War of the Ring

War of the Ring
File:WaroftheRingSiegeTowers.jpg Mordor's siege towers roll into Osgiliath prior to the climax of the War of the Ring, in Peter Jackson's film adaptation of The Return of the King
Date 3018-3019 Third Age (fighting in Gondor started long before that) Location Northwestern Middle-earth Result Free peoples' victory; destruction of the One Ring, Sauron and Mordor; start of the Fourth Age; Arnor and Gondor reunited under restoration of the King of Gondor
Belligerents
Free peoples of Middle-earth: Gondor, Rohan, Dale, Esgaroth, Erebor, The Shire, Lothlórien, the Woodland Realm	Evil forces: Under Sauron: Mordor, Rhûn, Harad, Umbar, Khand Under Saruman: (actually a third party) Isengard, Dunland
Commanders and leaders
Gandalf† (but resurrected) Aragorn Théoden† Denethor† Dain II† Brand† Galadriel and Celeborn Thranduil	For Mordor, etc.: Sauron† The Witch-King of Angmar† For Isengard: Saruman†
Strength
Tens of thousands	For Mordor, etc: hundreds of thousands; incalculable For Isengard: tens of thousands
Casualties and losses
Very heavy	Massive, total defeats. Sauron's Orcs dispersed and hunted down.

Template:Spoiler In the fiction of J. R. R. Tolkien, the War of the Ring ended the Third Age. It was initiated by Sauron, who had gained strength since the end of the Second Age and sought the One Ring. During the War of the Ring, many thousands of Men of Rohan and Men of Gondor were killed. The overall number of combatants in the war is estimated to be over a million—tens of thousands from the side of the Free Peoples and hundreds of thousands from the Evil side. The war also signified the decline of the Elves' power in Middle-earth, the rise of Men in the West, the restoration of the King of Gondor and Arnor and the start of the Fourth Age.

Battles were fought in different places in Middle-earth, including Gondor, Rohan and the Lonely Mountain. Battles were also fought by the Men of Dale, against the Easterlings in particular. These were primarily waged against Sauron's forces, but Saruman, a third contender, also had armies, who fought battles at the Fords of Isen and Helm's Deep.

For practical purposes, the War of the Ring ended with Gollum's destruction of the Ring of Power. However, fighting was still going on in many parts of Middle-earth. The war is not considered to have ended until after the Battle of Bywater and, shortly after, the deaths of Saruman and Gríma Wormtongue. After the War of the Ring, Elessar was crowned King of Gondor, and forgave the Men who had fought under Sauron, heralding a great renewal of cooperation and communication between Men, Elves, and Dwarves.

Events

Rohan

Main article: [[:Fords of Isen, Battle of the Hornburg]]

Although there had never really been peace, the War of the Ring started in Rohan when Saruman's troops crossed the Fords of Isen. Théodred, the son of the King Théoden, had mustered his forces on the fords in order to launch a surprise attack against the enemy. On 23 February TA 3019 he attacked the vanguard of the orcs marching out of Isengard. Reinforcements were quickly sent from Isengard however, and Théodred ordered a retreat. His forces retreated to an island in the the fords, but they were soon surrounded and he was killed. Grimbold managed to hold the island, but would not have succeeded if Elfhelm had not come with reinforcements from Helm's Deep. Thus the first battle of the Fords of Isen ended badly for the Rohirrim.

Now that the Marshal of the Westmark was dead, Erkenbrand took command of the Westfold. He placed Grimbold and Elfhelm on the Fords. However, they were unable to withstand the force of Isengard, and were surrounded. Though they successfully broke through the enemy's lines, they ended up scattered around the Westfold, giving Saruman clear passage into Rohan.

Meanwhile, Gandalf drove Gríma Wormtongue out of Edoras and went to gather Erkenbrand's scattered forces, advising King Théoden to move to the stronghold of Helm's Deep. The king and his forces arrived unmolested, but soon the fortress was surrounded by Saruman's troops. The situation became desperate, and at dawn the Rohirrim attempted a break-out. Suddenly, Gandalf arrived with Erkenbrand and the scattered Rohirrim, along with a forest of Huorns who had been sent to the battle by Treebeard. The orcs were locked in and utterly destroyed.

Days before, at an Entmoot in Fangorn Forest, the Ents, fury over the destruction Saruman had wrought upon the forest, decided to march on Isengard. They were to move up to Isengard and destroy it. 3 March the destruction was completed, and the command of Isengard was taken by the Ent Treebeard. On Gandalf's request he sent a large herd of Huorns to the Battle of Hornburg, to aid the Rohirrim.

Gondor

Of all the kingdoms of Middle-earth, Sauron only truly hated one. For over 3000 years, the realm of Gondor held back the shadow and the threat from the East. Soon, though, the kingdom declined, and Sauron prepared to swoop in for the kill. Faramir, captain of Gondor, had divided his forces to many fronts. The two most important of these were in the island citadel of Cair Andros and the ruined city of Osgiliath. Sauron's two armies obliterated the fortresses, and Faramir was forced to retreat to the causeway forts, the last defence against the Morgul forces. Soon that too, was destroyed. Only Minas Tirith remained, a golden island upon a darkened sea. The attack soon began, as the Nazgul swooped down and destroyed parts of the city, and orcs took to the walls. Soon the Gate of Gondor was broken and all seemed lost, until Theoden of Rohan, with 6000 horseman came and somewhat relieved the forces of Gondor. Still, the battle was in doubt until Aragorn arrived with a large force out of South Gondor. So ended the battle of the Pelennor Fields.

Dale

Main article: Battle of Dale

As the war begun, the Dwarves of Erebor refused Sauron as their Lord. Therefore, Sauron sent an army of Easterlings to Dale. On March 17 they met the armies of the Dwarves and the Men of Dale. After three days of fighting, Men and Dwarves were overrun and sought hide in Erebor. King Brand of Dale fell before the gate of Erebor, and King under the Mountain Dain II Ironfoot fell as he was defending Brand's body. Many Men and Dwarves made their escape to Erebor however, and they were able to withstand the siege. When news was spread about the victory in the South, the Easterlings scattered and the sons of Brand and Dain let their army out of Erebor.

Lothlórien and Mirkwood

On March 11 Lothlórien is first attacked from Dol Guldur. It would be attacked twice other times, on the 15 and the 22. When the Dark Lord had fallen, Celeborn led his army out of Lórien, and crossed the Anduin. Dol Guldur was captured and destroyed by Galadriel.

Also Thranduil of Mirkwood was attacked from Dol Guldur, but in the Battle under the Trees, the Elven folk won a hard victory. After the destruction of Dol Guldur, Celeborn met Thranduil on 6 April, and as the shadow had passed, they divided Mirkwood and renamed it Eryn Lasgalen.

Shire

Main article: Battle of Bywater

After the defeat of the Dark Lord, Saruman is released by Treebeard. He moves to the Shire, where he replaces Lotho Sackville-Baggins as the Cheif under the name Sharkey. Under his command ruffians enter The Shire and ruin it. The men are defeated by the Meriadoc Brandybuck and Peregrin Took as they return to the Shire in the Battle of Bywater on 3 November. They head to Hobbiton where Frodo orders Saruman and Wormtongue to leave the Shire. Wormtongue however kills Saruman, who is in his turn killed by the Hobbits. With the death of Saruman the War of the Ring finally ended.

Consequences

The War of the Ring had great influence on all of the lands of the west of Middle-earth. Most important it led to the reunation of the Reunited Kingdom, under King Elessar Telcontar. The Steward of Gondor was dead, but he was succeeded by his son Faramir, who was given the title Prince of Ithilien.

In Rohan the crownprince, Theodred was killed, and on the Battle of Pelennor Fields also King Théoden died. He was succeeded by his nephew Éomer. In the Glittering Caves a Dwarven colony was established, and Isengard was given to the Ents.

In Dale both King Brand and King Dáin II Ironfoot were killed, who were succeeded by their sons Bard and Thorin III Stonehelm. They sent their emmisaries to the crowning of Elessar, and were in alliance with Gondor until their Kingdoms ended.

For the Elves their final decline had started. The bearers of the Rings left Middle-earth, and Loríen was eventually abandoned. In Eryn Lasgalen however, Thranduil's rule was good, and they had peace. There was also an elven colony in Ithilien.

In The Shire life continues. It is declared a free land under the Sceptre of Annúminas and Men are forbidden to enter it. The Westmarch is added to the Shire by King Elessar, and it is said that no battle had ever been fought after that of Bywater.

Adaptations

• There are several games that are named after the novel: the Games Workshop 2005 Summer Online Campaign, for The Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game; a board game published by Fantasy Flight Game; a board and counter wargame called War of the Rings published by SPI in 1977 (which shows irrefutably strong influence over the Fantasy Flight version); a War of the Ring real-time strategy computer game published by Sierra in 2003; and a board and miniature wargame published by Nexus Editrice in 2004.

Trivia

• The War of the Ring is the title of the eighth volume of The History of Middle-earth.
• The War of the Ring was the title J. R. R. Tolkien wanted for the third volume of The Lord of the Rings.

References

• Tolkien, J.R.R., The Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers
• Tolkien, J.R.R., The Lord of the Rings, Appendix A
• Tolkien, J.R.R., Unfinished Tales, The Fords of the Isen

See also

• The Lord of the Rings
• The War of the Ring Online Campaign

External links

• The Thains Book A description of the key battles of Middle-earth
• Encyclopedia of Arda
• Official 2005 Games Workshop Online Summer Campaign website