The Battle at the Black Gate

The Battle at the Black Gate was the final, desperate gamble of the War of the Ring, a military diversion conceived by Gandalf and Aragorn to force Sauron to empty his land and focus his Eye upon the approaching army of the West, thereby giving Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee their only chance to reach the Cracks of Doom. The Captains of the West marched from Minas Tirith with a force of some seven thousand men, a fraction of the power that had once assailed Mordor, knowing that their only hope lay not in victory by arms but in buying time for the Ring-bearer. The army included Aragorn, Gandalf, Éomer of Rohan, Prince Imrahil of Dol Amroth, Legolas, Gimli, and Peregrin Took, who was bidden to go so that all the enemies of Mordor should have a witness. They passed the desolation of the Morannon and came at last to the very gates of Mordor, where they unfurled the banner of the King and blew their trumpets, demanding that the Lord of the Black Land come forth to answer for his evils.

The Embassy of the Mouth of Sauron

Before the battle was joined, the Black Gate opened and an embassy from the Dark Tower rode out. At its head was the Mouth of Sauron, a tall and evil shape mounted upon a hideous horse, a renegade of the race of the Black Númenóreans who had learned great sorcery and was more cruel than any orc. He bore tokens of what he claimed was the capture of Frodo: Samwise Gamgee's short sword, a grey cloak with an elven-brooch, and the coat of mithril-mail that Frodo had worn. The Messenger offered terms: the army of the West must withdraw beyond the Anduin, all lands east of the river would be Sauron's forever, and those west of it as far as the Misty Mountains would be tributary to Mordor. Gandalf, seeing the anguish in the faces of his companions but perceiving the lie in the Messenger's words, rejected the terms utterly, seized the tokens, and commanded the herald to begone. The Messenger, enraged, gave a great cry, and his soldiers blew their horns in a prearranged signal.

The Trap Springs and the Last Stand

At the signal, Sauron sprang his trap. The great doors of the Black Gate swung wide, and out of it streamed a vast host as swiftly as swirling waters when a sluice is lifted. From the hills on either side of the Morannon poured Orcs innumerable, and an army of Easterlings marched up from the shadows of Ered Lithui. The men of the West were trapped, ringed in a sea of enemies ten times and more than ten times their match. Aragorn ordered the battle, raising the banner of the Tree and Stars upon one hill, while the banners of Rohan and Dol Amroth stood upon another. The sons of Elrond with the Dúnedain held the left, and Prince Imrahil with the men of Dol Amroth held the right. The Nazgûl came with their cold voices crying words of death, and all hope seemed quenched. Peregrin Took, standing in the front rank, drew his sword and thought of Merry, wishing he were there, but resolved to do his best. The first assault crashed into them, and a great company of hill-trolls out of Gorgoroth broke upon the line of Gondor. Pippin stabbed upward with his blade of Westernesse, piercing the hide of a troll-chief, and as the creature toppled forward, crushing him beneath its weight, his mind fell away into a great darkness.

The Fall of Sauron and the Ruin of Mordor

Even as the battle reached its desperate height, the Ring was cast into the Cracks of Doom. The Dark Lord was suddenly aware of Frodo, and the magnitude of his own folly was revealed to him. His wrath blazed, but his fear rose like a vast black smoke, for he knew his deadly peril. The whole mind and purpose of the Power that wielded the armies was bent upon the Mountain, and his slaves quailed, their wills bereft. The earth rocked beneath the feet of the combatants, and a vast soaring darkness sprang into the sky, flickering with fire. The Towers of the Teeth swayed and fell, the mighty rampart crumbled, and the Black Gate was hurled in ruin. A great wind took the shadow of Sauron and blew it away, and the realm of Mordor was ended. The creatures of Sauron ran hither and thither mindless, and the Men of Rhûn and of Harad, seeing the ruin of their war and the majesty of the Captains of the West, either fled or cast down their weapons. The battle was over, and the Third Age had come to its close.