At the head of the pass of Cirith Ungol in the mountains of Ephel Dúath on Mordor's western border lay a maze of dank web-strewn tunnels. This was Torech Ungol, the labyrinthine lair of the huge spider-like being known as Shelob. Both the names Torech Ungol and Cirith Ungol contain the Elvish word ungol, 'spider': a reference to the monster who haunted that place.
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Dating Torech Ungol is difficult, except for a comment that Shelob had made her Lair in the mountains before the building of Barad-dûr. This was in about the year II 1000, so evidently Shelob had already made her Lair during the earlier part of the Second Age. She was known to have survived to at least the end of the Third Age, after which she is not mentioned again. After that date, Mordor was once again under the control of the Dúnedain, and they may have made some effort to remove her (though their forebears in the earlier Third Age had not made any such effort, so this is far from certain).
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- Updated 25 January 2021
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