What is the whole story behind Minas Morgul, Gondor, and Mordor?

[Legate of Amon Lanc]

Originally Posted by Galadriel55

I remember reading somewhere in LOTR (might have been the end of FOTR or the beginning of the second half of TTT) that "eye" is the name that Frodo gave to the force that he felt searching for him. However, this term is used by other characters as well. When does it first appear?

PS: the term "palantir" is curious as well. It's never mentioned until Gandalf discovers what the stone is. After that point, many characters mention the palantiri in an off-hand way, but it sound somewhat unnatural. They all start talking palantirs after the discovery. (Even people like Denethor who have no idea about the story of Saruman's stone talk palantirs! It's creepy!)

Well, Denethor talks palantíri because he owns one.

But generally, of course, it is assumed that Sauron got his hands on the Ithil-stone and that's what was at Barad-Dur and that's how he had trapped Saruman and Denethor.

"The Eye" is more like a metaphor for Sauron's current form by the time of LotR, where he is not really corporeal in the strict sense, and he is more like a "presence" which has certain attributes: and one of the most important thing about him seems to be that he "sees". This is where the Eye comes from, and I am curious as to whether this has something to do with Sauron himself or if it is a direct consequence of the Palantír (since that would mean that the Eye is a rather new symbol, only a hundred or so years old - would make sense in one way, on the other hand, I am rather interested as to what Sauron would have as his symbol earlier on, since we are all so much used to this... now I must confess that I am rather uncertain, I don't know whether there is any mention of the "Eye" prior to these late-third-Age events, resp. after Sauron's return to Mordor...).