Inside Middle-earth — Angband
Melkor’s fortress is a mirror of demonic and terrifying sparks, echoes from literature and mythology.
The mythology of the Tolkien universe has always had strong echoes of the Christian religion mixed with the Arthurian legends, even with much Northern European folklore (Scandinavian legends and Nordic mythologies).
In the Silmarillion, which could easily be a reflection of the Old Testament, countless Christian elements are reflected in the story of Arda.
One of the clear examples would be that of Angband.
It is one of the most mythical places in Tolkien’s legendarium. This name undoubtedly sent shivers down the spine of anyone who heard it during the First Age and a sad feeling to anyone who did not know it but heard of it millennia later.
Angband was a fortress, a center of operations, home to Melkor in Middle-earth, and from where he created and carried out the worst atrocities. Its name means Iron Prison, and there was no grimmer place in all the history of Arda.
But it was not always Melkor’s abode; before he was a prisoner of the Valar, the fortress was entrusted to Sauron for as long as Utumno existed. It was during the first years of Arda’s existence when neither Elves nor Men had been born…
