Vorlage:Infobox Me battle Vorlage:Campaignbox War of the Ring
In J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, the Battle of the Pelennor Fields is the battle for the city of Minas Tirith between the forces of Gondor and its allies, and the forces of the Dark Lord Sauron.
This battle was one of the central battles of the War of the Ring, the war in which the Third Age of Middle-earth came to a close. It took place on 15 March 3019, T.A. in the Pelennor Fields, the townlands and fields between Minas Tirith and the River Anduin. The concept and history of composition of the battle is detailed the fourth volume of The History of the Lord of the Rings.
Literature
After the Battle of Osgiliath and the overrunning of the Rammas Echor, the last barriers against the forces of Mordor, the enemy took up positions on the Pelennor Fields before the city on March 15, 3019 of the Third Age as the Great Darkness blotted out the sun.[1]
Participants
Sauron's army from Minas Morgul, led by the Witch-king of Angmar (chief of the Nazgûl or Ringwraiths) greatly outnumbered the combined armies of Gondor and its allies. Sauron's forces included Southrons of Harad including footmen, cavalry, and elephantine beasts called mûmakil or Oliphaunts, Easterlings from Rhûn and Variags from Khand as well as great number of Orcs and Trolls. The army is described as the greatest to "issue from that vale since the days of Isildur's might, no host so fell and strong in arms had yet assailed the fords of Anduin; and yet it was but one and not the greatest of the hosts that Mordor now sent forth."[2]
The defenders' numbers were considerably less. Following his defeat at Osgiliath, Tolkien writes that Faramir is outnumbered by ten times and he loses one third of his men.[1] Tolkien gives a catalogue of companies from outlying provinces of Gondor that come to the aid of Minas Tirith; the contingent is numbered at less than 3,000.[3] Prominent among them were a company of 500[4][5] knights[1] and 700 footmen[3] of Dol Amroth, led by their lord Prince Imrahil. A large proportion of the men from Gondor's coastal towns were faced with attack by the Corsairs of Umbar and other folk under Sauron and sent only token forces to defend the city.[3][4]
6,000 Riders of Rohan[6] arrived at dawn, and over 2,000 [4] Men from the coastal towns of Gondor sailed up the river. These had been relieved by Aragorn's 30-man strong company[7] of Rangers of the North (representing Gondor's long-fallen sister realm Arnor) and the Dead Men of Dunharrow.[8] The Men of Rohan (Rohirrim) were "thrice outnumbered by the Haradrim alone".[8]
The battle
The siege of Minas Tirith started after the fall of Osgiliath and the Rammas Echor, in the retreat Faramir, son of Denethor, Steward of Gondor, was severely wounded. The despairing Denethor watched over him and command of the defence of the city was left to the Wizard Gandalf.[1] The Nazgûl, Sauron's most feared servants, flew over the battlefield on fell beasts, causing the defender's morale to waver.
After repeated attacks by catapults and siege engines, Sauron's forces were able to breach the city gate using the giant battering ram Grond. The Witch-king entered alone at dawn and was confronted by Gandalf. However, at that moment the Rohirrim arrived and charged into battle.[1]
The Rohirrim secured the outer wall,[9] destroyed siege engines and camps, and drove off Haradrim cavalry. The Witch-king (on his wingéd fell beast) went straight for Théoden, King of Rohan. The king's horse was killed, and it fell and crushed the king.[8]
The King's niece Éowyn (disguised as Dernhelm, a man) challenged the Witch-king. Long ago, it had been prophesied that the Witch-king would not die "by the hand of man".[10] In the ensuing combat she was gravely injured. The Halfling (Hobbit) Meriadoc Brandybuck, who had accompanied "Dernhelm", intervened and stabbed the Witch-king with his enchanted sword. The Witch-king was bitterly wounded due to that particular sword's special magic. Éowyn then "drove her sword between crown and mantle", slaying him.[8] Both weapons that struck his undead flesh were destroyed as well.
Théoden died without realizing his niece was present. Her brother Éomer, now the king, discovered their bodies. Furious, he charged his cavalry without order into the enemy forces. Meanwhile, nearly every fighting man had left Minas Tirith to join the combat, led by Imrahil and other local captains. Imrahil rode up to Éowyn and found she still lived. She was sent to the Houses of Healing in the city, along with Merry. The Ringwraith's Black Breath had made them both gravely ill, as it had earlier done to Faramir.[8] The arms wielding weapons that struck the Witch-king were left numb and cold, and Éowyn's other arm was broken in the mélee with the Witch-king.
Before the Rohirrim arrived, Denethor prepared to burn himself and his son upon a funeral pyre, believing Faramir to be beyond cure. Only the intervention of the Hobbit Pippin Took, a guard Beregond, and Gandalf saved Faramir, but Denethor immolated himself before they could stop him.[11] Tolkien indirectly states that Théoden's death could have been prevented if Gandalf had helped the Rohirrim instead, as he had intended.[11]
The battle soon turned against Gondor and their allies, despite the growing daylight. Gothmog, lieutenant of Minas Morgul, brought forward reinforcements. The forces of Mordor rallied behind the mûmakil of the Haradrim. Éomer was cut off from the Gondorians and surrounded by the enemy. As he prepared to make a last stand on a hill, he saw a fleet of enemy ships with black sails sailing up the River Anduin. They were the ships of the Corsairs of Umbar, seemingly more of Sauron's reinforcements,[8] but manned by Aragorn and his Rangers of the North, Gimli the Dwarf, Legolas the Elf, the Half-elven brothers Elladan and Elrohir and reinforcements from south Gondor.[4] Much of Sauron's forces were pinned between Aragorn and Éomer's cavalry. The tide of battle turned in favour of Gondor, yet fighting lasted until the end of the day. A brief respite was won until the Battle of the Black Gate.[8]
Depictions
Illustration
Various artists have illustrated the battle or elements of it, including Alan Lee, John Howe, the Brothers Hildebrandt, and Ted Nasmith.
Radio
In this BBC radio series, the Battle of the Pelennor Fields is heard from two sides, the first being mainly Pippin's. One hears him discussing with Denethor, and like in the book, he has to find Gandalf to prevent Denethor from burning Faramir. This part is very similar to the book. The second side is the battle itself. Théoden's speech is declaimed, followed by music. A vocalist sings how the Rohirrhim host rides forth and attacks the forces of darkness. Then the vocalism changes again and one hears Jack May and Anthony Hyde, voicing respectively Théoden and Éomer, saying a Nazgûl is coming. The 'opera' begins again, stating the Witch-king attacks Théoden, smacks him down and prepares to kill him. The vocalism ends here, then one hears Éowyn facing the Witch-king and slaying him.
Live-action film
The battle is the major centrepiece of Peter Jackson's film The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. In the battle proper, importance is given to the arrival of the Rohirrim, the combat with the Oliphaunts, and the deaths of the Witch-king and the arrival of the Dead Men of Dunharrow.
The enemy officer Gothmog is interpreted as a grotesquely misshapen Orc, Gothmog has a prominent role in the film as the Witch-king's field commander.
The battle begins by the Orc army of about 200,000 orcs and evil men throwing severed heads of Gondorian rangers. Gandalf acts as the general of Minas Tirith and launches the defence. The orcs are however later joined by the Nazgûl who destroy Minas Tirith's trebuchets. Eventually the great gates of Minas Tirith are broken by Grond, and deviating from the book, the armies of Mordor enter the city and the defenders fall back in rout to the upper levels of the city.
As dawn breaks, Théoden and the Rohirrim arrive and rout the Orcs. Unlike the book, the film makes it clear beforehand that Éowyn has ridden secretly with the others; she does not use the alias "Dernhelm". The Rohirrim charges and successfully breaks the ranks of the Orcs.
Although Rohirrim is able to drive the Orcs back, they are later confronted with mûmakil. Théoden orders a second charge against these, which results in many casualties. Nevertheless the Rohirrim bring down some beasts with arrows and spears.
The Witch-king bowls Théoden and his horse over with his fell beast. He is armed with a huge flail (instead of the book's mace) and a sword. Éowyn then faces him. She reveals herself as a woman just before giving the Witch-king the fatal blow, whereas in the book she reveals her true nature before they fight. She and Théoden exchange words before the latter dies.
Aragorn arrives on the Corsair ships accompanied by only Legolas and Gimli and the "Army of the Dead" (a term Tolkien does not use), and go on the attack. Sauron's forces are soon defeated. The Dead, invincible and unstoppable, kill all of Sauron's forces on the field and then in Minas Tirith.
Following the battle, Aragorn dismisses the Dead by declaring their oath to the King of Gondor fulfilled– but only after a scene of silent hesitation, where Gimli suggests that they keep them for their usefulness.
The Extended Edition of the film expands on the involvement of some characters. New scenes depict both Éowyn and Merry fighting the Orcs on foot, as well as a brief fight between Éowyn and Gothmog in which the latter is gravely wounded, and later killed by Aragorn and Gimli.
Concept and creation
Vorlage:Tolkien-sectstub Sauron Defeated, the fourth volume of The History of the Lord of the Rings, part of the History of Middle-earth series, contains superseded versions of the battle. Some changes of detail are apparent. For example, Théoden dies by a projectile to the heart instead of being crushed by his horse; when Éowyn reveals her sex she has cut her hair short, a detail absent from the final version. Tolkien also considered killing off both Théoden and Éowyn.[12]
Critical response
The battle has been analyzed in various publications.
War and the Works of J.R.R. Tolkien by Tolkien scholar Janet Brennan Croft examines the influence of World War I and II on Tolkien's fantasy writings, and the development of his attitude towards war.[13]
Michael D. C. Drout's "Tolkien's Prose Style and its Literary and Rhetorical Effects", featured in the academic journal Tolkien Studies, published by West Virginia University Press, analyzes Tolkien's writing style and deduces influence from and parallels with King Lear. Drout also writes about the evolution of events in the narrative using material from the History of Middle-earth series.[14]
The events of the battle are also analyzed in Fantasy: The Liberation of Imagination by Richard Matthews, which explores "how fantasy uses the elements of enchantment and the supernatural to explode everyday reality and create profound insights into essential human realities."[15][16]
References
- ↑ a b c d e Vorlage:ME-ref
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- ↑ a b c Vorlage:ME-ref
- ↑ a b c d Vorlage:ME-ref
- ↑ "...another company of five hundred horse..." - "The Last Debate"
- ↑ Vorlage:ME-ref
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- ↑ a b c d e f g Vorlage:ME-ref
- ↑ Referenzfehler: Ungültiges
<ref>-Tag; kein Text angegeben für Einzelnachweis mit dem Namen ride. - ↑ Vorlage:ME-ref
- ↑ a b Vorlage:ME-ref
- ↑ Vorlage:ME-ref
- ↑ Janet Brennan Croft: War and the Works of J.R.R. Tolkien. Praeger Publishers, 2004, ISBN 0-415-93890-2. Overview/review page
- ↑ Michael D. C. Drout: Tolkien's Prose Style and its Literary and Rhetorical Effects. In: Tolkien Studies. 1. Jahrgang, Nr. 1, 2004, S. 137–163 (jhu.edu [abgerufen am 31. Juli 2007]).
- ↑ Amazon.com book description for Fantasy: The Liberation of Imagination
- ↑ Richard Matthews: Fantasy: The Liberation of Imagination. 2002, 2002, ISBN 0-415-93890-2.