Battle of Osgiliath

The Battle of Osgiliath is a fictional battle of J. R. R. Tolkien's "The Return of the King".

The battle was a prelude to the Battle of the Pelennor Fields.

Background

Prior to this, Sauron had regained all his military strength and was prepared to attack Middle-earth. He first planned to attack his most powerful enemy, the land of Gondor. But in order to destroy Gondor's capital, Minas Tirith, he first needed to capture Osgiliath, Gondor's former capital city, strategically positioned on the Anduin, the Great River. Fords across the river were located in Osgiliath (half of the city was located on each side of the river) that were the only path a large army could cross the Anduin for hundreds of miles up or downstream (the crossing was also possible at Cair Andros or Pelargir, but Osgiliath was the most direct). If captured, Sauron could freely move his main army across the river and to the primary target of his strategy in the war, Minas Tirith.

The battle to control the ruins of Osgiliath had actually been fought, on and off, for over a century since the fall of Ithilien to Mordor. Minas Tirith was surrounded by the Rammas Echor, a fortified wall encircling the Pelennor Fields and meeting up with Osgiliath, where the Causeway Forts were built and garrisoned, though Osgiliath itself remained in ruins. This outwall fell into disrepair as the kingdom declined.

A renewed offensive by Mordor to take the city had begun in June 3018. The Eastern half of the city soon fell to the Orcs, but they were pushed back from the western bank by Boromir who was able to destroy the last standing bridge in the city which connected the two banks of the river. This temporarily halted Mordor's offensive for the time, with Gondor possessing the West of the city and Mordor the East. This lull in Mordor's offensive was probably due to the fact that the attack was mostly a probe of Gondor's defences rather than an all out attack. During this break in heavy fighting Boromir left Gondor to seek counsel at Rivendell about a dream he and his brother shared about "Isildur's Bane"; he would never return.

During this time, Faramir, Boromir's brother, led several Ranger attacks deep into Mordor-occupied Ithilien, ambushing enemy armies moving to the Black Gate; Frodo and Sam stumbled into one such attack on a group of Haradrim.

The battle

When the Great Signal from Mordor went up and another answered from Minas Morgul, the War of the Ring properly began (although Isengard had been fighting before this and Sauron had been pursuing his other fronts to the north). Thus the Battle of Osgiliath was the first battle of the war in the south.

Before Mordor's assault, the Steward Denethor ordered Faramir to lead a force out of Minas Tirith to reinforce the garrison. Gandalf also went back and forth from Minas Tirith to Osgiliath, aiding Faramir and escorting the wounded. However, Mordor was prepared. Months beforehand, the Orcs in East Osgiliath had been secretly constructing massive numbers of boats and rafts, and swelled by reinforcements they swarmed across the River Anduin to the Gondorian positions on the other bank.

After long and heavy fighting the troops under Faramir's command were forced to retreat, first to the Causeway Forts on the Rammas Echor where they delayed the enemy at a great loss. The orcs blasted through the wall and the men pulled back to Minas Tirith itself. Faramir himself was badly wounded in the retreat, when a poisoned Southron arrow pierced him while he fought off a mounted champion of the South; more severe damage was done by the Black Breath of the Nazgûl, but Prince Imrahil of Dol Amroth led a cavalry charge ordered by Denethor to rescue the rearguard and routed the enemy temporarily. In the meantime, the Orcs made makeshift repairs to several destroyed bridges. The main combined army of Mordor then arrived, formed from those that Frodo saw leaving Minas Morgul, but this was "but one and not the greatest of the hosts that Mordor now sent forth": a far greater host that had massed at the Black Gate joined them at Osgiliath, and the combined forces now entered the western bank of Osgiliath. More also came from the fords at Cair Andros, which was recently captured, but they would not reach Minas Tirith until later.

With Osgiliath now completely in the hands of Mordor, the vast army of Sauron marched from the city and surrounded Minas Tirith, beginning the siege of Gondor and leading directly into the Battle of the Pelennor Fields.

In adaptations

The 1981 radio series

The battle itself is largely untold, with Gandalf bringing the first news of it back to Denethor after Osgiliath is lost. And it is not told that the cavalry sortie routs the enemy, only that it forms a screen against the hosts of Mordor, allowing the wounded men to be brought back. Following the battle, Faramir, wounded, is brought into the city to Denethor, who despairs and gives command over to Gandalf. It then leads into the Siege of Gondor.

The 2003 live-action film

For cinematic purposes, the movie version of "" by Peter Jackson condensed the battle. It appears to be initiated by the signal from Minas Morgul, and the battle begins with thousands of orcs traveling across the Anduin River in boats under the command of Gothmog and the Nazgûl. A scene in the Extended Edition shows the Gondorians unaware of the approaching enemy until a sentry is killed by an orc archer, believing an attack was to be made on Cair Andros.

In a desperate effort, the garrison of Osgliath was armed and hid behind ancient pillars to ambush the incoming orcs. This was but a futile gesture and despite Faramir's efforts the enemy flooded into the city. The orcs even build a bridge to attack from another point. The defeat is certain. At first, Faramir orders to ambush the orcs at different points of the city, with Madril, his second in command, commanding archers. The orcs encounter heavy casualties but the Gondorians are too severely outnumbered. They begin to rout across the city roads. After (presumably) a few hours of battle, the Gondorians retreat back through the city to ride for Minas Tirith. Madril is injured in the retreat and killed by Gothmog shortly after. Faramir, with the remainder of the garrison, mounts horses and rides for Minas Tirith. As Faramir and his remaining men retreat over the Pelennor Fields, they are harried by the Nazgûl. Gandalf, riding Shadowfax, rides out to the retreating men and lifts his staff, emitting a bright light, which drives away the Nazgûl.

Faramir later meets with his father in disgrace. Denethor, who feels that the Western Bank must not be given up so easily, orders Faramir and his company to retake it. This is proof of Denethor's slide into insanity, for the enemy had a secure position in Osgiliath and the charge was made against a very large number of orcs. In the book, Denethor does not order Faramir on a suicidal cavalry charge against Osgiliath, although Faramir does regard the order to go to help defend Osgiliath ill-advised and almost certain to result in death.

Against Gandalf's counsel, Faramir leaves for the charge with the remaining 200 soldiers from Osgiliath. When in range of the orc archers in Osgiliath, the Gondorian knights and rangers are slaughtered by a massive volley of arrows (the outcome is not actually shown in the film but heavily implied, with hundreds of arrows streaking towards to attacking Gondorians). The only known survivor is Faramir, who is hit in the area between his shoulder and pectoral armour. The fall of Osgiliath allowed the creation of bridges and fords, allowing huge numbers of orcs, siege towers, and catapults to cross in time to besiege Minas Tirith.

In "" Extended Edition documentary "Cameras In Middle-earth", Sean Bean mentions men as many as 20,000 men defending Osgiliath; however, Tolkien does not specify the number of defenders in the book.

ee also

*Middle-earth warfare