Cracks of Doom

From Tolkien Gateway
The Cracks of Doom by Tim Kirk.

The Cracks of Doom, also known as Sammath Naur, was the forge and workshop of Sauron tunneled deep into Mount Doom and open to its central fire. It was in these fiery chambers that Sauron forged the One Ring, and it was here that Frodo Baggins cast the Ring to be destroyed.

Etymology

Sammath Naur is a Sindarin name.

Sammath is collective plural of a word sam believed to mean "room, chamber"[1], cf. Quenya sambe. Note that in the earlier Etymologies the Noldorin reflex of sambe was given as tham.[2]

The latter word (naur) means "fire".[3]

Inspiration

The name Cracks of Doom is a wordplay on "cracke of Doome" (Macbeth; IV i 117) meaning the "sudden sound (crack) of the trump that announces the Last Day".[4] Here, Tolkien uses "crack" to mean "fissure".

See also

References