Fire) it is given as 'Goblin Gate'.

See also...

Great Shelf

Indexes:

About this entry:

  • Updated 12 August 2018
  • This entry is complete

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