Tiedosto:The tower of cirith ungol by matejcadil de72vq8-fullview.jpg

Yhteenveto

Matěj Čadil: The Tower of Cirith Ungol

Lähde: Matěj Čadiln DeviantArt-sivut

Kuvaus (tekijä):

In that dreadful light Sam stood aghast, for now, looking to his left, he could see the Tower of Cirith Ungol in all its strength. The horn that he had seen from the other side was only its topmost turret. Its eastern face stood up in three great tiers from a shelf in the mountain-wall far below; its back was to a great cliff behind, from which it jutted out in pointed bastions, one above the other, diminishing as they rose, with sheer sides of cunning masonry that looked northeast and south-east. About the lowest tier, two hundred feet below where Sam now stood, there was a battlemented wall enclosing a narrow court. Its gate, upon the near south-eastern side, opened on a broad road, the outer parapet of which ran upon the brink of a precipice, until it turned southward and went winding down into the darkness to join the road that came over the Morgul Pass. Then on it went through a jagged rift in the Morgai out into the valley of Gorgoroth and away to Barad-dûr. The narrow upper way on which Sam stood leapt swiftly down by stair and steep path to meet the main road under the frowning walls close to the Tower-gate.

As he gazed at it suddenly Sam understood, almost with a shock, that this stronghold had been built not to keep enemies out of Mordor, but to keep them in. It was indeed one of the works of Gondor long ago, an eastern outpost of the defences of Ithilien, made when, after the Last Alliance, Men of Westernesse kept watch on the evil land of Sauron where his creatures still lurked. But as with Narchost and Carchost, the Towers of the Teeth, so here too the vigilance had failed, and treachery had yielded up the Tower to the Lord of the Ringwraiths, and now for long years it had been held by evil things. Since his return to Mordor, Sauron had found it useful; for he had few servants but many slaves of fear, and still its chief purpose as of old was to prevent escape from Mordor. Though if an enemy were so rash as to try to enter that land secretly, then it was also a last unsleeping guard against any that might pass the vigilance of Morgul and of Shelob.

J.R.R. Tolkien: The Lord of the Rings. Book VI, Chapter I: The Tower of Cirith Ungol (suom. TSH III/6.1., Cirith Ungolin torni, s. *** / *** / *** / *** / 930 / ***)

For #inktober2020 Day 15 prompt "outpost"⁠.

I had wanted to draw the Tower of Cirith Ungol for a long time; it is one of the places that is so vividly and in detail described and I like to imagine what it might look like. So for this prompt I knew immediately it would fit.

Unfortunately I didn't sketch it beforehand so I spent too much time just planning it and then it took me too much time to draw so I am late with it. I think it ended up too complex for an inktober drawing and at the same time too rushed. Still, I am glad I did it and I would love to redo it later with more time and maybe in other media. What do you think?

Published 18.10.2020

Lisenssi: Matěj Čadil on ystävällisesti antanut luvan käyttää kuviaan Kontuwikissä. Kuvan muu käyttö ilman tekijän lupaa on kiellettyä.

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