Question about the Grey Company

[Victariongreyjoy]

Originally Posted by Galadriel55

Though the Rangers were indeed a more formidable force than their numbers alone suggest, they did not change the outcome on Pelennor. Aside from the Rangers, Aragorn also brought with him a significant number of fighters from the south of Gondor, after removing the threat of corsairs that kept them behind. Plus, the demoralizing surprise factor of enemies appearing on allied ships.

If you're interested in the military side of the battle, I recommend checking out this thread: http://www.forum.barrowdowns.com/showthread.php?t=19363. It links to a series of articles analyzing the battle from a strategic point of view and describes how big each force was and what is their role and impact. I found this series very enjoyable and informative, I highly recommend it.

Was the other reinforcement the Swan Knights of Dol Amroth?

[Huinesoron]

Originally Posted by Victariongreyjoy

Was the other reinforcement the Swan Knights of Dol Amroth?

I think they were already there. Hang on, let me get the books (I'm so pleased to have them back, can you tell? ^_^)

Right, here we are, in RotK:

Originally Posted by RotK 1: Minas Tirith

And so the companies came and were hailed and cheered and passed through the Gate, men of the Outlands marching to defend the City of Gondor in a dark hour; but always too few, always less than hope looked for or need asked. The men of Ringló Vale behind the son of their lord, Dervorin striding on foot: three hundreds. From the uplands of Morthond, the great Blackroot Vale, tall Duinhir with his sons, Duilin and Derufin, and five hundred bowmen. From the Anfalas, the Langstrand far away, a long line of men of many sorts, hunters and herdsmen and men of little villages, scantily equipped save for the household of Golasgil their lord. From Lamedon, a few grim hillmen without a captain. Fisher-folk of the Ethir, some hundred or more spared from the ships. Hirluin the Fair of the Green Hills from Pinnath Gelin with three hundreds of gallant green-clad men. And last and proudest, Imrahil, Prince of Dol Amroth, kinsman of the Lord, with gilded banners bearing his token of the Ship and the Silver Swan, and a company of knights in full harness riding grey horses; and behind them seven hundreds of men at arms, tall as lords, grey-eyed, dark-haired, singing as they came.

And that was all, less than three thousands full told.

So Imrahil and his company were part of the 3000 who reached Minas Tirith before it was besieged. Then later, we see who Aragorn brought with him:

Originally Posted by RotK 6: The Battle of the Pelennor Fields

East rode the knights of Dol Amroth driving the enemy before them: troll-men and Variags and orcs that hated the sunlight. South strode Éomer and men fled before his face, and they were caught between the hammer and the anvil. For now men leaped from the ships to the quays of the Harlond and swept north like a storm. There came Legolas, and Gimli wielding his axe, and Halbarad with the standard, and Elladan and Elrohir with stars on their brow, and the dour-handed Dúnedain, Rangers of the North, leading a great valour of the folk of Lebennin and Lamedon and the fiefs of the South. But before all went Aragorn with the Flame of the West, Andúril like a new fire kindled, Narsil re-forged as deadly as of old: and upon his brow was the Star of Elendil.

The allied armies converge from three sides: Imrahil from the west (ie, the city), Eomer from the north (somewhere along the Rammas, I think), and Aragorn from the south (the docks). The structure isn't entirely clear at a quick glance - I can see how you could connect Dol Amroth to Aragorn's group! The key is that 'great valour' I've highlighted. Lebennin and Lamedon are essentially the east and west halves of Gondor south of the mountains, so very large areas. Gimli explains, a little later, how they came to be on the ships:

Originally Posted by RotK 9: The Last Debate

‘That night [after the Dead had driven off the corsairs and been released] we rested while others laboured. For there were many captives set free, and many slaves released who had been folk of Gondor taken in raids; and soon also there was a great gathering of men out of Lebennin and the Ethir, and Angbor of Lamedon came up with all the horsemen that he could muster. Now that the fear of the Dead was removed they came to aid us and to look on the Heir of Isildur; for the rumour of that name had run like fire in the dark.

‘And that is near the end of our tale. For during that evening and night many ships were made ready and manned; and in the morning the fleet set forth.

Which makes sense, since you can't man a fleet of ships with only 30 men! Tolkien specifically describes them as having 'many oars', so you're looking at at least 100 men per ship. Some ancient ships, for instance under the Byzantine Empire, pushed towards 300 crew each!

hS

[Formendacil]

Tolkien doesn't directly say--at least, that I can recall--why the Grey Company was important, if indeed it was, but I think there's a symbolism to it that makes a lot of sense in Middle-earth AND explains why it was dropped from the movies.

Basically, the Grey Company transforms Aragorn from a lone hero to a lord. Before they show up, he's a hero, certainly, and kingly--but other than lineage and his person, he's not a king-candidate: and his arc over Books III & V is becoming one.

The arrival of his people fits that point excellently because they arrive right before he challenges Sauron in the palantír: so as he marches to war thereafter, he's marching with at least a token force that says "here is the King of Arnor; here is the Heir of Isildur."

But Sauron's not the only audience: he's also bolstering his lordliness to the people of Gondor. When he arrives like the wind to Pelargir, he's not just a hero leading the army of the dead, he's a leader of men marshalling the army of the dead. The fact that he has a retinue is important (though it's implicit not explicit) in winning the respect of Angbor and the other southern Gondorians: here are people to vouch for him and his lineage.

The idea that a king is just a prince who's the heir to the last king doesn't quite fly--historically, an heir too young to be a leader in his own right (a child) was always a dicey prospect to succeed. If you look at Faramir, he's already "the Captain" and has his own band of men--it's not just that he's Denethor's son. (This is presumably true of Boromir as well, but we don't get to see it in the firsthand narrative.)

But this is always why the Grey Company is dropped so easily from the movies: because Peter Jackson's Aragorn is a hero, not a lord, and his arc isn't the same as Aragorn's more carefully-laid triumpt in the Books. Movie-Aragorn sort of falls into becoming king reluctantly, while book-Aragorn has worked uphill to accomplish a mightly goal: the Dúnedain arriving and marching with him are a step toward that goal. Without them, he'd just be a man with a sword; with them, he's the Heir of Isildur. Even then, it takes the Army of the Dead and impeccable timing at the Pelennor, and the semi-related suicide of Denethor to let everything slot in for his becoming king.

[Galadriel55]

That is a really good point, Form. Really really good point.

Originally Posted by Huinesoron

Which makes sense, since you can't man a fleet of ships with only 30 men! Tolkien specifically describes them as having 'many oars', so you're looking at at least 100 men per ship. Some ancient ships, for instance under the Byzantine Empire, pushed towards 300 crew each!

Many of these ships were also apparently manned (oared?) by captive Gondorians, who presumably didn't ditch after being freed by the Dunedain. So Aragorn had an army of fighting men and a group of men familiar with the workings of the ships under his command.

[William Cloud Hicklin]

Since the Corsair fleet supposedly numbered fifty "great ships" and scores of lesser ones, and since Aragorn packed them full (remember, the forces he sent marching north on foot were just the ones that wouldn't fit)- and since T also uses the term "dromonds", which I think refers to the "great ships," we are talking about 50 ships of ca. 300 men apiece (the size of a Byzantine dromond), or 15,000 men in the 'great ships' alone.

Also, besides the Lebennin men who had actually been fighting at Pelargir, there was also a substantial number of other Gondorians who had followed A. once the terrifying Dead had passed.

---------------------
Having said that, the Dunedain were probably superb fighters, worth way more than 30 ordinary fyrdsmen.