The word “castles” is found one time in the published Hobbit, in the chapter where Thorin and Company pass through the evil words near Rivendell (in the region that was later named “The Angle” and “Rhudaur” in The Lord of the Rings). For example, in early drafts of The Lord of the Rings there are a few mentions of castles, but the word was eventually replaced with Elvish words such as barad and minas. Tolkien used the word “castle” very sparingly, removing it from most of the texts where he originally used it. ANSWER: Technically, yes, there are many castles in Middle-earth.