Battle of the Morannon

The Battle of the MorannonThe Chronology of The Lord of the Rings, V. A Published Chronology: Appendix B, 1. "Here at the end of all things", pg. 149 (entry for March 25 in Table 14 continued) was the final major battle of the War of the Ring, fought before Mordor's Black Gate. It contributed to the ultimate defeat of Sauron but was not decisive, as Sauron's ultimate fall followed the destruction of the One Ring by Frodo Baggins and Gollum.
== History ==
=== Background ===
After the victory of the Free Peoples in the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, the enemy retreated to Mordor. Sauron was defeated but he still had thousands of Orcs and evil Men at his disposal in Mordor. He was aware that the One Ring was somewhat close to the vicinity of his territory, but he did not know that the Hobbit Frodo Baggins and his companion Samwise Gamgee had entered Mordor via the pass of Cirith Ungol with the intention of destroying the Ring.
=== Plot against the Dark Lord ===
After the Last Debate, the Men of the West assembled the Host of the West, 7,000 strong, led by Aragorn, who marched on the Black Gate as a diversionary feint to distract Sauron's attention from Frodo and Sam, who were carrying the One Ring through Mordor to be destroyed in the fires of Mount Doom. It was hoped that Sauron would think Aragorn had the Ring and was now trying to use it to overthrow him in Mordor.
=== Mustering ===
Initially, the Host of the West consisted of 7,000 men, but a strong force was left to guard the Cross-roads of the Fallen King. Part way through Ithilien the army was ambushed by Haradrim and Easterlings, but they were easily detected by the Rangers of Ithilien and driven off with few casualties.
Then, as the army approached Dagorlad, some of the farmers of Lossarnach and Rohan were too afraid to continue into the Desolation of the Morannon. Aragorn dismissed the faint-hearted, ordering them to liberate Cair Andros on the river Anduin, further reducing the strength of the army.
=== Parley ===
Before the battle began, the Black Gate opened slightly, letting out a small embassy. At the head was a high servant of Sauron, a Black Númenórean called the Mouth of Sauron, who had been ordered to speak with the Captains of the West. He reasoned that the Army of the West could not defeat Sauron's host on the battlefield, and demanded the Army surrender. The Lieutenant then brought forth several items that had belonged to Frodo and Sam (Sam's sword, an Elven cloak, and Frodo's Mithril Coat). Gandalf asked for the terms of their surrender, which were to allow Sauron dominion over Isengard and Rohan, as well as Gondor's vassalage. Gandalf vehemently refused.
Realizing the Army intended to fight and being outnumbered, fear and anger overcame the Lieutenant, and he retreated to the Black Gate, which then opened to reveal a massive army of Sauron's forces. Thousands of Orcs also emerged from the hillsides around the Black Gate and an Easterling force hidden behind Carchost emerged.
=== The battle ===
Against the Host of the West was arrayed large hordes of Orcs, Trolls, and Mannish allies such as the Easterlings and Haradrim. An exact count of Sauron's host is not given, but it is said that they were "ten times and more than ten times" greater than the Host of the West, making it a force of at least 60,000. Sauron's forces surrounded the Army of the West entirely, circling around them to prevent any escape. Initially, Sauron's forces found difficulty in getting to the Army of the West, due to the large slag pools and pits of waste surrounding parts of the Black Gate, which impeded their progress. This gave Aragorn time to prepare his forces, splitting them between two Slag-hills.
During the course of the battle, the remaining eight Nazgûl emerged and attacked the Army of the West. Shortly thereafter, however, the Great Eagles of the Misty Mountains, led by Gwaihir the Windlord, arrived and attacked the Ringwraiths, preventing them from pressing their aerial advantage. Trolls began to crash through the lines of infantry, and the Orcs and Easterlings made renewed assaults on the Army of the West, encircling it. That was when Frodo put on the One Ring and Sauron realized that Frodo and the Ring were inside Mount Doom. Immediately the forces of Sauron began to waver, as his will was no longer driving them on.
=== Downfall of Barad-dûr and Sauron ===
The Nazgûl immediately left the battle to intercept Frodo. Before they could get there, however, Gollum bit the Ring off Frodo's finger and slipped into the Crack of Doom, destroying the Ring and ending Sauron's power.
With the One Ring's destruction, Barad-dûr, the Black Gate, and the Towers of the Teeth collapsed to ruin. As he died, Sauron appears as an enormous shadow, which loomed over the battlefield. In his wrath, he stretched out a vast and terrible hand but was soon blown away by the wind, leaving his spirit bodiless, powerless and impotent for good, no longer able to take shape nor a physical form ever again.
At this, the Orcs and other creatures of Sauron at the battle were left directionless, following the death of their dark lord. They were left in disarray as they scattered and were routed by the Host of the West or fled. Seeing the power of Mordor collapse, some of the Easterlings and Haradrim fought on to the end, whilst many surrendered and were pardoned by Aragorn.
=== Following battles ===
Despite the destruction of Mordor and its armies, the fight against Sauron's remaining forces continued in the northern theater of the War of the Ring for several weeks, notably at Dol Guldur in Mirkwood and at the Lonely Mountain. Because Sauron's power vanquished, his forces lost these battles.
Orc-holds also remained in Mordor and, immediately after the battle, Aragorn led a force into Mordor to destroy them.
Months later, the Battle of Bywater in the Shire against a group of Ruffians called Sharkey's Men, and the subsequent killing of Saruman by Wormtongue, ended the War of the Ring.The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King, Book Six, Chapter IV: "The Field of Cormallen"The Atlas of Middle-earth, The Lord of the Rings, "The Battle of the Morannon"
== In adaptations ==
=== Rankin-Bass ===
==== The Return of the King (1980) ====
In the Rankin-Bass version of The Return of the King, Aragorn, now in full command of Gondor's armies, chooses to march on the Black Gate despite the odds. When Aragorn comes to the Black Gate, he calls on the Dark Lord to come forth and "atone for his evils" and depart these lands. The gate opens and the Mouth of Sauron comes out and refutes his demands in an insulting manner. Aragorn refuses to even acknowledge him and dismisses him as merely one of Sauron's slaves angering the Mouth. The Mouth rides away laughing in an evil manner.
=== Peter Jackson's The Return of the King ===
In Peter Jackson's The Return of the King the Slag-hills are absent, as is Imrahil. The confrontation with the Mouth of Sauron was cut, though in the Extended Edition of the film it was reincluded. In it, Aragorn II decapitates the Mouth of Sauron in anger before their exchange is complete, while in the book the Mouth rides away from the Host to Cirith Gorgor.
In the film, the Mouth is portrayed as a disfigured emissary, rather than a soldier, and he appears at the Black Gate alone. He first seems angered by what Gandalf says, but then regains his stature and speaks in a mock-friendly manner, calling him "Old Greybeard". He tells Gandalf that he has "a token he was bidden to show" and then takes out Frodo's Mithril Coat and throws it at Gandalf. He seems to be getting enjoyment out of seeing the shocked and horrified faces of Frodo's friends. Seeking to hurt Gandalf more, he begins lying about how Frodo suffered greatly before dying.
At this, Aragorn approaches on his horse. The Mouth immediately recognizes him as Isildur's heir and says, "It takes more to make a king than a broken elvish blade". At this Aragorn beheads him, which shocks Gimli, causing him to say sarcastically, "Well, I guess that concludes negotiations!" Aragorn turns around, saying he does not believe Frodo is dead. At this point, Sauron's eye moves towards the Black Gate. The Mouth of Sauron's death is not mentioned in the book.
Originally, Aragorn was going to fight Sauron, who was to appear in a bright blinding light in the form of Annatar, and then was to turn into the armored Sauron from the prologue of the first film, at which Aragorn and Sauron would begin to duel. This idea was later dropped to stay more consistent with the battle in the novel; instead Aragorn fights a troll in the film, using the same choreography as the Sauron fight, but with a Troll replacing Sauron via CGI. In another difference from the book, Merry fights in the battle, while in the book he remained in Minas Tirith.
In the movie, during the last debate, Gandalf makes it clear that there is a force of ten thousand Orcs at the Black Gate, but the Host of the West is unquantified - they appear to be a few hundred. After slaying the Mouth of Sauron, before facing the host of Mordor that has come out and surrounded them, Aragorn gives this speech:
"Sons of Gondor! Of Rohan! My brothers! I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of me. A day may come when the courage of Men fails, when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship, but it is not this day. An hour of wolves and shattered shields when the age of men comes crashing down, but it is not this day! This day we fight! By all that you hold dear good on this earth, I bid you stand, Men of the West!
The Host of the West then charges bravely into the Orcs. Despite having only about 300 soldiers of Gondor and 200 Rohirrim they kill many Orcs while sustaining light casualties, although it later becomes clear that unless the Ring is destroyed they will be completely wiped out as their casualties start getting heavy. When Aragorn is fighting a troll the One Ring is destroyed and the forces of Mordor become panic stricken and try to flee; however without Sauron power to substain them the forces of Mordor; the Barad-dûr and the Black Gate of Mordor, the ground under them collapses sending these structures and nearly all the Orc/Trolls deep into the middle earths depths. Only the Host of the West of Gondor and Rohirrim survive.
==Translations==
Foreign Language 	Translated name
Afrikaans 	Slag van die Swart Hek
Amharic 	ጥቁር በር የጦርነት
Arabic 	معركة البوابة السوداء
Albanian 	Beteja e Portës Zezë
Armenian 	Ճակատամարտը որ Սեվ դարպասի
Assamese 	ব্লেক গেটৰ যুদ্ধ
Azerbaijani 	Qara qapının döyüşü
Belarusian Cyrillic	Бітва чорнага варот
Bengali 	কালো ফটকের যুদ্ধ
Bosnian 	Bitka kod crna vrata
Bulgarian Cyrillic 	Битката на черната порта
Cambodian 	សមរភូមិច្រកទ្វារខ្មៅ
Catalan 	Batalla de la Porta Negre
Chinese (Hong Kong)	黑門之戰
Corsican 	Battagghia di li Neru Nanna
Croatian 	Bitka kod Crna vrata
Czech 	Bitva u Černé brány
Danish 	Slaget ved Mordors Sorte Port
Dutch 	Strijd van de Zwarte Poort
Esperanto 	Batalo de la Nigra Pordego
Finnish 	Mustan Portin taistelu
French 	Bataille de la Porte Noire
Frisian 	Slach fan 'e Swarte Poarte (Western)
Galician 	Batalla da Porta Negro
Georgian 	ბრძოლა შავ კარიბჭესთან
German 	Schlacht am Schwarzen Tor
Greek 	Μάχη της Μαύρης πύλη
Hebrew 	קרב השער השחור
Hindi 	काले द्वार की लड़ाई
Hungarian 	A Fekete Kapu Csatája
Icelandic 	Orrustan við Svarta Hliðið
Italian 	Battaglia del Cancello Nero
Indonesian 	Pertempuran gerbang hitam
Japanese 	黒い門の戦い
Kannada 	ಕಪ್ಪು ಗೇಟ್ ಕದನ
Kazakh 	Қара қақпаның шайқасы (Cyrillic) Qara qaqpanıñ şayqası (Latin)
Konkani 	काळ्या गेटाचें झूज
Korean 	검은 문 전투 (모란논 전투)
Kurdish 	Şerê Deriyê Reş (Kurmanji)
Kyrgyz Cyrillic 	кара дарбазанын согуш
Latin 	Pugnam ex Nigro Porta
Laotian 	ຮົບຂອງປະຕູຮົ້ວສີດໍາ
Latvian 	Kaujas melnā vārtiem
Lithuanian 	Mūšis Juodieji vartai
Macedonian Cyrillic	Битка кај Црната Порта
Malayalam 	ബ്ലാക്ക് ഗേറ്റ് യുദ്ധം
Malaysian 	Pertempuran pintu hitam
Malagasy 	Ady ny mainty vavahady
Maltese 	Battalja tal-bieb iswed
Marathi 	काळा दरवाजा लढाई
Mongolian Cyrillic 	Хар хаалга тулаан
Nepalese 	कालो ढोकाको लडाई
Norwegian 	Slaget ved den Svarte Porten
Occitan 	Batalha der Pòrta Negre
Persian 	(Battle of the Black Gate) نبرد از دروازه سیاه و سفید
(Battle of the Morannon) نبرد مورانون
Polish 	Bitwa pod Czarną Bramą
Portuguese 	Batalha do Portão Preto
Punjabi 	ਕਾਲਾ ਗੇਟ ਦੀ ਲੜਾਈ
Romanian 	Bătălia de la Poarta Negru
Russian 	Битва у Чёрных Врат
Serbian 	Битка црне капије (Cyrillic) Bitka crne kapije (Latin)
Sinhalese 	කළු දොරටුව සටන
Slovak 	Bitka čierne brány
Slovenian 	Bitka na črnih vratih
Spanish 	Batalla de la Puerta Negro
Sundanese 	Perang tina gerbang hideung ?
Swedish 	Slaget vid den Svarta Porten
Tajik Cyrillic 	Ҷанги Бузурги Ватанӣ
Tatar 	Кара капка сугышы
Thai 	การต่อสู้ของประตูสีดำ
Turkish 	Siyah kapısı Savaşı
Turkmen 	Gara derwezäniň söweşi
Telugu 	బ్లాక్ గేట్ యుద్ధం
Ukrainian Cyrillic 	Битва чорного воріт
Urdu 	سیاہ دروازے کی لڑائی
Uzbek 	Қора эшикнинг уруши (Cyrillic) Qora eshikning urushi (Latin)
Vietnamese 	Trận chiến cổng đen
Welsh 	Brwydr y giât du
Yiddish 	שלאַכט פון די שוואַרץ טויער
Yoruba 	Ogun ti awọn dudu ẹnu-
== References ==
Category:Battles
Category:War of the Ring
de:Schlacht am Morannon (Film)
es:Batalla del Morannon
fr:Bataille de la Porte Noire
it:Battaglia del Morannon
pl:Bitwa pod Morannonem
pt-br:Batalha de Morannon
ru:Битва при Моранноне