Wainriders

The Wainriders were a formidable and warlike people, or rather a confederacy of many peoples, who came out of the East in the Third Age. They were stronger and better armed than any of the foes that had assailed Gondor before, and their name derived from their distinctive mode of war: they journeyed in great wains, and their chieftains fought from chariots. Their invasions were not mere raids but a sustained, century-long pressure that would permanently weaken the power of the South-kingdom and reshape its borders.

Origins and the First Great Invasion

The Wainriders were stirred up, as was later seen, by the emissaries of Sauron, who sought to weaken Gondor from without while his own power grew in secret. Their first great assault came in the year 1856 of the Third Age, when they made a sudden and devastating attack upon Gondor. In the ensuing battle, King Narmacil II was slain, and the eastern and southern parts of Rhovanion were overrun and enslaved. The frontiers of Gondor were forced back to the line of the Anduin and the Emyn Muil, and for a time the realm lost all its territories beyond the Great River. This was the first of the three great evils that befell Gondor in its long decline, following the Kin-strife and preceding the Great Plague.

The War and the Battle of the Camp

The war against the Wainriders was long and bitter. Narmacil's son, Calimehtar, sought to avenge his father and, aided by a revolt among the enslaved peoples of Rhovanion, won a great victory over the Easterlings upon the field of Dagorlad in the year 1899. This victory, however, did not end the threat. The Wainriders returned in even greater force, and in the year 1944 they made a massive assault from both north and south of Mordor, allying with the men of Khand and of Near Harad. In this great invasion, King Ondoher and both his sons, Artamir and Faramir, fell in battle north of the Morannon, and the enemy poured into Ithilien. Gondor seemed on the verge of destruction. But the Captain of the Southern Army, Eärnil, won a great victory in South Ithilien, destroying the army of Harad that had crossed the River Poros. Hastening north, he gathered the remnants of the defeated Northern Army and fell upon the main camp of the Wainriders while they were feasting and revelling, believing that Gondor was overthrown. Eärnil stormed the camp, set fire to the wains, and drove the enemy in a great rout out of Ithilien. A great part of those who fled before him perished in the Dead Marshes. This became known as the Battle of the Camp, and it broke the power of the Wainriders for good.

Consequences and Legacy

The wars against the Wainriders had profound and lasting consequences for Gondor. The realm was left exhausted and diminished, and its population had been greatly reduced by the long conflict. The eastern territories were lost, and the power of Gondor was permanently weakened, making it more vulnerable to the future threats of the Plague and the return of Sauron. The death of King Ondoher and his sons also created a succession crisis, as the crown was claimed by Arvedui of the North-kingdom, but was instead granted to the victorious general Eärnil. This decision, though it followed the laws of Gondor, was a point of contention that would have lasting implications. The memory of the Wainriders and their devastating invasions remained a dark chapter in the history of Gondor, a reminder of the constant pressure from the East that the realm had to endure. The name of the Wainriders was remembered in the annals of Gondor as a symbol of the great Eastern threat, and their defeat at the Battle of the Camp was celebrated as a great victory that saved the realm from destruction.