Pelargir

Pelargir, the ancient haven of the Faithful Númenóreans, stands on the western shore of the Great River Anduin, far south of Minas Tirith. Founded in the Second Age, it was the chief landing-place of Elendil and his sons after the Downfall of Númenor, and for centuries it remained Gondor's principal port and naval base. The Ship-kings of Gondor, especially Tarannon Falastur and Eärnil I, built their fleets at Pelargir and from its quays launched the campaigns that extended Gondor's sway along the coasts of Middle-earth. The haven was also a centre of the Kin-strife: Castamir the Usurper drew his strongest support from the mariners and ship-captains of Pelargir and Umbar, and after his defeat his sons held out at Pelargir before fleeing south to establish an independent Corsair realm.

The Haven and Its Strategic Role

Pelargir lay at the mouth of the Anduin, where the river widened into a great estuary before reaching the Bay of Belfalas. Its deep-water quays could accommodate the largest Númenórean dromunds, and its position commanded the sea-routes both north into the heart of Gondor and south along the coast towards Umbar and the Harad. The haven was heavily fortified, with stone walls and towers that had withstood many assaults. In the centuries before the War of the Ring, Pelargir's importance declined as Gondor's naval power waned and the Corsairs of Umbar grew bolder, but it remained a vital link between the southern fiefs and the capital.

The Battle of Pelargir and the Coming of the Dead

In the final days of the War of the Ring, Pelargir became the stage for one of the most dramatic reversals in the conflict. Aragorn, having taken the Paths of the Dead and summoned the Oathbreakers, led the Grey Company south through Lamedon and Lebennin. At Linhir, the defenders and the Haradrim alike fled at the cry that the King of the Dead was upon them. Only Angbor, Lord of Lamedon, had the courage to remain, and Aragorn bade him gather his folk and follow. When Aragorn reached Pelargir, he found the main fleet of Umbar—fifty great ships and countless smaller vessels—drawn up at the havens, with the Haradrim making a desperate last stand. Aragorn halted and cried aloud: "Now come! By the Black Stone I call you!" At that summons the Shadow Host swept forward like a grey tide, and the Corsairs, filled with a madness of terror, leaped overboard or were slain. Aragorn sent Dúnedain aboard each remaining ship to comfort the chained captives and set them free. That night, the freed men and the gathered folk of Lebennin and the Ethir manned the captured vessels, and at dawn the fleet set sail up the Anduin, reaching the Harlond in time to turn the Battle of the Pelennor Fields.

Significance in the War of the Ring

Pelargir's capture was the hinge on which the war turned. The black sails that had seemed to doom Gondor carried not Corsairs but Aragorn's army, and the sight of the White Tree and the Star of Elendil unfurled on the foremost ship broke the spirit of Sauron's hosts. The haven itself became the assembly-point for the southern levies that reinforced Minas Tirith, and from its quays the ships that bore the Ring-bearers to honour on the Field of Cormallen were launched. In the Fourth Age, Pelargir remained a principal port of the Reunited Kingdom, its walls rebuilt and its trade restored, a lasting monument to the Númenórean sea-power that had once ruled the coasts of Middle-earth.