The Battle of the Pelennor Fields

The Battle of the Pelennor Fields was the decisive military engagement of the War of the Ring, fought on March 15, 3019 of the Third Age on the broad townlands east of Minas Tirith. It pitted the besieged forces of Gondor, joined at the critical hour by the Riders of Rohan, against the vast armies of Mordor commanded by the Witch-king of Angmar, the Lord of the Nazgûl. The battle shattered the siege of the White City, destroyed the chief captain of the Enemy, and cleared the way for the final march on the Black Gate. It was the greatest single clash of arms in the late Third Age, and its outcome determined whether the West would survive to see another dawn.

Background and the Onset of the Assault

The battle grew directly out of the siege of Minas Tirith, which had begun in earnest on March 13 when the forces of Mordor, having crossed the Anduin and broken the Rammas Echor, invested the city. The Witch-king commanded the assault from the eastern bank, directing legions of Orcs, Easterlings, and Haradrim, along with great siege-towers and the battering-ram Grond. On the night of March 14–15, Grond shattered the Great Gate of the City, and the Lord of the Nazgûl rode through the breach, only to be confronted by Gandalf on Shadowfax. At that very moment, however, the horns of the Rohirrim were heard in the hills: King Théoden had arrived with his host.

The Ride of the Rohirrim

Théoden’s Riders, some six thousand strong, had marched from Dunharrow through the Drúadan Forest guided by the Wild Man Ghân-buri-Ghân, bypassing the enemy forces on the main road. They emerged from the Grey Wood at dawn on March 15 and struck the northern flank of the besieging army. Théoden himself led the charge, his golden shield uncovered, and the Rohirrim swept across the Pelennor like a tide, driving the Orcs from the siege-engines and scattering the camps. The charge reached the road from the Gate to the River, and for a time the northern half of the field was cleared.

The Fall of Théoden and the Witch-king's Counterstroke

But the victory was not yet won. The main force of the Haradrim, with their chieftain and his standard of a black serpent upon scarlet, rallied south of the road and advanced against the king. Théoden charged to meet them, threw down their chieftain, and hewed the standard. At that moment the Witch-king descended upon him from the air on his winged beast. Snowmane, the king’s horse, was pierced by a black dart and fell, crushing Théoden beneath him. The Lord of the Nazgûl stood over the fallen king, wielding a great black mace, and seemed about to claim his prey.

Éowyn and the Slaying of the Witch-king

Only one of Théoden’s knights remained beside him: Dernhelm, who was in truth Éowyn, the king’s niece, disguised and riding in secret. When the Witch-king declared that no living man could hinder him, she cast off her helm and revealed herself: “But no living man am I! You look upon a woman.” With Meriadoc the hobbit, who had been borne to the field behind her, she faced the Ringwraith. Merry stabbed the Witch-king from behind, shearing through the sinew of his knee, and as the great shadow bent, Éowyn drove her sword between crown and mantle. The blade shattered, but the Witch-king fell, his cry fading into nothing. So the prophecy of Glorfindel was fulfilled: not by the hand of man would the Witch-king fall.

The Arrival of Aragorn and the Rout of Mordor

Even as Éomer, now king, rallied the Rohirrim and the battle hung in the balance, a new sight appeared on the River. Ships with black sails, thought to be the Corsairs of Umbar, came up from the South—but upon the foremost ship flew the banner of the White Tree and the Seven Stars, the standard of Elendil. Aragorn had come, with the Grey Company from the Paths of the Dead and the men of Lebennin and Lamedon. The fleet landed at the Harlond, and Aragorn, bearing Andúril, led the charge into the rear of the enemy. Caught between the hammer of the Rohirrim and the anvil of the men of Gondor, the hosts of Mordor were broken. The Easterlings and Southrons fought on in despair, but by nightfall no living foe remained within the circuit of the Rammas.

Consequences and Significance

The battle ended the immediate threat to Minas Tirith and destroyed the field army of Mordor. Théoden King of the Mark fell in the hour of his greatest glory, but Éomer succeeded him and swore renewed friendship with Gondor. The Witch-king, the most terrible of Sauron’s servants, was gone. The victory, however, was not an end but a turning: it allowed the Captains of the West to march on the Black Gate, drawing Sauron’s attention away from the true peril, the Ring-bearer’s journey to Mount Doom. The Battle of the Pelennor Fields thus stands as the hinge of the War of the Ring, the moment when the tide of darkness was first broken by open war.