Battle of the Black Gate

"Draw out Sauron's Armies. Empty his Lands. We will March our Full Strength on the Black Gate"

- Aragorn

The Battle of the Morannon or Battle of the Black Gate ("Morannon" is the Sindarin (Elvish) word for "Black Gate") was a battle during the War of the Ring. It resulted in the final defeat of Sauron by Aragorn.

Background
After the victory in the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, the enemy retreated to Osgiliath or into Mordor. Sauron still has thousands of his orc battalions waiting in Mordor. He was aware that the Ring was somewhat close to the vicinity of his territory: only one thing he did not know: during the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, the Hobbit Frodo Baggins was willing to destroy the Rig.

Frodo and his companion, Samwise Gamgee, traveled to Mordor via the entrance to the Morgul Vale. The Dark Lord was conquered by fear and was curious how a Hobbit managed to enter his Dark Land by stealth.

Plot against the Dark Lord
This was the final major battle against Sauron in the War of the Ring, fought at the Black Gate of Mordor. The army of the West, 7,000 strong by now, led by Aragorn marched on the gate as a diversionary feint to distract Sauron's attention from Frodo and Sam, who were carrying the One Ring through Mordor. It was hoped that Sauron would think Aragorn had the Ring and was now trying to use it to overthrow Mordor.

Mustering
Initially, the Army of the West had been composed of 6,000-7,000 men, but a strong guard was left to guard the crossroads. Before they reached Ithilien, they were ambushed by Haradrim and Easterlings but they were driven away easily with no casualties. One thing mattered: the place of that ambush was the same place Faramir and his Rangers were ambushed a few days ago.

Then, as they approached Dagorlad, some of the farmers of Lossarnach and Rohan were too afraid to continue to pass the Desolation of the Morannon. Aragorn dismissed the faint-hearted, ordering them to liberate Cair Andros on the river Anduin. This resulted in the departure of many men, estimated to be roughly 2000 leaving Aragorn less then 6,000 but still able to hold against the orcs.

Parley with the Mouth of Sauron
Before the battle began, Sauron sent one of his servants, the Black Númenórean called the Mouth of Sauron, to speak with the Captains of the West.

(In the original books) He tried to trick Gandalf into believing Sauron held Frodo captive, displaying as evidence items that had belonged to Frodo and Sam (Sam's sword, an Elven cloak, and Frodo's mithril shirt.) The Mouth threatened that Frodo would be tortured if the West did not agree to Sauron's terms of surrender. (It is clear that while Sauron knew there was a Hobbit in Mordor, he did not know why.) Gandalf, however, refused to be swayed, took the items from the Mouth of Sauron, and sent him away. Amazed and angered, the Mouth of Sauron rode back to the Black Gate, allowed it to be opened, and the forces of Sauron marched out. At the same time, more of Sauron's forces that had been hidden in the hills around the Black Gate came forth, thus surrounding the Men of the West. Sauron's army outnumbered that of the West by at least ten to one.

(In the Peter Jackson film, "The Return of the King") Aragorn calls for the "Lord of the Black Land" to come forth so that "justice could be done upon him". The Black Gate opens slightly, letting out a single figure on horseback. This figure is then seen to be the Mouth of Sauron and, at first, despite his grotesque appearance, seems somewhat friendly and negotiable, stating that Sauron bids the army of Free People welcome. Gandalf immediately takes action, demanding that the Dark Lord's armies disband and that Sauron should never return to these lands. The Mouth of Sauron seems angered by what he says at first but then regains his stature and speaks in a friendly(ish) manner, saying "Old Greybeard". He then tells Gandalf that he has "A token [The Mouth of Sauron] was bidden to show [Gandalf]" before taking out Frodo's mithril vest and throwing at Gandalf. He seems to be getting enjoyment out of seeing the shocked and horrified faces of Frodo's friends. Seeking to hurt Gandalf even more, he begins lying about how Frodo suffered greatly before dying, and presumably smiling when a tear runs down Gandalf's face. After this, Aragorn approaches on his horse. The Mouth of Sauron seems spiteful towards Aragorn, saying that "It takes more to make a king than a broken elvish blade", before being beheaded by Aragorn, an action which shocks Gimli causing him to give a sarcastic remark "Well, I guess that concludes negotiations!". Aragorn then turns around, saying he does not believe that Frodo is dead. At this point, Sauron's eye moves towards the Black Gate and the Black Gate opens, whereupon innumerable amounts of orcs and other beasts (such as Trolls) march out of the gates. Aragorn and his retinue then retreat to the army of the Free Peoples and brace themselves for the battle.

The Battle
"I'd never thought I'd die side by side with an elf.''" "What about side by side with a friend?" "Aye...I could do that."

- Legolas and Gimli's words at the Black Gate of Mordor

Against Aragorn's army was arrayed Sauron's hordes of orcs, Trolls, and barbarian Mannish allies such as the Easterlings and Southrons (Haradrim). An exact count is not given of the number of Sauron's forces, but it is said that they were "ten times and more than ten times" greater then the Men of the West. They surrounded the Armies of the West on three sides, with their backs to the Slag Hills and the Dagorlad. The mighty and feared Easterlings faced the Gondorians' left flank, the Orcs held the center, and the Haradrim faced their right as the forces clashed. Much like the Anglo-Saxons did during the early stages of the Battle of Hastings; the Armies of the West always had cohesive stability within their center and gradually eroded the Enemy's ability of a sudden breakthrough of numbers. The solid infantry squares of Gondorian infantry beat off their inferior Orcish opponents while the Rohirrim cavalrymen staved off the archers of the Harad. The small force of Easterlings launched a quick attack, before being repulsed by their foes while the larger Haradrim force slowly retreated to the hills. By now, pressure eased off of the flanks of the Armies of the West and they smashed into the lines of the Orc-host, slowly beating them off and forcing a retreat back through the Black Gate (though not without suffering sizeable losses of their own).

During the course of the battle, the remaining eight Nazgûl attacked the Army of the West. The Eagles of the Misty Mountains, led by Gwaihir the Windlord, arrived and attacked the Ringwraiths. At that moment, when all hope seemed lost, Frodo put on the One Ring and Sauron realized that Frodo was inside Mount Doom.

The Fall of the Dark Lord
The Nazgûl immediately left the battle to intercept Frodo. However, Gollum bit the Ring off Frodo's finger and then accidentally fell into the Crack of Doom, and Sauron's power was overthrown. The Nazgûl had been flying over Mount Doom just as it underwent a gigantic volcanic eruption, and they were all destroyed in the firestorm. Barad-dûr, the Black Gate and, the Towers of Teeth collapsed to ruin. The Orcs and other creatures of Sauron were completely directionless with the Dark Lord's demise and were easily decimated by the army of the West. The Easterlings fought on stalwartly, though eventually many threw down their weapons and surrendered (later to be sent home in peace by Aragorn).

"I am here with you, Samwise Gamgee. Here at the end of all things."

- Frodo comforting Sam

The Rest of the Battle
Fighting against Sauron's remaining forces would continue in the northern theater of the War of the Ring for several weeks, notably at Dol Guldur in Mirkwood and at Erebor, but the power of Sauron, the Dark Lord of Mordor, was no more.

Months later, the Battle of Bywater in the Shire against ruffians led by Saruman, and the subsequent killing of Saruman and Wormtongue on the very doorstep of Bag End, ended the War of the Ring.

The Battle in the Films
In the Peter Jackson's, movie adaptation of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King the Slag Hills are absent, as is Imrahil. The confrontation with the Mouth of Sauron was cut, though it was put back in with Aragorn decapitating the Mouth of Sauron in anger, in the extended edition of the film. Originally, Aragorn was going to fight Sauron, Sauron was to appear in a bright blinding light in the form of Annatar, and then he was to turn into the armored Sauron from the prologue of the first film and Aragorn and Sauron were to duel. This idea was later dropped, and instead Aragorn fights a troll in the film. Also in the film, Merry fights in the battle while in the book he remained in Gondor.

In the movie Gandalf makes it clear that there are a force of ten thousand orcs at the black gate during the last debate but the army of men of the west is still unknown, possibly 500 because when one looks at the circle, the men of he west seem to have about 500 men. The battle starts after Aragorn killing the mouth of Sauron, he gives a speech to the small force of men then gets off his horse and they prepare for battle. A force of 10,000 orcs surround the men of the west who after having Aragorn run towards the enemy lines charge bravely into the orcs. Despite having only about 300 Gondorians and 200 Rohirrim they kill many orcs while sustaining light casualties. When Aragorn is being stepped on by a troll the One Ring is destroyed and the forces of Mordor were almost completely destroyed with only a few hundred retreating.

External link

 * Battle of the Morannon at Tolkien Gateway