Battle of the Camp

The Battle of the Camp was the culminating clash of the Wainrider invasion of Gondor in the year 1944 of the Third Age. Earlier that year, King Ondoher and both his sons, Artamir and Faramir, had fallen in battle north of the Morannon, and the enemy poured into Ithilien. The kingdom seemed on the verge of collapse. But Eärnil, Captain of the Southern Army, had meanwhile won a great victory in South Ithilien, destroying the army of Harad that had crossed the River Poros. Hastening north, he gathered to him all that he could of the retreating Northern Army and came up against the main camp of the Wainriders while they were feasting and revelling, believing that Gondor was overthrown and that nothing remained but to take the spoil. Eärnil stormed the camp and 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.

Causes and Background

The Wainriders were a confederacy of peoples from the East, stronger and better armed than any that had appeared before. They journeyed in great wains, and their chieftains fought in chariots. Stirred up by the emissaries of Sauron, they made a sudden assault upon Gondor, and King Narmacil II was slain in battle with them beyond Anduin in 1856. The people of eastern and southern Rhovanion were enslaved, and the frontiers of Gondor were for that time withdrawn to the Anduin and the Emyn Muil. Calimehtar, son of Narmacil II, helped by a revolt in Rhovanion, avenged his father with a great victory over the Easterlings upon Dagorlad in 1899, and for a while the peril was averted. But the Wainriders reappeared in great force in 1944, this time passing south of Mordor and making alliance with men of Khand and of Near Harad. In this great assault from north and south, Gondor came near to destruction. King Ondoher and both his sons fell in battle north of the Morannon, and the enemy poured into Ithilien.

The Course of the Battle

Eärnil, Captain of the Southern Army, had won a great victory in South Ithilien, destroying the army of Harad that had crossed the River Poros. Hastening north, he gathered to him all that he could of the retreating Northern Army and came up against the main camp of the Wainriders while they were feasting and revelling, believing that Gondor was overthrown and that nothing remained but to take the spoil. Eärnil stormed the camp and 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.

Consequences and Aftermath

The victory was complete. The Wainrider threat was broken for a generation. On the death of Ondoher and his sons, Arvedui of the North-kingdom claimed the crown of Gondor, as the direct descendant of Isildur and as the husband of Fíriel, the only surviving child of Ondoher. The claim was rejected by the Council of Gondor, which answered that the crown and royalty of Gondor belonged solely to the heirs of Meneldil, son of Anárion, to whom Isildur had relinquished this realm, and that in Gondor this heritage was reckoned through the sons only. The crown was claimed by Eärnil, the victorious captain, and it was granted to him with the approval of all the Dúnedain in Gondor, since he was of the royal house. He was the son of Siriondil, son of Calimmacil, son of Arciryas brother of Narmacil II. Arvedui did not press his claim, for he had neither the power nor the will to oppose the choice of the Dúnedain of Gondor; yet the claim was never forgotten by his descendants even when their kingship had passed away. The battle thus had profound political consequences, setting the stage for the eventual separation of the northern and southern kingdoms and the long delay before the reunification under Aragorn.