Battle of the Gwathló
From the One Wiki to Rule Them All, the Lord of the Rings Encyclopedia.
| Battle of the Gwathló | |
|---|---|
| Conflict: War of the Elves and Sauron | |
| Date: SA 1700 | |
| Place: Tharbad in Eregion | |
| Outcome: Decisive victory for Elves and Númenorians over Sauron | |
| Combatants | |
| Elves of Lindon and then Numenorians | Sauron's forces |
| Commanders | |
| Gil-galad Amroth? Ciryatur | Sauron |
| Strength | |
| An unknown thousands of Elves and then Númenorians | An unknown thousands of Orcs, Easterlings, Southrons, and other creatures of Sauron |
| Casualties | |
| Light | Heavy |
The Battle of the Gwathló was the decisive battle of the War of the Elves and Sauron that defeated Sauron for many years to come.
After being driven off to the south-east of Eriador after heavy losses at Sarn Ford, Sauron's forces regrouped and joined with his forces in Tharbad where there they were assailed by the pursuing forces of Gil-galad, and then by a force of Númenorians coming up through the Greyflood and attacking from their rear.
In the battle Sauron and his armies were utterly routed. The remaining survivors narrowly escaped but were assailed just east of Calenardhon and destroyed, leaving Sauron with little more than a bodyguard to safely escape back into Mordor.
The ensuing victory left Sauron crippled but not defeated and being unconquered he slowly rebuilt himself throughout the ages until the thirty-third century, when he challenged Ar-Pharazôn for the overlordship of Middle-earth.
