Siege of Barad-dûr
From the One Wiki to Rule Them All, the Lord of the Rings Encyclopedia.
| Siege of Barad-dûr | |||||||||||
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| Part of {{{partof}}} | |||||||||||
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| Combatants | |||||||||||
| Last Alliance of Elves and Men | Orcs,Easterlings | ||||||||||
| Commanders | |||||||||||
| Gil-galad† Elendil† Isildur Elrond Anárion† | Sauron | ||||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||||
| 30,000 Men of Gondor 20,000 Men of Arnor 20,000 Elves of Lindon and Rivendell | 300,000 Orcs 50,000 Easterlings | ||||||||||
| Casualties | |||||||||||
| Heavy, Elves and the forces of Arnor were decimated , moderate to heavy for the forces of Gondor | the whole force was wiped out; Sauron was defeated but not killed as the One Ring survived | ||||||||||
After the bloody Battle of Dagorlad, the Last Alliance began their invasion into Mordor. They captured the Black Gate, but most of their force was killed passing through Udûn, a plateau north of Mordor, and the survivors failed to break into the Dark Tower, for their numbers were now too few. Thus, they laid siege on the Dark Tower.
The siege of Barad-dûr lasted for a total of seven years. Many elves, men and dwarves were killed in the siege as flaming missiles were shot out from the tower. Fortunately, Anarion's army from Gondor managed to reinforce the Last Alliance. On the sixth year of the siege, 3440, Anarion was hit in the head by a stone and died. Sauron now knew on the seventh year, that although his troops inflicted a lot of damage to the enemy, the only way to stop them was to fight them himself. His coming to the battle was one point which helped the opposing force as he managed to kill many elves and men single-handedly. With that, Gil-galad and Elendil challenged Sauron, and they dueled on the slopes of Mount Doom. Sauron, however, was much more powerful, and killed first Gil-galad, then Elendil, as Isildur and Elrond helplessly watched. But Isildur, the son of the king, rushed to his father's side. As Elendil fell, his great sword Narsil broke beneath him. But Isildur grasped the bottom half of Narsil, and cut the One Ring from Sauron's hand.
After the battle, Sauron's body was broken, the tower of Barad-dur collapsed (without the Ring's destruction the foundations remained), and the orc hosts were in disarray. Elrond led Isildur into the heart of Mount Doom, where the One Ring was forged, and the only place it could be destroyed. However, he claimed it for his own, which led to his death.
Gondor later reoccupied Minas Ithil and Ithilien, and set watchtowers at the Black Gate, and the pass of Cirith Ungol. However, years of neglect, and the Kin-strife led these areas to be captured by the Nazgûl.
Isildur's father, brother, and Gil-galad were killed in the Siege of Barad-dûr.
