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- "Horsemen of the enemy swept up. The lines of fire became flowing torrents, file upon file of Orcs bearing flames, and wild Southron men with red banners, shouting with harsh tongues, surging up, overtaking the retreat."
- —The Return of the King, "The Siege of Gondor"
The Battle of Osgiliath in the War of the Ring occurred at the ruined city of Osgiliath on March 12 TA 3019, shortly before the Siege of Gondor.
History
Prelude
Osgiliath, defended by Boromir and Faramir, had been attacked some nine months earlier, which resulted in Sauron's forces taking control of the city's eastern half. Boromir left Gondor to seek counsel at Rivendell (and would not return).[1]
In the ensuing time, Faramir led several assaults with his Rangers deep within Mordor occupied Ithilien, ambushing enemy armies moving to the Black Gate; Frodo and Sam stumbled into one such attack.[2]
While there were men defending the west side of Osgiliath, the Steward Denethor ordered Faramir to lead a force to reinforce them. Faramir and Prince Imrahil regarded the order ill advised, pointing out that they could not afford the casualties; nevertheless, Faramir complied.[3]
The battle
Mordor, however, was prepared. Months beforehand, the Orcs in East Osgiliath had been secretly constructing massive numbers of boats and rafts, and swelled with reinforcements from Harad they swarmed across the River Anduin to Gondor's positions on the other bank. After heavy fighting, the garrison under Faramir and his troops were forced to flee, first to the Rammas Echor, which held out for a day and then to Minas Tirith itself.
One third of Faramir's troops were lost, and he was badly wounded in the retreat, when a poisoned Southron arrow pierced him; more severe damage was done by the Black breath of the Nazgûl. When the retreat was sure to be a disaster, the Knights of Dol Amroth, led by Imrahil, initiated a sortie from Minas Tirith; the pursuing hordes were driven back and the surviving garrison reached the city safely.[3]
Aftermath
In the meantime, the Orcs made makeshift repairs to several destroyed bridges. The main combined army of Mordor then arrived, formed from those that Frodo had seen leaving Minas Morgul; but this was "but one and not the greatest of the hosts that Mordor now sent forth": for on their way from Morgul Vale, the Morgul-host led by the Witch-king of Angmar had been joined by Haradrim from the south, and a far greater host that had massed at the Black Gate attacked Cair Andros. The two forces would then unite to attack Minas Tirith.[3]
With Osgiliath now completely in the hands of Mordor and the Causeway Forts breached, the vast army of Sauron marched from the city and surrounded Minas Tirith, beginning the Siege of Gondor and leading directly into the Battle of the Pelennor Fields.
Portrayal in adaptations
The Lord of the Rings film trilogy
In Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, the battle is condensed and Gondor is shown to be weaker and with fewer numbers than in the book, ostensibly to add drama to the film.
The Orcs crossed the river at night in boats, and immediately joined battle with Faramir's men, fighting throughout the night. By morning, the Men of Gondor lost almost 350 of their men and then abandon the city and retreat with only a few hundred survivors. The Nazgûl riding on top of their Fellbeasts kill many more soldiers, but Gandalf rescues them. At Minas Tirith, Denethor orders Faramir to retake Osgiliath. Faramir leads the surviving Osgiliath defenders and tries to retake Osgiliath, but runs into a shower of arrows from the Orcs. The whole company is killed except Faramir, who is dragged back to Minas Tirith by his horse, unconscious with two arrows in him.
Translations
Foreign Language | Translated name |
Afrikaans | Slag van Osgiliath |
Albanian | Beteja e Osgiliath |
Arabic | معركة أوسجيلياث |
Armenian | Օսգիլիաթի ճակատամարտը |
Azerbaijani | Osgiliath Döyüşü |
Basque | Osgiliathko Batailaren |
Belarusian Cyrillic | бітва Осгилиате |
Breton | Emgann Osgiliath |
Bulgarian Cyrillic | битка на осгилиат |
Catalan | Batalla de Osgiliath |
Cebuano | Gubat sa Osgiliath |
Chinese (Hong Kong) | 奧斯力亞吉斯之戰 |
Cornish | Batel a Osgiliath |
Corsican | Battaglia di Osgiliath |
Croatian | Bitka za Osgiliath |
Czech | Bitva o Osgiliathu |
Danish | Slaget ved Osgiliath |
Dutch | Slag om Osgiliath |
Esperanto | Batalo de Osgiliado |
Estonian | Osgiliathi Lahing |
Faroese | Bardagan við Osgiliath |
Filipino | Labanan ng Osgiliath |
Finnish | Taistelun Osgiliath |
French | Bataille de Osgiliath |
Frisian | Slach om Osgiliath (Western) |
Galician | Batalla de Osgiliath |
Georgian | ოსგილიათის ბრძოლა |
German | Schlacht von Osgiliath |
Greek | Μάχη της Οσγκίλιαθ |
Gujarati | ઓસ્ગિલિઆથનું યુદ્ધ |
Haiti Creole | Batay la Osgiliath |
Hebrew | קרב אוסגיליאת |
Hindi | ओस्गिलियाथ की लड़ाई |
Hungarian | Csata Osgiliathot |
Icelandic | Orrustan um Osgiliath |
Indonesian | Pertempuran Osgiliath |
Irish Gaelic | Cath na Osgiliath |
Italian | Battaglia di Osgiliath |
Japanese | オスギリアスの戦い |
Javanese | Perang Osgiliath |
Kannada | ಓಸ್ಗಿಲಿಯಾತ್ ಕದನ |
Kurdish | شەڕی ئۆسیلیات (Sorani) Şerê Osgiliath (Kurmanji) |
Korean | 오스길리아스 전투 |
Kyrgyz Cyrillic | Осгилиатч согушу |
Latin | Pugna Osgiliath |
Latvian | Kauja par Osgiliath |
Lithuanian | Mūšis dėl Osgiliath |
Luxembourgish | Schluecht vun Osgiliath |
Macedonian Cyrillic | Битка за Осгилиат |
Malayalam | ഓസ്ഗിലിയത്ത് യുദ്ധം |
Malaysian | Pertempuran Osgiliath |
Maltese | Battalja ta' Osgiliath |
Marathi | ऑस्गिलियाथची लढाई |
Mongolian Cyrillic | Осгилиатын тулаан |
Nepalese | ॐस्गिलिअथको युद्ध |
Norwegian | Slaget om Osgiliath |
Occitan | Batalha de Osgiliath |
Pashto | د اوسګیلیات جګړه |
Polish | Bitwa pod Osgiliath |
Portuguese | Batalha de Osgiliath |
Punjabi | ਓਸਗਿਲਿਅਥ ਦੀ ਲੜਾਈ |
Romanian | Bătălia de la Osgiliath |
Russian | Битва при Осгилиате |
Sanskrit | ओस्गिलियाथस्य युद्धम् |
Scottish Gaelic | Blàr Osgiliath |
Serbian | Битка за Осгилиат (Cyrillic) Bitka za Osgiliat (Latin) |
Sicilian | Battagghia di Osgiliath |
Sinhalese | ඔස්ගිලියත් සටන |
Slovak | Bitka o Osgiliath |
Slovenian | Bitka z Osgiliath |
Somali | Dagaalkii Osgiliath |
Spanish | Batalla de Osgiliath |
Swahili | Vita ya Osgiliath |
Swedish | Slaget om Osgiliath |
Tajik Cyrillic | Ҷанги Осгилиат |
Tamil | ஒஸ்கிலியாத் போர் |
Tatar | Осгилиат сугышы |
Telugu | ఓస్గిలియాత్ యుద్ధం |
Thai | สงครามออสกิเลียต |
Turkish | Osgiliath Savaşı |
Turkmen | Osgiliath Söweş |
Urdu | اوسگیلیتھ کی جنگ |
Uzbek | Осгилиатҳ жанги (Cyrillic) Osgiliath jangi (Latin) |
Vietnamese | Trận chiến của Osgiliath |
Welsh | Brwydr Osgiliath |
Yiddish | שלאַכט פֿון אָסגיליאַט |
References
- ↑ The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, Book Two, Ch. II: "The Council of Elrond"
- ↑ The Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers, Part Four, Ch. IV: "Of Herbs and Stewed Rabbit"
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King, Part Five, Ch. IV: "The Siege of Gondor"