Battle of the Pelennor Fields

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Battle of the Pelennor Fields
The Battle of the Pelennor Fields as depicted in Peter Jackson's film adaptation of The Return of the King
Date March 15, 3019 T.A. Location Minas Tirith and fields of Pelennor, Gondor Result Victory of Gondor, Rohan and allies
Combatants
Gondor, Rohan, Arnor	Mordor, Harad, Rhûn, Khand, Umbar
Commanders
Gandalf and Imrahil, Denethor† (Did not really participate in the battle), Théoden† (succeeded by Éomer), Aragorn	The Witch-king of Angmar†, Gothmog†
Strength
~5,000 Gondorians in Minas Tirith (later joined by a larger but unknown force of Gondorians from the south, see article), 6,000 Rohirrim, 30 Rangers of the North, Elladan and Elrohir, Gimli, and Legolas)	A great but unknown number of Orcs, 18,000 Haradrim, an unknown number of Easterlings, Trolls, mûmakil
Casualties
Total number unknown: 2,000 Rohirrim, several thousand Gondorians; see article	Virtual annihilation of the army of Sauron

War of the Ring
1st Fords of Isen - 2nd Fords of Isen - Isengard - Hornburg - Lothlórien - Mirkwood - Osgiliath - Pelennor Fields - Dale - Black Gate - Bywater

In J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, the Battle of the Pelennor Fields is the battle for the city of Minas Tirith. This battle, in his fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings, was the greatest battle of the War of the Ring, and indeed the largest of the entire Third Age.

After the Battle of Osgiliath and the overrunning of the Rammas Echor, the last barriers against the forces of Mordor, the latter moved on the Pelennor Fields before the city on March 15, 3019 of the Third Age as the Great Darkness blotted out the sun.

Contents 1 The siege of Minas Tirith 2 Participants 3 The battle 4 Casualties 5 In adaptations 5.1 The 1980 animated film 5.2 The 1981 BBC Radio series 5.3 The 2003 live-action film 6 Trivia

[edit] The siege of Minas Tirith

The siege of Minas Tirith started after the fall of the Osgiliath crossing and the Rammas Echor, a great guarded wall fencing the Pelennor Fields. The forces of Mordor began their assault by digging long trenches just outside of bowshot from the walls, and the setting up of catapults. However the walls of Minas Tirith could not be broken down by use of conventional weapons and its only weakness was its gate, built of iron and steel.

The catapults were instead used to set the first level of the city alight. Severed heads of slain defenders were also launched into the city to demoralize the Gondorians. The Witch-king of Angmar ordered siege towers to scale the walls of Minas Tirith. This, however, was not his main attack; it was to keep the defenders busy. All of the siege towers, pulled by great elephantine beasts called múmakil, were repulsed with great cost, and not one orc or man was able to get into the city. However, the presence of the Ringwraiths, flying above "like vultures", struck fear into the defenders, and many retreated.

Finally, when the Witch-king judged the defences to be sufficiently weakened, the specially made battering ram Grond was brought to the gates. Grond was large enough to need to be operated by mountain-trolls. However it took four blows to destroy the gate, and for the last three the Witch-king enhanced the ram with a spell.

Upon the destruction of the gate, the Witch-king alone entered on horseback, the first ever of Sauron's forces to enter. All defenders fled except for Gandalf the White on his horse Shadowfax, who faced the Ringwraith. However, the Witch-king left when the sound of the horns of the Rohirrim was heard from the north.

[edit] Participants

Sauron's army greatly outnumbered the combined armies of Gondor and Rohan. The former consisted of some 18,000 Haradrim (Southrons), including footmen, cavalry, and numerous mûmakil from the jungles of Harad; many thousands of Easterlings from Rhûn; Variags of Khand; Olog-hai, resistant to sunlight and more intelligent than standard trolls; common orcs and Uruks possibly numbering into hundreds of thousands.

The defenders' numbers were considerably less. Men from Minas Tirith consisted of a few thousand men (including Osgiliath's garrison and the Rangers of Ithilien). A southern contingent from the fiefdoms of Gondor also numbered a few thousand; prominent among them were the knights of Dol Amroth, led by their lord Prince Imrahil. A large proportion of the men from Gondor's coastal towns were protecting themselves from attack by the Corsairs of Umbar.

Later, 6,000 Riders of Rohan would join the siege, as well as Men from the coastal towns of Gondor, who had been relieved by Aragorn's company of Rangers of the North and the Dead Men of Dunharrow.

[edit] The battle

Sauron knew that if the Rohirrim arrived at Minas Tirith with a significant force, his army would suffer heavy losses. To prevent this, he stormed Cair Andros and blocked the roads with an army and rows of sharp stakes, perilous to cavalry.

However, King Théoden and the Rohirrim passed undetected, due to their guides, the mysterious Wild Men of Drúadan Forest, leading them through a long-forgotten valley. Before the attack, Théoden exhorted them to battle in alliterative verse. They took the troops at the Rammas Echor by surprise. After doing so, the Riders reformed their éoreds and charged the enemy's right flank, Théoden leading them. Despite the king's orders, with them was the Hobbit Merry Brandybuck, riding with a young Rider named Dernhelm.

Théoden's charge broke the forces of Mordor's northern flank, driving the Mordor forces from the northern half of the field, and destroyed the siege engines and camps; the Rohirrim sang "fair and terrible" songs of battle as they slew. Théoden and his vanguard, however, were ahead of the main force of the attack. Seeing this, the Haradrim cavalry counter-attacked Théoden's vanguard, led by their chieftain. Though the guards were outnumbered, they prevailed, and Théoden killed the chieftain and cut down his standard-bearer.

The Witch-king of Angmar attacked Théoden, routing Théoden's household guard with the terror of his presence. The king's horse Snowmane lost control, and was hit by a dart. Snowmane fell and crushed the king underneath his body, and the Witch-king's carrion-eating fell beast dug its beak into the horse's carcass.

With his guard routed, and crushed by his horse, Théoden was dying. However, the warrior Dernhelm came to his defence. The Witch-king mocked him, telling him that no living man could kill him. But Dernhelm revealed himself to be Théoden's niece Éowyn and thus no man at all. She cut the head of the fell beast with a single blow. However, the Witch-king broke her shield and her shield-arm with a blow from his mace.

As the Witch-king was about to finish her, Merry (who had been forgotten) stabbed him behind the knee with his blade. This sword had been forged centuries before during the war between Arnor and Angmar, and contained spells against the Witch-king himself. The spells finally found their target, for the Witch-king was wounded and his blow went wide. The spells that wove his unseen sinews to his flesh were broken and his "immortality" ended. He was then stabbed by Éowyn.

Swooning from her injuries, Éowyn did not witness Théoden's final moments, where he bade farewell to Merry and entrusted command to Éomer. The old king died without realizing that his niece was present. She was discovered by the shocked Riders, and thought dead. However, Imrahil, leading the forces of Gondor from the gates, rode up and discerned that she still lived from breath moisture on his vambrace when he put it close to her lips. She was sent to the Houses of Healing in the city, along with Merry. The Black Breath had made them both gravely ill, as it had done to Faramir.

During this time, Denethor prepared to burn himself and his son upon a funeral pyre, despairing at visions of defeat that Sauron had sent him via his palantír, a Seeing Stone, and believing Faramir to be beyond cure. Only the intervention of Pippin Took and Gandalf saved Faramir, but Denethor immolated himself before they could prevent it. However, Gandalf's rescue of Faramir quite possibly led to the death of Théoden, for he was going out to help the Rohirrim when Pippin called for his help after the Witch-king left the gate.

Meanwhile, nearly every fighting man on foot and on horseback had left Minas Tirith; Imrahil and the other local captains leading them forth in a rally. However, the battle turned against the Rohirrim. Gothmog, lieutenant of Minas Morgul, assumed command of the field and brought forward reinforcements. The Haradrim regrouped and sent forth their footmen, remaining cavalry and mûmakil. Wherever the beasts went, horses went wild with fear or were trampled underfoot, and the forces of Mordor rallied behind the Haradrim army and began pressing the assault against the Rohirrim.

Éomer, grim after the death of his uncle Théoden but shocked by what he perceived to be the unexpected death of his sister Éowyn, the last living members of his family, flew into a wild rage. He charged his cavalry (without order) into the larger enemy forces; they cried Death as if with one voice and sang no more. So great was the anger of the outnumbered Rohirrim at the death of their king that they broke the superior Mordor force's centre, hammering deep wedges into the Mordor legions' front lines. However, this soon turned against Éomer. His cavalry had pierced the enemy front so quickly that his vanguard was now cut off from the Gondorian forces, and surrounded by Mordor's wings and their advancing reserves. Fighting their way to the docks near the Harlond harbour south of the city, Éomer desperately circled up his men on a hill, planning to make a shield wall and fight to the death, when he saw what were supposedly enemy reinforcements sailing up the River Anduin, and let out a defiant cry at his approaching end.

One of the visions that Denethor had seen was of a fleet of enemy ships with black sails arriving at the landings to the south of the Pelennor in the Rammas—the ships of the Corsairs of Umbar. However, he had not seen was that they were actually manned by Aragorn and other Rangers of the North, Gimli, Legolas, Elladan, Elrohir and many reinforcements from the southern provinces and fiefdoms of Gondor who had been battling the Corsairs further down the river, but were rescued by the Dead Men of Dunharrow at Aragorn's bidding. As Aragorn's army drove north a great part of Mordor's forces were pinned between Aragorn and Éomer's cavalry, and were "caught between the hammer and the anvil". Aragorn's army then linked with Éomer's, and with their aid the tide of battle was finally turned, and a brief respite was won until the Battle of the Black Gate. However, the battle lasted until the end of the day.

[edit] Casualties

There is no clearly stated final death toll for the Battle of the Pelennor Fields. There is a definite figure for the cavalry of the Rohirrim that came to Gondor's defence; it consisted of 6,000 Riders, and a full one-third (2,000) were killed or wounded in the battle, including Théoden. Of the defenders of Minas Tirith from Gondor, and the large relief force of Gondor's southern provinces led by Aragorn, no definite figure remains. Two days after the battle, Aragorn led an army out to attack the Black Gate that consisted of 7,000 men (when he reached the Black Gate he had less than 6,000); 2,000 Rohirrim and 5,000 Gondorians. The size of Aragorn's relief force may have been over 10,000 or as little as 1,000, it is never stated. However, even a conservative estimate would place total Gondorian losses at 3,000, and more probably nearer to 5,000.

As for Mordor losses, again, the size of Sauron's great army is not definitely known. It is known that there were some 18,000 Haradrim. (The Rohirrim, consisting of 6,000 riders, were "thrice outnumbered by the Haradrim alone".) Mordor's army was destroyed on the field: all Oliphaunts were killed, the Lord of the Nazgûl was slain, numerous Trolls, and almost all of the Orcs were killed. Few men under Sauron's command escaped to send news of the power and wrath of Gondor to lands east and south.

Aside from those already mentioned, other names who perished in the battle include:

• Halbarad, one of the Rangers of the North and Aragorn's standard-bearer
• Forlong the Fat, lord of Lossarnach, one of Gondor's fiefs
• Grimbold, Marshal of Rohan
• Derufin and Duilin, brothers who led archers from the vales of Morthond.

[edit] In adaptations

[edit] The 1980 animated film

[edit] The 1981 BBC Radio series

In this BBC radio series, the Battle of the Pelennor Fields is heard from 2 sides, the first being mainly Pippin's. We hear him discussing with Denethor, and like in the books, he has to find Gandalf to prevent Denethor from burning his own son, Faramir. This part is very similar to the books. The second side is the battle itself. We can hear Théoden's speech, but then we hear music. A vocalist sings how the Rohirrhim host rides forth and attacks the forces of darkness. Then, the vocalism changes again and we hear Jack May and Anthony Hyde, voicing respectively Théoden and Éomer, saying a Nazgûl is coming. The 'opera' begins again, telling us the Witch-king attacks Théoden, smacks him down and prepares to kill him. The vocalism ends here, then we hear Éowyn talking to the Witch-king and slaying him. Some have felt that this opera style tends to distance the listeners from the action.

[edit] The 2003 live-action film

The battle is the major centrepiece of Peter Jackson's film The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, although many of the events described above are simplified or altered for cinematic purposes. In the battle proper, importance is given to the arrival of the Rohirrim, the combat with the Oliphaunts, and the deaths of Théoden and the Witch-king.

There is no mention of the reinforcements from Gondor's allied territories, nor of the Rammas Echor. The main obstacle to the advance of Mordor's forces is the defense of Osgiliath, which is soon swept away, though Faramir, overseeing it, manages to escape. However, he is sent on a suicidal charge to retake it by Denethor, which leads to his wounding and Denethor's eventual fall into insanity.

The siege begins with Sauron's forces marching on the city and orc catapults firing a volley of severed heads over the walls. They are led by Gothmog of Minas Morgul, who is here interpreted as a grotesquely misshapen, vaguely porcine Orc (in the book, his race is not stated). At first both Sauron's army and the defenders of Minas Tirith exchange fire by way of catapults and trebuchets. Unlike the book, here Minas Tirith suffers considerable damage to its upper walls (though they stand fast and are shown to be unbreachable). The flying Ringwraiths spread confusion throughout the city with their shrieks, and swoop down upon Gondor's soldiers. Upon seeing the large army (over 200,000, which is probably not consistent with the numbers suggested in the book), Denethor goes mad with despair and Gandalf assumes command of the defenders.

Siege towers, laden with orcs, then attack the city, and the defenders, aided by Gandalf, fight off the Orc boarding parties on the walls (in the book, they repulse them with arrows and other missiles; no enemy manages to get inside the city until the Gate is broken). Gondorian archers fire arrows down at the orcs, and catapults continue to launch projectiles back and forth. In a scene in the Extended Edition, Orcs use a small battering ram to try and break the gate down, but the consistent rain of arrows from the archers above thwarts that plan. When Gothmog realizes that the battering ram is unsuccessful in weakening the gates, he orders a much greater battering ram, Grond, to be brought up.

Upon reaching the gate, Grond, pulled back by trolls, is used to break down the great gate of Minas Tirith. When the gate is shattered, the first enemies to enter the gate are great trolls (possibly Olog-hai) wielding clubs, shortly accompanied by orcs. After intense fighting, the Gondorians withdraw into the upper levels, while the enemy occupies the first circle of the city.

There is a scene in the Extended Edition, which shows a confrontation between the Witch-king and Gandalf. The Witch-king breaks Gandalf's staff, but flees when he hears the horns of the arriving Rohirrim.

As dawn breaks, six thousand Rohirrim, led by King Théoden, arrive and rout the invading Orcs; there is no mention of the securing of the outer wall, the Rammas. The writers rearrange some of the verses and dialogue found in the book. Théoden says Éomer's line, "Ride now to ruin and the world's ending!, which, in the book, the latter speaks in wrath after learning of his sister's "death" (in a slightly different form). The entire host of Rohan shouts "Death!", and then charge forward, toward the forces of Mordor, led by Theoden.

The Rohirrim are successful in driving the Orcs back. However, Sauron's reserves then arrive, with Haradrim atop several Oliphaunts, who turn the tide against the Rohirrim. Théoden orders a great charge against them, which results in many casualties. In the book, men went on foot and fired arrows in the eyes of the Oliphaunts, due to the horses fearing the beasts; a cavalry charge would be ineffective. (The production team originally created several scenes in keeping with Tolkien's treatment, with archers killing Oliphaunts by shooting them in the eyes. However, when they viewed the finished shots they felt that it looked so much like animal cruelty that the audience would be horrified and sympathize with the Oliphaunts, so these scenes were omitted). After the initial charge, the Rohirrim bring down some of the huge beasts with arrows and spears. There are also scenes in which Eomer and Eowyn kill Oliphaunts by themselves. Éowyn helps Théoden, who is overwhelmed with Orcs, but Théoden does not fully realize it is her (unlike the book, the film makes it clear that she has ridden secretly with the others; she does not use the alias "Dernhelm").

The Witch-king then swoops down on and attacks Théoden, bowling him and his horse over with his fell beast, resulting in Théoden being pinned down by his own horse. Éowyn, seeing the King vulnerable to the fell beast, confronts the Witch-king and his steed. After killing the fell beast, Eowyn fights the Witch-king, who is armed with a huge flail and sword (in contrast with the book's mace). Merry comes up behind the Witch-king and stabs him with his sword, which gives Eowyn, who then reveals herself as a woman, the opportunity to kill the Witch-king.

It is Aragorn's arrival with the "Army of the Dead" (a term Tolkien does not use) that seals the fate of Sauron's forces. This is a condensation: in the books the Dead Men of Dunharrow depart after they defeat the Corsairs of Umbar and liberate Pelargir, after which Gondor's southern army is now free to rally to Aragorn. In the film, they join with Aragorn and his partners to kill every last enemy on the field, and move into the city, killing all enemy within.

Following the battle, Aragorn releases the Army of the Dead, holding their oaths fulfilled.

[edit] Trivia

• The Led Zeppelin song "The Battle of Evermore", from Untitled (aka Led Zeppelin IV) maybe was based upon this fictional event. The only really reference to the battle of the Pelennor Fields is the mentioning of "ring wraiths".

• The battering ram Grond is a tribute to the first Dark Lord, Morgoth's great mace, named "Hammer of the Underworld".