Naked Hill

In the southern reaches of the wide forest at one time named Greenwood the Great, a broad hill rose out of the trees. The hill itself lacked the dense woodlands of the surrounding forest, and thus it was known as Amon Lanc, the Naked Hill. It lay almost directly eastward from the land of Lórien, so from its summit, looking westward, the view would take in the wide Vales of Anduin and the Golden Wood that lay beyond.

In about the year III 1050, the recovering Sauron chose the Naked Hill as a suitable place to secretly rebuild his power. On its heights he constructed a dark fortress, Dol Guldur, and from the tower on the hill a deep Shadow spread throughout the entire forest. It was at this time that its old name of Greenwood the Great fell out of use, and it became known instead as Mirkwood.

Sauron (at this time known only to the outside world as the mysterious 'Necromancer') held his fortress on the Naked Hill for nearly two thousand years. Towards the end of this period, he laid plans to abandon it for his old stronghold of Mordor, and this he did in III 2941, in response to an assault by the White Council. Soon afterwards, though, he sent Nazgûl to reclaim Dol Guldur, and it remained in his possession until the time of the War of the Ring. After Sauron's defeat in that War, Dol Guldur was destroyed by Galadriel and her people, and the Naked Hill was cleansed of the Necromancer's presence.