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The Battle of Fornost was the decisive battle between the forces of Angmar, under the Witch-king, and of Eärnur, the Crown Prince of Gondor, in the year TA 1975 that ended the Witch-realm of Angmar.

History[]

A year prior to the battle, the armies of Angmar conquered Arthedain, the last realm of Arnor. Angmar's armies had taken Fornost Erain, the capital of the Dúnedain, and Arvedui, the last King of Arthedain, had drowned in the Icebay of Forochel. A year later, a fleet of ships under Eärnur arrived in the Grey Havens and set off toward what was left of the once-great northern kingdom. With the army from Gondor came men from Rhovanion, Elves from Lindon, and the remainder of the Dúnedain (among them Aranarth, the Prince of Arthedain). According to Shire historians, a company of archers was also sent to the battle.[1]

The battle itself did not take place in the city of Fornost, but on the plains to the west of the city, near Lake Evendim. The armies of Angmar hurried west to meet the assault, and seeing this, the cavalry of Gondor rode north into the Hills of Evendim to wait in ambush. As the main part of the army of Gondor met the enemy in battle, Gondor's cavalry set out from the hills to strike the rear of the army of Angmar. This served as the turning point in the battle, and allowed the combined armies of the west to gain the advantage. Realizing that his forces were all but completely destroyed, the Witch-king of Angmar fled eastward. As he fled, an army led by Glorfindel came up out of the south and blocked his escape, destroying what was left of his crumbling army.

Eärnur then challenged the Witch-king to single combat, but his horse panicked under the Nazgûl's evil power and the Witch-king mocked him, although his laughter turned to flight with the arrival of Glorfindel. Eärnur attempted to pursue but was stopped by Glorfindel who told him that not by the hand of mortal man would the Witch-king be slain. Though the battle itself had been lost and Angmar utterly destroyed, Sauron was extremely pleased with the Witch-King's work, for the destruction of the northern kingdoms of the Dúnedain was a victory for the Dark Powers which far outweighed the loss of the Witch-king's realm.[2][3]

The battle also laid the foundations for the extinction of the male line of the House of Anárion, as Eärnur's humiliation resulted in him riding to Minas Morgul to challenge the Witch-king seventy five years later.

Portrayal in adaptations[]

Battle of fornost

Glorfindel and Eärnur lead their troops to battle

The battle is portrayed in The Battle for Middle-earth II: The Rise of the Witch-king, as the epilogue mission to the game's story. The battle has some notable differences from canon, for it takes place in the heart of Angmar itself. Elrond is present as an additional hero, along with Glorfindel and Eärnur. The player must navigate through various ambushes waiting in line before confronting the Witch-king. Killing him automatically completes the mission.

Translations[]

Foreign Language Translated name
Afrikaans Slag van Fornost
Albanian Beteja e Fornost
Arabic معركة فورنوست
Azerbaijani Fornost Vuruşması
Basque Fornostko gudua
Bosnian Bitka kod Fornost
Bulgarian Cyrillic Битката при Форност
Chinese (Hong Kong) 佛諾斯特戰役
Croatian Bitka kod Fornost
Czech Bitva u Fornostu
Danish Slaget ved Fornost
Dutch Slag bij Fornost
Esperanto Batalo de Fornost
Estonian Fornost lahing
Filipino Labanan ng Fornost
Finnish Fornostin taistelu
French Bataille de Fornost
Frisian Slach fan Fornost (Western)
Galician Batalla das Fornost
Georgian ფორნოსტს ბრძოლა
German Schlacht von Fornost
Greek Η Μάχη του Φόρνοστ
Hebrew הקרב של פורנוסט
Hindi फॉरनोस्ट का युद्ध
Hungarian Fornosti csata
Icelandic Bardaga á Fornost
Indonesian Pertempuran Fornost
Irish Gaelic Cath Fornost
Italian Battaglia di Fornost
Japanese フォルノストの合戦
Javanese Peperangan Fornost
Kannada ಫಾರ್ನೋಸ್ಟ್ ಕದನ
Kazakh Форност шайқасы (Cyrillic) Fornost şayqası (Latin)
Korean 포트노스 전투
Kyrgyz Cyrillic Форность согушу
Latin Pugna ad Fornost
Latvian Fornost kauja
Lithuanian Fornosto mūšis
Malaysian Pertempuran Fornost
Maltese Battalja ta ’Fornost
Norwegian Slaget ved Fornost
Occitan Batalha dei Fornost
Polish Bitwa pod Fornostem
Portuguese Batalha de Fornost
Romanian Bătălia de la Fornost
Russian Битва при Форносте
Scottish Gaelic Blàr de Fornost
Shona Hondo yeFornost
Sicilian Battagghia di li Fornost
Slovak Bitka pri Fornost
Slovenian Bitka pri Fornost
Somalian Dagaalka ee Fornost
Spanish Batalla de Fornost
Swedish Slaget vid Fornost
Tajik Cyrillic Ҷанги Форност
Telugu ఫోర్నోస్ట్ యుద్ధం
Turkish Fornost Savaşı
Turkmen Fornost Söweşi
Ukrainian Cyrillic Битва при Форност
Urdu فورنوسٹ کی لڑائی
Uzbek Форност жанги (Cyrillic) Fornost jangi (Latin)
Vietnamese Trận Fornost
Welsh Brwydr Fornost
Xhosa Idabi laseFornost
Yiddish שלאַכט פון פאָרנאָסט
Zulu Impi yase-Fornost

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 The Lord of the Rings, Appendix A: Annals of the Kings and Rulers, I: The Númenórean Kings, (iii): "Eriador, Arnor, and the Heirs of Isildur"
  2. The Lord of the Rings, Appendix B: The Tale of Years (Chronology of the Westlands), "The Third Age"
  3. The Atlas of Middle-earth, The Third Age, "Wainriders and Angmar"
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