Battle of the Pelennor Fields
Encyclopedia : B : BA : BAT : Battle of the Pelennor Fields
| War of the Ring |
|---|
| Fords of Isen - Isengard - Hornburg - Osgiliath - Pelennor Fields - Dale - Black Gate - Bywater |
The Battle of the Pelennor Fields is a fictional event: a contest for the city of Minas Tirith in J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. It was the greatest battle of the War of the Ring, and indeed the largest of the entire Third Age.
After the fall of Osgiliath and 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 (N. B.: not a date in the Gregorian Calendar) as the Great Darkness blotted out the sun.
Mordor's troops consisted of 18,000 Haradrim, 30,000 Easterlings, numerous Oliphaunts, Trolls, and Wargs, and a huge but unknown number of Orcs, including Uruk-hai and lesser breeds. The defenders' numbers were considerably less, probably around 10,000 plus the addition of 2,000 to 3,000 Men from the provinces and fiefs from southern Gondor in the days before the battle, and the remainder of Faramir's force from the Causeway Forts.
The siege of Minas Tirith
The attackers used catapults to bombard the city with flaming missiles, which predictably set the First Circle on fire. They also showered the city with the heads of slain men from Osgiliath, the Rammas Echor, and other places that Mordor's armies had passed through, aiming to demoralize the defenders. However, they did not launch missiles on the walls itself, which, being the work of Númenorean master builders, were so strong that only a major earthquake could have damaged them.
Mordor's forces kept the defenders busy by sending siege towers pulled by great beasts and ground troops. They were repulsed with heavy losses, but at great cost. Gandalf, Prince Imrahil and the Swan Knights of Dol Amroth encouraged the defenders to fight on, for by this time the real ruler of the city, the Steward Denethor, was grieving for his gravely wounded son Faramir (who had been wounded by a poisoned arrow and exposed to the Black breath, in the earlier retreat from Osgiliath), and, as he perceived through the covert use of his palantír, the impending defeat of Gondor.
Later on, the great battering ram Grond (named after Morgoth's weapon from the First Age) was put into action. Pulled by great beasts, manned by trolls, and endowed with dark spells by the Witch-king of Angmar, before dawn Grond shattered the city's main gate with four blows, forcing the defenders to flee. The Witch-king rode into the city alone and unchallenged, save by Gandalf on Shadowfax. Before Gandalf's strength was put to the test, however, the cock crowed and the horns of Rohan were heard as 6,000 riders joined the battle.
Mordor's strategy for keeping Rohan out of the battle had failed twice, both through Isengard's defeat at Helm's Deep and the blockade in Anórien, so the Witch-king was forced to ride out, mount his fell beast and attack them instead of fighting Gandalf and destroying the city.
The battle proper
King Théoden and the Rohirrim had passed undetected thanks to their guides, the mysterious Wild Men of Drúadan Forest, and to Sauron's Great Darkness itself, which shielded them from enemy eyes. Taking the troops at the Rammas Echor by surprise, they destroyed the enemy camps. After doing so, the Riders reformed their éoreds and charged, Théoden leading them. Before they did, however, Théoden exhorted them to battle in alliterative verse. Despite the king's orders, with them was the Hobbit Merry Brandybuck, riding with a young Rider named Dernhelm.
Nearly every last fighting man on foot and on horseback was sent out of Minas Tirith to Rohan's aid, Imrahil and the other local captains leading them.
Théoden's charge drove the Mordor forces from the northern half of the fields, and took out the siege engines and camps; the Rohirrim sang songs fair and terrible as they slew. However, the Haradrim cavalry counter-attacked, led by their chieftain. Though the Rohirrim were thrice outnumbered, they prevailed, for Théoden slew the Southron leader and cut down his standard-bearer, and at their deaths the Haradrim retreated.
However, the Witch-king of Angmar attacked Théoden, routing his troops 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 dead or fled and pinned down by his horse, Théoden was in dire peril. However, the warrior Dernhelm came to his defense. The Witch-king mocked him, telling him that no living man might slay him. However, Dernhelm revealed himself to be Théoden's niece Éowyn and thus no man at all. She slew the fell beast, chopping off its head with one stroke. However, the Witch-king broke her shield and her shield-arm with one blow from his mace.
As he was about to finish her, Merry wounded him with his barrow-blade in the leg. 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 distracted and possibly seriously weakened. He was then slain by Éowyn.
Swooning from her injuries, Éowyn did not witness Théoden's final moments, where he bade farewell to Merry and entrusted command to her brother Éomer. The old king died without realizing that his niece was present. She was discovered by the awestruck Riders, and thought dead. However, Imrahil 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 of the Ringwraith 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 the visions of defeat that Sauron had sent him via his palantír, and believing Faramir to be beyond aid. Only the intervention of Pippin Took and Gandalf saved Faramir, but Denethor immolated himself before they could prevent it. However, Gandalf's saving of Faramir quite possibly led to the death of Théoden, for he was going out to help the Rohirrim when Pippin sought his aid.
Meanwhile, the battle turned against the Rohirrim. Gothmog, lieutenant of Minas Morgul, sent forth his reinforcements, and the Haradrim sent forth their footmen and their Mûmakil (Oliphaunts). Wherever the latter beasts went, horses went wild with fear or were trampled underfoot, and the forces of Mordor rallied around them like islands of defense that the Rohirrim could not overtake.
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 member of his family, flew into a wild rage. He cried "Death take us all! Death! Ride, ride to ruin and the world's ending!" and charged his cavalry headlong into the larger enemy forces. The host of Rohan sang no longer, but cried Death with one voice. So great was the wrath of the outnumbered Rohirrim at the death of their king that they broke through the superior Mordor forces, hammering deep wedges into the Mordor legions' front lines. However, this soon turned against Éomer. His cavalry had pierced the enemy front lines so quickly that his company was now cut off from the other two, and surrounded between Mordor's front lines and their reserves. Fighting their way to the docks near the Harlond south of the city, Éomer desperately circled up his men on a hill, plannng to make a shield wall and fight to the death, when he saw 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 Eomer'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 Last Battle before the Black Gate. However, the battle lasted until the end of the day, for the Easterlings and Haradrim gave and expected no quarter. They proudly fought to the death when the tide turned, even as the Orcs were cowardly running away.
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 2,000 were killed 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 5,000.
As for enemy losses, again, the size of Sauron's great army is not definitely known. There were at the very least 60,000, and this is almost surely an overconservative estimation. It is known that there were some 18,000 Haradrim. (The Rohirrim, consisting of 6,000 riders, were "thrice outnumbered by the Haradrim alone".) The Enemy's army was utterly destroyed on the field: all Oliphaunts were killed, the leader of the Nazgûl was slain, numerous Trolls, and perhaps all of the Orcs (which composed the majority of the army) were killed, those that retreated drowning in the River Anduin. 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, people who perished in the battle include:
- Halbarad, one of the Rangers of the North,
- Forlong the Fat, lord of Lossarnach, one of Gondor's fiefs, and
- Grimbold, Marshal of Rohan.
In adaptations
The 1980 animated film
The 1981 BBC radio series
In these 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.
The live-action film
The battle is the major centrepiece of Peter Jackson's film , 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 defence of Osgiliath, which is soon swept away, though Faramir, overseeing it, manages to escape. However, he is sent on a suicide 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 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 swooping down on Gondor's soldiers. Seeing the large army (over 200,000, which may be consistent with the number suggested in the book), Denethor goes mad with despair and Gandalf assumes command of the defenders.
Siege towers then attack the city, and the defenders 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 grounds until the gate is broken). In the Extended version, Orcs use a small battering ram to try and break the gate down but the consistent rain of arrows from the defenders thwarts that plan. An Orc general tells Gothmog that the gate won't give because it is too strong and nothing can breach it. Gothmog says Grond can breach it and they bring up the "wolf's head". Pippin goes to the wall where Gandalf is commanding the defenders. He notices Pippin and tells him to go back to the citadel. Pippin is spotted by a number of Orcs and they come at him but Gandalf jumps down and kills many. However, he himself is nearly killed, but Pippin saves him.
Grond is used to break down the great gate of Minas Tirith. As the gate shatters, hordes of Orcs, Trolls, and Easterlings pour into the city; the first enemies to enter the gate are possibly Olog-hai. The defenders retreat into the upper levels, while the enemy occupies the first circle of the city.
In the Extended version, the Witch-king, who flies on his fell beast all throughout, faces Gandalf and breaks his staff, but the Lord of the Nazgul leaves 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 slighlty different form). Also, the Rohirrim chant Death before the fighting starts.
The Rohirrim are successful in driving the Orcs back and making the city safe. However, Sauron's reserves then arrive with several Oliphaunts who turn the tide against the Rohirrim. Théoden orders a great charge against them, which results in many casualties. Tolkien has men going on foot and trying to shoot them in the eyes, since horses fear 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). Éowyn, disguised as a man, hamstrings an Oliphaunt. Éomer kills the driver of an Oliphaunt with a hurled javelin, which results in the uncontrolled Oliphaunt ramming into the side of another one, killing both. A few more Oliphaunts are killed by the Rohirrim. Éowyn and Merry are nearly crushed by an Oliphaunt. Éowyn also helps Théoden who is overwhelmed with Orcs, but Théoden does not fully realise it is her (unlike the book, the film makes it clear that she has ridden secretly with the others; she does not use the alies "Dernhelm"). Merry kills a bunch of Orcs and Haradrim. Éowyn then confronts Gothmog and wounds him.
The Witch-king then attacks Théoden, bowling him and his horse over with his fell beast, resulting in Théoden being pinned down by his own horse. Éowyn then fights him, as in the book, but here she reveals herself as a woman just before she gives the killing stroke. Also, the Ringwraith is armed with a huge flail and a sword in the extended version, in contrast to the book's mace.
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 kill every last enemy on the field, including the Oliphaunts. However, Legolas kills one beast by himself. Gothmog attempts to kill Éowyn but is killed by Aragorn and Gimli.
In other media
The Led Zeppelin song "The Battle of Evermore", from Untitled (aka Led Zeppelin IV) was based upon this fictional event.
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.