durthang

place name. Dark Oppression

An orc-fortress in Mordor (LotR/928), translated “Dark Press or Oppression” (RC/610). This name is a compound of dûr “dark” and thang “oppression” (SA/dûr, thang).

Conceptual Development: This name was already N. Durthang when it first appeared in Lord of the Rings drafts from the 1940s (SD/33).

Elements

Word	Gloss
dûr	“dark (with evil implications), gloomy, hellish”
thang	“oppression, pressure, oppression, pressure; [N.] compulsion, duress, need; [G.] crowd, crush, herd”

Durthang

noun. dark duress, oppression

dûr (“dark”) + thang (“compulsion, oppression”)