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Battle of the Pelennor Fields

Battle before: Battle of Osgiliath
Battle after: Battle of the Morannon (a.k.a. Battle of the Black Gate).

Battle of the Pelennor Fields
Conflict	War of the Ring
Date	March 15, T.A. 3019
Place	Minas Tirith and fields of Pelennor, Gondor
Result	Gondorian and Rohirrim victory
Combatants Gondor, Rohan Mordor, Harad, Rhûn, Corsairs of Umbar Commanders Denethor, Gandalf, Imrahil, Théoden, Aragorn The Witch-king of Angmar, Gothmog Strength Over 10,000 (2000–5000 Gondorians and 6000 Rohirrm), later reinforced by an unknown number of Rangers and Men of Southern Gondor under Aragorn 200,000 orcs, 30,000 Haradrim and Easterlings and an unknown number of Corsairs or Mercenaries from the sea. Casualties Unknown Complete Destruction of Army of Sauron

The Battle of the Pelennor Fields was a battle for the city of Minas Tirith in J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings.

Spoiler warning: Plot or ending details follow.

After the fall of Osgiliath there was no longer a barrier against the forces of Mordor, which moved on the Pelennor Fields before the city on March 15, 3019 of the Third Age (N. B.: not a date in the Gregorian Calendar) as the Great Darkness blotted out the sun.

Mordor's troops consisted of more than 30,000 Easterlings and Haradrim, numerous oliphaunts, and thousands of Orcs; The defenders' numbers were considerably less despite the addition of about 3,000 men from southern Gondor in the days before the battle.

The attackers used catapults not only to attack the city, through bombardment and flames, but also to fire the heads of slain men from Osgiliath into it. During the battle there were several attempts to break the city's main gate with small battering-rams, later on, the Great Battering-ram Grond was put into action.

Before dawn the great battering-ram Grond was used to break the city's main gate, and the Witch-king rode into the city unchallenged, save by Gandalf. Before Gandalf's strength was put to the test, however, the cock crowed and the horns of Rohan were heard as around 6,000 of their riders joined the battle. Mordor's strategy for keeping Rohan out of the battle had failed twice, both through the defeat at Helm's Deep and the blockade in Anorien. So the Witch-king was forced to ride out and attack them instead of fighting Gandalf and destroying the city.

When the Witch-king's fell beast attacked King Théoden of Rohan, the king's horse Snowmane lost control, and Snowmane was hit by an arrow. Snowmane fell with the king atop him, and Snowmane landed on him, which proved fatal. The warrior Dernhelm, defending the king's body, slew the fell beast and challenged its rider. The Witch-king sneered that no living man might slay him, but the Hobbit Meriadoc Brandybuck (Merry) wounded him with a sword that had been forged centuries before during the war between Arnor and Angmar and which contained spells against the Witch-king. The spells finally found their target, for the Witch-king was distracted and possibly seriously weakened. He was then slain by Dernhelm, now revealed as Théoden's niece Éowyn and thus no man at all. The black breath caused both Merry and Éowyn to become gravely ill, and they were sent to the Houses of Healing in the city.

Meanwhile Faramir, son of Denethor, Steward of Gondor, was also gravely wounded. Despairing at the visions of defeat that Sauron had sent him via his palantír, and believing Faramir to be beyond aid, Denethor prepared to burn himself and his son upon a funeral pyre. Only the intervention of Peregrin Took and Gandalf saved Faramir, but Denethor immolated himself before they could prevent him.

One of the visions that Denethor had seen was of a fleet of enemy ships with black sails arriving at the landings to the south of the Pelennor in the Rammas, but what he had not seen was that they were actually manned by Aragorn and other Rangers of the North, Gimli, Legolas, Elladan, Elrohir and many reinforcements from southern fiefdoms of Gondor. With their aid the tide of battle was finally turned, and a brief respite was won until the Last Battle before the Black Gate.

There is no clearly stated final death toll for the Battle of Pelennor Fields. There is a definite figure for the cavalry of the Rohirrim that came to Gondor's defence; it consisted of 6,000 riders, and a full 2,000 were killed in the battle, including Théoden. Of the 5 to 6 thousand Gondorian defenders of Minas Tirith, and the large relief force of Gondor's southern provinces led by Aragorn, no definite figure remains. Two days after the battle, Aragorn led an army out to attack the Black Gate that consisted of 7,000 men; 2,000 Rohirrim and 5,000 Gondorians. The size of Aragorn's relief force may have been over 10,000 or as little as 1,000, it is never stated. However, even a conservative estimate would place total Gondorian losses at 3,000, and more probably 5,000.

As for enemy losses, again, the size of Sauron's great army is not definatively known. There were at the very least 60,000, and this is almost surely an overconservative estimation. In Peter Jackson's movie adaptation, the enemy numbered over 200,000, and this may be accurate with the number present in the text. It is definatively known that there were some 18,000 Haradrim. (The Rohirrim, consisting of 6,000 riders, were "thrice outnumbered by the Haradrim alone".) The Enemy's army was utterly destroyed on the field: all War Mûmakil were killed, the Lord of the Nazgûl was slain, numerous Trolls, and perhaps all of the Orcs (which composed the majority of the army) were killed, those that retreated drowning in the River Anduin. Many Easterlings and Haradrim proudly fought to the death when the tide turned, even as the Orcs were cowardly running away, although a handful may have surrendered.

The battle is the major centrepiece of Peter Jackson's movie The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, although many of the events described above are simplified or altered for cinematic purposes.