The fortress of Morgoth in the North, translated “Iron Prison” (WJ/15), a compound of ang “iron” and band “prison” (SA/ang, band).
Conceptual Development: The name G. Angband appeared in the earliest Lost Tales, but in these early stories it was translated “Hells of Iron” (LT2/77, GL/19). This translation persisted into Silmarillion drafts from the 1930s (SM/13, LR/259). However, N. Angband was translated “Iron Prison” in The Etymologies (Ety/MBAD), and this was the usual interpretation in Silmarillion revisions from the 1950s-60s (MR/305, WJ/15). Christopher Tolkien gave both translations in the Silmarillion Index (SI/Angband).
This was the word for “iron” in Sindarin and its conceptual precursors for much of Tolkien’s life. It was derived from primitive ✶angā of the same meaning (PM/347).
Conceptual Development: G. ang “iron” dates all the way back to the the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s (GL/19), and appeared regularly in Tolkien’s writings thereafter, always with the same form and meaning.