Siege of Barad-dûr

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Siege of Barad-dûr
Image:Lastalliance.jpg
Siege of Barad-dûr as depicted in Peter Jackson's film adaption, The Fellowship of the Ring
Date S.A. 3434–3441
Location Mount Doom, in Mordor
Result Decisive but costly Alliance victory, Missed opportunity to permanently destroy Sauron.
Combatants
Last Alliance of Elves and Men Mordor
Commanders
Gil-galad†, Elendil†, Anárion†, Isildur, Elrond Sauron
Strength
unknown unknown
Casualties
Heavy, but unspecified. Heavy, but unspecified. Sauron's physical form killed, but spirit survived.
War of Sauron and the Elves
Battle of Dagorlad – Siege of Barad-dûr – Disaster of the Gladden Fields

The Siege of Barad-dûr, which followed the Battle of Dagorlad, is a campaign from Tolkien's Middle-earth that was fought from 3434 through 3441 of the Second Age. It was the final campaign of the War of the Last Alliance between the Last Alliance of Elves and Men and the forces of Mordor. The Alliance forces were led by Gil-galad and Elendil while the forces of Mordor were led by the Dark Lord Sauron.

The Siege of Barad-dûr lasted for 7 years, during which Anárion was killed. At the end Sauron emerged from his tower and engaged the Alliance forces personally. In a final confrontation near Mount Doom Sauron killed both Gil-galad and Elendil, but was also cast down himself by Isildur, who took the remains of his father's broken sword Narsil, and used it to cut the One Ring from Sauron's hand. At that point Sauron's spirit departed his body, but did not truly perish.

Isildur desired the Ring for its beauty and as compensation for his father and brother's deaths, and refused to destroy it; causing the Alliance to miss an opportunity to defeat Sauron once and for all. Sauron was able to return during the later part of the Third Age, resulting in the War of the Ring.

This campaign and its aftermath marked the end of the Second and beginning of the Third Age. A relative calm endured for several centuries, broken only by rare conflicts far below the scale of the wars with Sauron, and was guided and nurtured by the three Elven ringbearers, until the conflicts leading up to the return of Sauron and the War of the Ring.

[edit] Depiction in adaptations

In Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings film trilogy,the details of the siege are not included and only a final battle near Mount Doom is shown.

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