Battle of the Morannon
From the One Wiki to Rule Them All, the Lord of the Rings Encyclopedia.
| Battle of the Morannon | |
|---|---|
 Aragorn leads the men into battle. | |
| Conflict: War of the Ring | |
| Date: March 25, 3019 T.A. | |
| Place: The Morannon (near the Dagorlad plain), built across the Cirith Gorgor pass, entrance to Mordor | |
| Outcome: Decisive Gondorian and Rohirrim victory, final defeat of Sauron | |
| Combatants | |
| Gondor | Mordor |
| Commanders | |
| Gandalf | Sauron† |
| Strength | |
| About 1000 cavalry and 5000 infantry | Eight Nazgûl and unknown amount of orcs, trolls, easterlings, at least 60,000, possibly 600,000. |
| Casualties | |
| None | Complete destruction of creatures of Sauron, all Nazgûl, a large but unknown number of Easterlings and Southrons killed or surrendered |
| War of the Ring |
|---|
|
Balin's Tomb – Amon Hen – Fords of Isen – Isengard – Helm's Deep – Osgiliath – Dale – Pelennor Fields – Black Gate – Bywater |
The Battle of the Morannon or Battle of the Black Gate ("Morannon" is the Sindarin (Elvish) word for "Black Gate") was a battle during the War of the Ring. It resulted in the final defeat of Sauron not by military means, but by means of destroying the One Ring.
Contents |
[edit] Background
After the victory in the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, the enemy retreated to Osgiliath or into Mordor. Sauron still has thousands of his orc battalions waiting in Mordor. He was aware that the Ring was somewhat close to the vicinity of his territory: only one thing he did not know: during the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, the Hobbit Frodo Baggins was willing to destroy the Ring.
Frodo and his companion, Samwise Gamgee, traveled to Mordor via the entrance to the Morgul Pass. The Dark Lord was conquered by fear and was curious how a Hobbit managed to enter his Dark Land by stealth.
[edit] Plot against the Dark Lord
This was the final major battle against Sauron in the War of the Ring, fought at the Black Gate of Mordor. The army of the West, 7,000 strong by now, led by Aragorn marched on the gate as a diversionary feint to distract Sauron's attention from Frodo and Sam, who were carrying the One Ring through Mordor. It was hoped that Sauron would think Aragorn had the Ring and was now trying to use it to overthrow Mordor.
[edit] Mustering
Initially, the Army of the West had been composed of 6,000-7,000 men, but a strong guard was left to guard the crossroads. Before they reach Ithilien, they were ambushed by Haradrim and Easterlings but they were driven away easily with no casualties. One thing matters: the place of that ambush was the same place Faramir and his Rangers were ambushed a few days ago.
Then, as they approached Dagorlad,some of the farmers of Lossarnach were too afraid to continue to pass the Desolation of the Morannon. Aragorn dismissed the faint-hearted, ordering them to liberate Cair Andros on the river Anduin. This resulted in the departure of many men, estimated to be roughly 500.
[edit] Parley with the Mouth of Sauron
Before the battle began, Sauron sent one of his servants, the Black Númenórean called the Mouth of Sauron, to speak with the Captains of the West. He tried to trick Gandalf into believing Sauron held Frodo captive, displaying as evidence items that had belonged to Frodo and Sam (Sam's sword, an Elven cloak, and Frodo's mithril shirt.) The Mouth threatened that Frodo would be tortured if the West did not
[edit] The Battle
"Never thought I'd die side by side with an elf."
"What about side by side with a friend?"
"Aye, I could do that."
-Legolas and Gimli, just before the battle (from the movie).
Against Aragorn's army was arrayed Sauron's hordes of Orcs, Trolls, and barbarian Mannish allies such as the Easterlings and Southrons (Haradrim). An exact count is not given of the number of Sauron's forces, but it is said that they were "ten times and more than ten times" greater then the Men of the West.
During the course of the battle, the remaining eight Nazgûl attacked the Army of the West. The Eagles of the Misty Mountains, led by Gwaihir the Windlord, arrived and attacked the Ringwraiths. At that moment, when all hope seemed lost, Frodo put on the One Ring and Sauron realized that Frodo was inside Mount Doom.
[edit] The Fall of the Dark Lord
The Nazgûl immediately left the battle to intercept Frodo. However, Gollum bit the Ring off Frodo's finger and then accidentally fell into the Crack of Doom, and Sauron's power was overthrown.
The Nazgûl had been flying over Mount Doom just as it underwent a gigantic volcanic eruption, and they were all destroyed in the firestorm. Barad-dûr, the Black Gate and, the Towers of Teeth collapsed to ruin. The Orcs and other creatures of Sauron were completely directionless with the Dark Lord's demise and were easily decimated by the army of the West. The Easterlings fought on stalwartly, though eventually many threw down their weapons and surrendered (later to be sent home in peace by Aragorn).
- "I am here with you, Samwise Gamgee. Here at the end of all things"
- —Frodo comforting Sam
[edit] The Rest of the Battle
Fighting against Sauron's remaining forces would continue in the northern theater of the War of the Ring for several weeks, notably at Dol Guldur in Mirkwood and at Erebor, but the power of Sauron, the Dark Lord of Mordor, was no more.
Months later, the Battle of Bywater in the Shire against ruffians led by Saruman, and the subsequent killing of Saruman and Wormtongue on the very doorstep of Bag End, ended the War of the Ring.
[edit] The battle in the films
In the Peter Jackson movie adaptation of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King the Slag Hills are absent, as is Imrahil. The confrontation with the Mouth of Sauron was cut, though it was put back in with Aragorn decapitating the Mouth of Sauron in anger, in the extended edition of the film. Originally, Aragorn was going to fight Sauron, Sauron was to appear in a bright blinding light in the form of Annatar, and then he was to turn into the armored Sauron from the prologue of the first film and Aragorn and Sauron were to duel. This idea was later dropped, and instead Aragorn fights a troll in the film. Also in the film, Merry fights in the battle while in the book he remained in Gondor.
[edit] Alternative Article
For a much more comprehensive article on Battle of the Morannon, with more emphasis on the books, then please visit The One Wiki to Rule them All's partner the Tolkien Gateway.
The following is a direct link to this page on the Tolkien Gateway: Battle of the Morannon
