The Great Plague, known also as the Dark Plague, was a disastrous pestilence in Middle-earth during the Third Age.
History
Beginning
The Great Plague began in the east beyond Mordor, reaching Osgiliath in TA 1636 just a year after King Minardil of Gondor had been killed at Pelargir by the Corsairs of Umbar, and only two centuries after the Kin-strife of Gondor. The new king, Telemnar was killed together with his kin, as well as many others of the Dúnedain. Together these events served to further destroy the people of Gondor.[1]
Movement of the plague
The Plague had first hit Rhûn and Rhovanion, and after the plague had passed more than half the folk of the Kingdom of Rhovanion had been killed. From Osgiliath the plague spread west and then north. Enedwaith and Dunland were scarcely affected, but the Plague regained strength as it went north, and Minhiriath (the southern part of Cardolan) was especially hit hard. The last of the Dúnedain of Cardolan died on the Barrowdowns, and evil spirits from Angmar and Rhudaur entered the realm.
Arthedain further to the north was scarcely affected, while the Shire was hit harder, with the Hobbits suffering great losses.[1] Arthedain still defended Fornost to the north.
The city of Osgiliath was especially hit hard, suffering the highest casualties outside of Rhovanion. Many fled the city and re-located to Ithilien and Anórien, and Minas Anor became the King's seat there.[1]
Aftermath
The casualties were so high that the fortresses guarding Mordor were abandoned as the troops were recalled. For the next two centuries Gondor, as well as its enemies, did little but try to regain strength. Eventually Gondor did recover and garrisoned the fortresses for a short time.[citation needed]
Portrayal in adaptations
In Great Plague appears in The Battle for Middle-earth II: The Rise of the Witch-king., in which instead, the plague was a plan by the Witch-king to weaken the Dunedain kingdoms even further. The plague is created by Angmar's Sorcerers by corrupting the Barrow-downs of Cardolan, creating many Barrow-wights, including Karsh. Afterwards, the plague ravages Arnor, then spreads across the Misty Mountains, affecting Osgiliath, Rhovanion, and Rhun, presumably affecting them the same way as in the books.
Translations around the world
| Foreign Language | Translated name |
|---|---|
| Afrikaans | Groot Pes |
| Albanian | murtajë e Madhe |
| Amharic | ታላቁ መቅሰፍት |
| Arabic | العظيم طاعون |
| Armenian | Մեծ ժանտախտը |
| Azerbaijani | Böyük vəbası |
| Basque | Izurri handia |
| Belarusian Cyrillic | Вялікая Чума |
| Bengali | গ্রেট প্লেগ |
| Bosnian | Velika kuga |
| Bulgarian Cyrillic | Голямата чума |
| Burmese | ဂရိတ်ဘေးကပ်ရောဂါ |
| Cambodian | ជំងឺប៉េស្តដ៏អស្ចារ្យ |
| Catalan | Gran plaga |
| Cebuano | Dakong katalagman |
| Chinese | 大大瘟疫 |
| Croatian | Velika kuga |
| Czech | Velký mor |
| Danish | Store Pesten |
| Dutch | Grote Plaag |
| Esperanto | Granda pesto |
| Estonian | Suur katk |
| Filipino | Mahusay na Peste |
| Finnish | Suuri rutto |
| French | Grande Peste |
| Frisian | Grutte pest |
| Galician | Gran peste |
| Georgian | დიდი ჭირი |
| German | Große Pest |
| Greek | Μεγάλη πληγή |
| Gujarati | ગ્રેટ પ્લેગ |
| Hausa | Babban annoba |
| Hebrew | הגדול המגפה |
| Hindi | महान प्लेग |
| Hungarian | Nagy pestis |
| Icelandic | Mikill plága |
| Indonesian | Wabah Besar |
| Irish Gaelic | An Phlá Mór |
| Italian | Grande Epidemia |
| Japanese | グレートペスト |
| Kannada | ಗ್ರೇಟ್ ಪ್ಲೇಗ್ |
| Kazakh | Үлкен оба (Cyrillic) Ülken oba (Latin) |
| Korean | 그레이트 역병 |
| Laotian | ໄພພິບັດທີ່ຍິ່ງໃຫຍ່ |
| Latvian | Liela nelaime |
| Lithuanian | Didysis maras |
| Luxembourgish | Grouss Pescht |
| Macedonian Cyrillic | Голема чума |
| Malagasy | aretina Lehibe |
| Malay | Wabak besar |
| Malayalam | വലിയ പ്ലേഗ് |
| Maltese | Pesta Kbira |
| Marathi | ग्रेट प्लेग |
| Norwegian | Stor Pesten |
| Persian | طاعون بزرگ |
| Polish | Wielki Mór |
| Portuguese | Grande Praga |
| Punjabi | ਮਹਾਨ ਪਲੇਗ |
| Romanian | Ciuma mare |
| Russian | Великая Чума |
| Serbian | Велика куга (Cyrillic) Velika kuga (Latin) |
| Sinhalese | මහා වසංගතය |
| Slovak | Veľký mor |
| Slovenian | Velika kuga |
| Spanish | Gran Plaga |
| Sudanese | Pagebug Hébat |
| Swahili | Tauni Kubwa |
| Swedish | Stor Pest |
| Tajik Cyrillic | Бемории калон |
| Tamil | பெரிய பிளேக் |
| Telugu | గ్రేట్ ప్లేగు |
| Thai | โรคระบาดครั้งใหญ่ |
| Turkish | Büyük Vebası |
| Ukrainian Cyrillic | Велика чума |
| Urdu | عظیم پلیگ |
| Uzbek | Катта чума (Cyrillic) Katta chuma (Latin) |
| Vietnamese | Đại dịch hạch |
| Welsh | Pla mawr |
| Xhosa | Kakhulu Isibetho |
| Yiddish | גרויס פּלאָגן |