Corsairs of Umbar

The Corsairs of Umbar are the pirates and sea-raiders of the southern haven of Umbar, a name that carries terror along the coasts of Gondor. In the lore of the War of the Ring, they are the seaborne allies of Sauron, whose black-sailed ships threaten the southern fiefs of Gondor. Their reputation is such that the mere sight of their fleet is enough to convince the defenders of Minas Tirith that all is lost, and their name becomes a byword for the final catastrophe that seems to befall the West.

The Fleet at the Harlond

The decisive appearance of the Corsairs occurs during the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, when the day has begun to turn against Gondor and hope is wavering. It is mid-morning, with a great wind blowing, the rain flying north, and the sun shining in a clear air. Watchmen on the walls of Minas Tirith see a new sight of fear far off, and their last hope leaves them. Because the Anduin flows from the bend at the Harlond in such a way that the City can look down its length for some leagues, the far-sighted can see any ships that approach. Looking thither, they cry in dismay, for black against the glittering stream they behold a fleet borne up on the wind: dromunds, and ships of great draught with many oars, and with black sails bellying in the breeze.

The Cry of Doom

At the sight, men shout, "The Corsairs of Umbar! The Corsairs of Umbar! Look! The Corsairs of Umbar are coming! So Belfalas is taken, and the Ethir, and Lebennin is gone. The Corsairs are upon us! It is the last stroke of doom!" The cry reveals the strategic meaning of the fleet's arrival: the southern fiefs of Belfalas, the Ethir, and Lebennin are presumed already overrun or cut off, and the sea-road to the City is open to the enemy. The panic spreads through the City, where no commander can be found to give orders. Some run to the bells and toll the alarm, while others blow the trumpets sounding the retreat, crying, "Back to the walls! Back to the walls! Come back to the City before all are overwhelmed!" But the wind that sped the ships blows all their clamour away, and the disorder only deepens the sense of helplessness.

The Reversal of Hope

The Rohirrim have no need of news or alarm, for they can see the black sails for themselves. Éomer is now scarcely a mile from the Harlond, with a great press of his first foes between him and the haven, while new foes come swirling behind, cutting him off from the Prince. He looks to the River, and hope dies in his heart; the wind that he had blessed he now calls accursed. The hosts of Mordor, by contrast, are enheartened, and filled with a new lust and fury they come yelling to the onset. The arrival of the Corsairs thus seems to seal the fate of the West, delivering the decisive blow at the very moment of crisis.

The True Cargo

The terror of the Corsairs proves to be the instrument of their own undoing. The black sails that carry the dread name of Umbar do not bring the enemies of Gondor but rather Aragorn and the forces he has gathered in the South. The fleet that the defenders read as the last stroke of doom is in fact the means by which the heir of Isildur returns to the aid of the City, turning the despair of the defenders into the victory of the Pelennor. The name of the Corsairs, once a cry of doom, becomes the mask behind which salvation arrives, and the reversal is complete.

The Legacy of the Name

The name of the Corsairs of Umbar endures beyond the battle as a symbol of the fallen power of the South. In the later days of the Scouring of the Shire, Frodo Baggins confronts a ruffian who boasts of the continuing power of his master, and Frodo answers that the ruffian is behind the times. "Much has happened since you left the South. Your day is over, and all other ruffians'. The Dark Tower has fallen, and there is a King in Gondor. And Isengard has been destroyed, and your precious master is a beggar in the wilderness. I passed him on the road. The King's messengers will ride up the Greenway now, not bullies from Isengard." The fall of the Corsairs and their allies is thus proclaimed as part of the larger collapse of the forces of evil, and the name of Umbar, once a terror, is reduced to a memory of a defeated past.