Last Battle of the War of the Last Alliance

[Saurreg]

In the year 3441 of the Second Age, the Last Alliance overwhelmed the defenders of Barad-dûr and the situation was so desperate the Sauron himself came forth and entered the foray. Hence began the last battle of the Second Age on Mount Orodruin which saw the Dark Lord overthrown and the One Ring was taken"

Can anyone tell me a) How the battle was fought, b) who were involved and c) who fell first? From my understanding, there is generally an unspoken agreement among LOTR readers either one of the below was a possiblity:

Scenario A

Elendil and Gil-galad confronted Sauron on Mount Orodruin. Gil-galad fell first from the heat of Sauron's hand and Elendil continued the struggle. Elendil also fell, but not before weakening Sauron seriously, and Narsil broke beneath his body. Isildur picked up Narsil and cut off Sauron's ring finger hence defeating Sauron.

Scenario B

Elendil and Gil-galad confronted Sauron on Mount Orodruin. Elendil fell first and Narsil broke beneath his body. Gil-galad continued the struggle. Gil-galad also fell from the heat of Sauron's hand, but not before weakening Sauron seriously. Isildur picked up Narsil and cut off Sauron's ring finger hence defeating Sauron.

I have the above interpretations from the following sources:

This is from the short book; "Of the Rings of Power", published in the Silmarillion


"But at last the siege was so strait that Sauron himself came forth; and he wrestled with Gil-galad and Elendil, and they were both slain, and the sword of Elendil broke under him as he fell. But Sauron also was thrown down and with the hilt-shard of Narsil Isildur cut the ruling ring from Sauron and took it for his own."


This is from the timeline of Appendix B; Return of the King


"Sauron overthrown by Elendil and Gil-galad, who perish. Isildur takes the One Ring.


The above quotes give the reader the impression that Tolkien meant that the final struggle was between Elendil, Gil-galad and Sauron only. The former two bested the latter and Isildur came in only at the end of the battle to take the ring from Sauron.

However in The Fellowship of the Ring, Elrond gave an account that was rather contradicting to the above two.

From the Chapter "The Council of Elrond; The Fellowship of the Ring


'Alas! Yes,' said Elrond. 'Isildur took it as should not have been. It should have been cast then into orodruin's fire nigh at hand where it was made. But few marked what Isildur did. He alone stood by his father in that last mortal contest; and by Gil-galad only Cìrdan stood, and I.


This passage greatly changes the equation. The Last mortal contest must have meant the struggle with Sauron and by the way it was written. It suggests that Isildur was the main bulwark that challenged Sauron. Elendil and Gil-galad did not play as important a part in this compared to the previous two.

This gives rise to the third scenario:

Sauron came forth and gave mortal combat to the besiegers. Of the Last alliance, Cìrdan, Elendil, Elrond, Gil-galad and Isildur faced him. In the course of the struggle, Gil-galad dies from the heat of Sauron's hand and Elendil fell also with Narsil breaking underneath his body. Cìrdan, Elrond and Isildur continues the fight. Sauron is badly weakened and Isildur took the opportunity and cut off his finger and obtained the Ring.

Compared with the first two scenarios, the third has some merits:

a) Sauron's power was very great and was actually enhanced when he wore the One Ring. The combined powers of Elendil and Gil-galad would not have sufficed. However with the combined effort of two very powerful elf-lords and the great strength of another Numenorean, the odds would be greatly balanced.

b) However ever did Isildur manage to grope through his father's body, pick up a broken (and shortened) narsil, approach Sauron and cut off his finger? Elendil and Gil-galad were already slain and the Dark-Lord would have his attention on Isildur unless he was already weakened and distracted- nonetheless by Cìrdan and Elrond themselves, sentinel beings powerful enough to face Sauron temporarily and bear the full blunt of his assault without being swept away in seconds. One can argue the Isildur hid in the shadows and stalked up behind Sauron but that's another reasoning all together.

I'm most interested to hear your views on this topic. If possible, kindly share where you got your source from.

[ November 26, 2002: Message edited by: Saurreg ]

[ November 26, 2002: Message edited by: Saurreg ]

[Kuruharan]

How the battle was fought

The siege of Barad-dur used the usual medieval siege art I expect.

The above quotes give the reader the impression that Tolkien meant that the final struggle was between Elendil, Gil-galad and Sauron only.

I think that's probably too literal an interpretation of the text. I'm sure that the armies (or what was left of them) were battling like crazy all around them. The only reason this particular combat was mentioned was because it was the only one that was important.

I think that many of the apparent "contradictions" in the texts is simply because that each storyteller used different words to express the same thing.

Also, Tolkien may never have thought out an exact blow by blow account of the fight between Sauron and the leaders of the Last Alliance.

[Legolas]

As Kuruharan says, we aren't given a play-by-play of Sauron's last duel of the Second Age.

Indeed, there were many armies about, but I think Gil-galad and Elendil alone fought with Sauron in the final duel. Sauron most likely did take out some men/elves prior to that. Isildur did not cut the Ring from his hand until Sauron had fallen (along with Elendil and Gil-galad). I don't think it's implied anywhere that Elrond, Isildur, or Cirdan took (much) part in that duel.

It would've been nice to get a more detailed account (as it would be in most cases of such a fight, like the three balrog slayings).

[ November 26, 2002: Message edited by: Legalos ]

[Saurreg]

I think that's probably too literal an interpretation of the text. I'm sure that the armies (or what was left of them) were battling like crazy all around them. The only reason this particular combat was mentioned was because it was the only one that was important.


Perhaps I wasn't clear on my first post. I meant to explore the mortal combat between the leaders of the Last Alliance and Sauron on Mount Orodruin. A two (even more?) on one duel if I might say so.

I wanted to know how they fought and who fell first.

[Mhoram]

Tolkien didn't tell us that much.

[Palan]

I can only provide a possible scenario that satifies JRRT's passages.

It is safe to assume that Isildur would have been near at hand during this final fight, as he was second in command; this also follows for Elrond, who was Gil-galad's standard bearer. Cirdan may also have been present as he was a leader of a portion of the army, and close proximity to the others for discussion of battle plans would have been necessary. This sets the stage for the final battle.

The siege has progressed to a point where Sauron realizes he must intercede to win the battle; he may have decided to break the siege by assailing the leaders (Gil-galad, et. al.) and break the alliances spirit by killing the leaders. Now we have the scene.

Elendil proceeds to attack Sauron. The others follow close behind (It is very difficult to duel 5 vs. 1 as the others would continuely get in the way. Typically, one would wait unitl one's companion either tires or is wounded before one would enter the fray). Sauron is too strong for Elendil, he falls and Narsil breaks underneath him. Gil-galad enters, and takes Sauron (who is probably not tired) to task. He would have fought much longer and harder than as he is a Noldorin king (e.g., Fingolfin(?) and Morgoth). Still, Sauron would be too powerful since he is a Maia. Gil-galad falls, the others enter the fight most likely to retrieve the dead, but Gil-galad is not yet forsaken, and delivers a blow to Sauron before he expires. Before Saruon can recover, Isildur picks up the hilt shard from under his father and cleaves off the ring finger breaking Sauron's power.

The fight and battle have ended. Isildur takes the ring as "weregild for my father and brother," against the council of Elrond and Cirdan.

This is merely a theory of the battle as I see it in my mind.

[ November 26, 2002: Message edited by: Palan ]

[burrahobbit]

He alone stood by his father in that last mortal contest; and by Gil-galad only Cìrdan stood, and I.

Elrond and Cirdan don't strike me much as fighters, so when Tolkien says that they "stood by" Gil-galad I think he means just that, that they stood around. While Isildur does strike me as much of a fighter, I would say that he was also watching while Elendil and Gil-galad did the fighting.