Orthanc

Orthanc is the great tower at the center of the fortress of Isengard, a pinnacle of black stone in the vale of Nan Curunír at the southern end of the Misty Mountains. Built by the Men of Gondor in the days of their strength, it became the dwelling of the wizard Saruman and the seat from which he plotted his treachery during the War of the Ring. Its name means "Mount Fang" in the tongue of the Rohirrim and "Cunning Mind" in Elvish, a double meaning fitting both its shape and its later master.

Orthanc is renowned for its strength: a tower made of four conjoined pillars of black rock fused into a single shaft, hard and unbreakable, that endured unmarred through long ages and resisted even the wrath of the Ents.

Description

Orthanc rises hundreds of feet from the floor of the ring of Isengard, four mighty horns of stone joined together, smooth and black and gleaming, with a flat summit ringed by spikes from which a wide view could be had over all the surrounding lands. Within, a stair climbs to chambers and to the high window where Saruman kept his palantír, the Seeing-stone of Orthanc, one of the lost stones of Numenor, by which he was ensnared by Sauron.

History

Orthanc was raised by the Numenoreans of Gondor, and within it was set one of the palantíri, the Seeing-stones brought from Numenor. For long ages the tower stood guard with Isengard over the western marches. When Isengard passed into Saruman's keeping, he took Orthanc and its stone, and through the palantír he was drawn into communication with Sauron, who slowly mastered and corrupted him.

In the story

From Orthanc, Saruman directs his war against Rohan and his search for the One Ring, and there he imprisons Gandalf for a time atop the tower. After the Ents destroy Isengard, Saruman is besieged within Orthanc, unable to be dislodged from its impregnable walls but powerless to escape. Gandalf comes to parley and breaks Saruman's staff, casting him from the order. The palantír of Orthanc is cast down from the tower by Gríma Wormtongue and recovered by the company; through it Pippin and later Aragorn look, with great consequence. After the war, Orthanc and its stone are returned to the keeping of the King.