"Ash nazg durbatulûk..."
"One Ring to rule them all..."
Celembrimbor, crafter of the Rings of Power for the elves became aware of him almost at once, yet he hesitated to take it off, for it was dear to him. Was that Annatar? A noble craftsman?
"Ash nazg gimbatul..."
"One Ring to find them..."
Celebrimbor had already given away 16 of the 19 rings that he had made. Of the remaining 3, Annatar knows not. They dwell with Gil-Gilad in Lindon, and with the fair lady Galadhriel in Lothlórein. 7 Rings he had given to the dwarfs, and nine to Men.
"Ash nazg thrakatulûk agh burzum-ishi krimpatul."
"One ring to bring them all and in the darkness binds them."
Gil-Galad and Galadhriel ceased to wear the ring as soon as his dark intentions were revealed to them. Annatar was no more. In his place, lies Sauron, the Dark Lord, sitting on his Dark Throne.
Sauron then declared himself openly, and with his forces of evil, Trolls, Orcs, Goblins and other fell creatures descended upon Eregion. Though the elves were wise and fair, and the Noldor elves resisted Sauron as long as they could, releasing sortie after sortie at the foul beasts, Sauron had the upper hand. The elves were greatly outnumbered, and Sauron eradicated Eregion, and Celebrimbor was held captive. Of 16 Rings he spoke of. Yet, even the most vile of the Dark Lord's torture methods could not make him reveal the remaining 3.
Yet, Sauron had never believed that the Firstborn would be able to unite with the Second Born. As Sauron crushed the resistances in Eregion, Gil-Galad's heart have been heavy. If he was not to untie with anyone, Sauron would slowly pick them out, and one by one, exterminate whoever dares to defy him.
Sauron had always feared the kingdoms of Arnor and Gondor, not because that they lie West of Mordor, for he believed that his army was huge and unstoppable. He at last, ordered an assault at Minas Ithil, later to be known as Minas Morgul, and Isildur fled down the Rivers of Anduin, to his father.
Anarion, Isildur's brother, son of Elendil, repelled the enemy assault at Osgiliath, and with superior of Arms, Anarion drove the enemies back into the mountains of Mordor. By then, Gil-Galad and Elendil have built upon Weathertop, Amon Sûl, where they amassed their armies for two years.
It is possible that either Elendil or Isildur have mentioned the possibility of Durin's Folks joining their cause. Yet, whoever had suggested this, did gain the support they sought. For, when the host marched through the Misty Mountains, they gained an army of dwarfs from Moria. The dwarfs in Moria were unmatched in crafts, and gave the Men and Elves a boosting point to their already high-rated quality of armour. It is probable that the host had re-equipped themselves in Moria, though there is little evidence to suggest this.
The armies that marched over Anduin, and were joined by the Silvan and Greenwood elves.
As recounted in The Silmarillion, the elves of Silvan and Mirkwood have never forgotten how the Noldor Elves had burnt the ships and leaving their comrades to die in the harsh snow when Feanor recklessly assaulted Morgoth, when Sauron was only a lieutenant.
They refused to unite their banner under the command of Gil-Galad, the king of the Noldor elves, which would result in disastrous consequences later.
There, they joined the army of Gondor under Anarion and attacked Minas Ithil, or Minas Morgul. The Alliance forces flattened the Orcs in Minas Ithil, and Isildur sent his younger sons, Aratanand Ciryon to guard it, lest Sauron tries a flight like that of his evil master, Morgorth, who tried to seek refuge in the land of the Valar, and faked repentance, only to repeat it later. There, at the plains of Dargolad, the Alliance and the forces of Sauron clashed repeatedly. Massive casualties mounted on both sides.
However, as previously mentioned, the Elfish lords of Greenwood and Silvan led a reckless assault each. The Silvan elves fought at a part of the fields of Dargolad, where almost all perished.
The elves of Mirkwood attempted to pierce their way into the hearts of Mordor, where they all fell.
In the Lord of the Rings, Sméagol recounted this to Frodo and Samwise as they were heading through Mordor. "..a great battle. Tall Men with long swords, and terrible Elves, and Orcses shrieking. They fought on the plains for days and months at the Black Gates." The people in the Dead Marshes, where they were, were people who had fought and died at Dargolad, elves and Men alike.
Whatever that was left of the Silvan elves was placed under Gil-Galad's army, which dealt a severe blow to the morale of the Alliance when it was revealed when only a third of the original number of Silvan elves had remained.
However, after weeks of hard-fighting, the Orcs proved to be inferior to the elves, fairest and , of the men from Numeanor, who were tall and had a bright light in their eyes. They were mighty in those days and their hatred for Sauron strong. The dwarfs, whose armour no crudely made weapon or bow can penetrate. Their armour and axes made of mithril.
The Alliance smashed their way into the gates, where their armies advanced unstoppable to Barad-Dur, where sits the Dark Lord on his Dark Throne.
Was what Sauron felt similar to that of Morgorth? Not wholly so. Perhaps, more fear.
Morgorth had dragons, Balrogs and other evil creatures that have vanished off the face of the Earth. Of dragons, their fiery breaths would have torched the enemy. Of Balrogs, no common weapon could be used to kill it.
As shown in Moria, the dwarfs fought with the Balrog for a year before abandoning the halls of their Fathers. Of their axes and war machines, none could hurt it. Later, only Gandalf the Grey felled it with magic.
However, Sauron had none of these, for his Dark Powers were not on par with his Master, who was formerly a member of the Valar. He did have more Orcs than his Master. Evil Men as well. Yet, they were no match of the United forces of the Elves, Dwarfs and Men.
The Orcs did look intimidating, but were cunning and evil in nature, not full of common sense and wits, in this respect, already proved inferior to the Alliance.
The trolls, though full of brute strength, could not fight in the day for they would turn to stone where they were made from. Also, they were clumsy by nature and though their hide is thick, the archers of the Men and Elves were skilled and shot them in the eye, or the throwing axes of the dwarfs bites deep into the trolls when they make contact.
For seven months, the Alliance besieged the Dark Tower. For seven months, Sauron stood in his Dark Throne, releasing sortie after sortie of Orcs to break the siege. For seven months, Sauron conjured up poisonous fumes to try and chase off his enemies. It is possible that in The Third Age, these poisonous fumes have not yet dispersed, and it was not present in The Second Age until the siege of the Dark Tower, for there were no records of the Alliance having casualties other than actual fighting.
From fighting, the Alliance also suffered heavy casualties. The armies of Mordor, outnumbered the Alliance at least 10-1, and Orcs could be bred easily, not Men, Elves or Dwarfs. This inability to replace this loss of Men caused the fall of Annuminas, Elendil's kingdom when evil again arose in Angmar and assaulted it.
However, the Orcs had limited weaponry, their blades crooked and crude, unlike that of the Alliance. The elves in shining armour, their swords of high-grade steel, the elves wore top quality armour, for the crafts of the Noldor, only the dwarfs can rival. The Orcs fled before Gil-Galad, whose spear, Aeglos, was known to put Orcs to icy deaths. Their great bows of Yew could shoot a lot further and accurately than the Orcs or the Dunedain, who were keen-eyed at that time.
The Men wore armour of high-grade steel, and they had a variety of weapons. They were the most well-rounded among the Alliance. For the Wargs, spearmen with broad shields. For Orcs, swords were plenty. For trolls, axemen helped their dwarf counterparts.
Needless to say for the dwarfs, for Durin's Folks wore armour so tough that it takes no less than 10 Orcs to hew or injure a hardy dwarf with an axe, for they ask for no quarter and fought their hardest, for Orcs were close allies of goblins, and the dwarfs hated them.
After Sauron rallied his Orcs for the last time, this assault was the last and most violent attempts of dislodging the siege.
However, the Alliance cut down all before them, and Sauron himself came forth, with the Ring of Power on his finger.
Even though all the host of Mordor except Sauron had been felled, the power of the One Ring, was too much.
No volleys of arrow hurt him. For as long as the One Ring survives, so does he.
The hearts of the Alliance wavered, but not that of Gil-Galad. He rushed at Sauron alone with Aeglos, but Sauron swung his mace down at him, and Aeglos could not parry the blow, and the force of the blow threw Gil-Galad off his feet. Sauron brought his mace down on him, three times as Gil-Galad cursed Sauron until his last breath was gone.
The elvish soldiers' heart gave way to fear, even though the heart to avenge him was strong.
Then, Elendil, brandishing Narsil, charged at Sauron, and even for his age, the Dunedain were brave folks, let alone the leader. No matter how many blows Elendil dealt to Sauron, nothing seemed to hurt him.
Yet, Sauron only needed one blow... And Elendil resisted that swing of the Mace, so much effort he exerted that Narsil broke and Elendil spat blood at Sauron and collapsed.
Isildur, son of Elendil ran to his father's side, and held his father in his arms.
Sauron was yet to claim his third victim, when filled with anger and desperation, Isildur picked up the sword hilt of Narsil and while lying down, swung it at his enemy, cutting off the finger bearing the One Ring.
Then, Sauron broke before him, and he disappeared in a gust of wind. Sauron had been defeated, and the Alliance had vanquished the enemy.
However, of the Alliance, two kings of Men, Elendil was killed by Sauron. Anarion, king of Gondor fell at Dargolad.
Later, the One Ring, which had a mind of its own, betrayed Isildur who had kept the ring, and he was ambushed by Orcs and slain.
Barad-Dur was cast down but its foundations not removed.
Soon, in the Third Age, Arnor, previously ruled by Isildur, fell to repeated attacks by the Easterlings and Haradrim.
However, the line of Anarion flourished, Gondor reaching the peak of its prowess. Yet, eventually, the line of Anarion was wiped out in The Great Plague and Gondor was ruled by Stewarts.
The One Ring was later taken and destroyed by Frodo Baggins, a halfling from a faraway area called The Shire. At this point of time, Isildur's heir reappeared and took lordship of Gondor and Arnor. The White Tree was grown once more and it is said that the line of the new king will never fail. The elves then slowly departed from Middle Earth, and thus started the dominion of Men.
Peace and prosperity finally came to Middle Earth.
Author's Note
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