The wizard Saruman lives in the tower Orthanc. This is one of the tallest buildings in all of Middle-earth. We’ll tell you how tall the tower from “The Lord of the Rings” is.
The Lord of the Rings: Saruman’s fortress of Isengard with the Orthanc tower. (Source: Warner Bros. / MGM / Amazon Prime Video / Screenshot: Netzwelt)
- In Isengard stands Saruman’s fortress, the dark tower called Orthanc.
- The Orthanc is about as high as Cologne Cathedral and is one of the tallest structures in Middle-earth.
- Although impressively tall, Sauron’s tower Barad-dur towers ten times higher than Orthanc.
Saruman (Christopher Lee) is one of the most powerful characters in The Lord of the Rings. Much to the dismay of the free peoples of Middle-earth, Saruman also dedicates himself to Sauron’s cause. In order to serve the Dark Lord, he uses his fortress in Isengard, the Orthanc Tower, to create a major military power.
In the middle of Isengard, which is south of Fangorn Forest and north of Westfold, is the large black tower Orthanc. In The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Saruman holds Gandalf (Ian McKellen) prisoner at the top of Mount Orthanc. The tower appears so enormous that Gandalf suddenly finds himself at a dizzying height.
Orthanc: Saruman’s tower is about the size of Cologne Cathedral The Lord of the Rings: Saruman’s Orthanc Tower is 155 meters, roughly as high as Cologne Cathedral (157 meters). At almost 108 meters, Godzilla is about 50 meters smaller than the two buildings. (Source: Warner Bros. / MGM / Amazon Prime Video / Yvendienst / depositphotos.com / Skobrik / depositphotos.com / Screenshot & Montage: Netzwelt)
As recorded in the book “Useless Knowledge for Tolkien Fans: The Most Exciting, Absurd and Funniest Facts About Middle-earth” by Stefan Servos, the Orthanc is 155 meters high. This is only two meters shorter than Cologne Cathedral, which is 157 meters high.
That sounds like a lot at first and it is around 50 meters higher than, for example, Godzilla, the King of the Monsters, but small compared to the Eiffel Tower. This has a height of around 300 meters. By the way, Saruman’s fortress Barad-dur is 10 times higher than Orthanc, depending on the source. Barad-dur is almost 1,500 meters high, twice as high as the Burj Khalifa.
Lord of the Rings Quiz: How well do you know Middle-earth?
(Source: TMDB.org)
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It is unlikely that we will see the Orthanc in “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” since the tower will only be built after the fall of Númenor and the series will probably end shortly after the fall of Númenor. “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” Season 2 is currently being worked on.
| The Lord of the Rings: Reviewing the Rings of Power | |
| genre | Drama, Action & Adventure, Sci-Fi & Fantasy |
| First broadcast | September 1, 2022 |
| First broadcast in Germany | September 2, 2022 |
| Homepage | amazon.com |
| Other sources | |
| network | Amazon |
production | Amazon Studios, New Line Cinema, Harper Collins Publishers, Tolkien Enterprises |
| Squadrons |
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