Siege of Barad-dûr

2022-11-02T18:08:38Z

162.158.90.179: slight de-PJ-moviefication of Sauron's end

{{battle
| image=[[File:Abe Papakhian - I Behold (colour).jpg|300px]]
| name= Siege of Barad-dûr
| conflict= [[War of the Last Alliance]]
| date= {{SA|3434}} - {{SA|3441}}
| result=[[Last Alliance]] victory, disembodiment of [[Sauron]]
| place= [[Barad-dûr]], [[Mount Doom]], [[Mordor]]
| side1=[[Last Alliance of Elves and Men]]
| side2=Forces of [[Sauron]]
| commanders1=
* [[Gil-galad]]†
* [[Círdan]]
* [[Elrond]]
* [[Elendil]]†
* [[Isildur]]
* [[Anárion]]†
* [[Thranduil]]
| commanders2=
* [[Sauron]]
| forces1=Great host of [[Dúnedain]]; [[Elves of Lindon]], [[Rivendell]], [[Elves of Mirkwood|Mirkwood]], and [[Galadhrim|Lothlórien]]; [[Dwarves of Khazad-dûm]]; beasts and birds
| forces2=Smaller host of [[Orcs]], [[Men of Darkness|Evil Men]], some [[Dwarves]] of other Houses, and other evil creatures
| casual1=Unknown (Severe)
| casual2=Unknown (Almost all slain)
|}}

The '''Siege of Barad-dûr''' was the armed conflict that would end the [[War of the Last Alliance]] and the [[Second Age]]. It was the direct result of the [[Battle of Dagorlad]], where passage into [[Mordor]] was won by the [[Last Alliance of Elves and Men|Last Alliance]] at a heavy cost.

== History ==
===The Siege===
In {{SA|3434}} the Last Alliance entered [[Mordor]]. The Orcs that survived the slaughter at Dagorlad were surrounded in Barad-dûr, Sauron's dark stronghold. There, the forces of [[Gil-galad]], [[Elendil]] and [[Thranduil]] laid siege to the tower, but could not breach its gates.

Sauron put together a strong defence with a seemingly inexhaustible supply of projectile and sorties throughout seven years, during which the Allies suffered heavy casualties. In {{SA|3440}}, Anárion's helmet was crushed by a thrown rock resulting in his death.

[[Second Age 3441|A year later]], however, Sauron went out with a sortie himself and broke the leaguer. He came to [[Mount Doom]], where the two kings, Gil-galad and Elendil, fought with him in single combat. Sauron struck down Elendil, and his sword [[Narsil]] broke in two beneath him as he fell. [[Gil-galad]] was scorched by the heat of Sauron's hand, killing him. Nonetheless, Sauron was defeated in the fight with the two kings, and Isildur took up the broken remnant of his father's blade and cut the Ring from Sauron's hand.

=== Aftermath ===
The battle marked the (temporary) passing of Sauron and the beginning of the [[Third Age]]. Gil-galad's heralds [[Círdan]] and [[Elrond]] advised Isildur to destroy the Ring by throwing it in the fires of Mount Doom. But instead, Isildur replied: ''This I will have as weregild for my father's death, and my brother's. Was it not I who dealt the Enemy his death-blow?''<ref name=Rings>{{S|Rings}}</ref>

Gondor prospered, and built fortresses on all the entrances to Mordor: the [[Morannon]], [[Durthang]] and the [[Tower of Cirith Ungol]]. Isildur wrote an account of the battle, describing his father and Gil-galad's duel with Sauron in detail and the lengthy siege itself.

With the death of Gil-galad, the [[Noldor]] were without a King as he left no heir. Elrond and Círdan returned to [[Lindon]]. Relations between Elves and Men worsened due to the deaths of Gil-galad and Elendil, and also Isildur's taking of the ring. The Last Alliance as it came to be known, would be the last time Elves would go to open war in Middle-earth ever again. The relationship between Men and Elves wouldn't be as close as they were in the first and second ages and never wholly repaired because the Elves were leaving Middle-earth for Aman.

Over the course of the war, which ended with the Siege of Barad-dûr in {{SA|3441}}, most of the Silvan army had been lost. Thranduil led the remaining third of his army back home to the Greenwood.<ref name="Silvan Princes">{{UT|6b}}</ref>

Isildur wrote a [[Scroll of Isildur|scroll]] detailing his account of the Ring and travelled to [[Minas Anor]], where he dwelt awhile.<ref name=Council>{{FR|II2}}</ref> When he did return North, he and his sons were [[Disaster of the Gladden Fields|ambushed]]. The Ring was lost in the tumult.<ref name=Rings></ref>

Since the Ring was not unmade, Sauron was not completely destroyed: his spirit was able to live on. In the Third Age, he reassumed physical shape and regained most of his old realm and allies. Ever after Sauron hunted for the Ring, dispatching his servants across Middle-earth to locate it.<ref name=Rings></ref> The Ring would come to be known as [[Isildur's Bane]], as its corruption afflicted him.<ref name=Council></ref>

{{references}}

[[Category:Conflicts of the Second Age]]
[[Category:Sieges]]

[[de:Belagerung von Barad-dûr]]

Talk:Fall of the Noldor

2022-10-29T23:58:48Z

162.158.90.179: Missing points

The reference is a bit simplistic, since Tolkien elsewhere refers to Miriel willing herself to die and remain dead as the Fall of the Noldor.
In Letter 212 to Rhona Beare, we find “In the Elvish legends there is record of a strange case of an Elf (Míriel mother of Fëanor) that tried to die, which had disastrous results, leading to the ‘Fall’ of the High-elves”. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.179|162.158.90.179]] 23:58, 29 October 2022 (UTC)

Tolkien Gateway - User contributions [en]

Siege of Barad-dûr

Talk:Fall of the Noldor