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A History of The Last Alliance of Elves and Men,
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by Michael Martinez • June 11, 2012 • 2 Comments
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appear on search.xenite.org. In 1996 the editor of the journal Arda asked me to contribute some of my research to a twelfth volume which has, to my
knowledge, never been published. I chose the war of the Last Alliance of Elves and Men as my topic because no one had
really ever done a full treatment of the subject. My present circumstances have made it nearly impossible for me to
continue writing essays for Suite101 or to complete other projects.
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So, over the next few weeks, I will provide that article here. It remains, to my knowledge, the fullest treatment of the Last
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Alliance ever published. Parts one and two provide the narrative for the article. Part three, the longest part, contains the
end notes and source references. The material which follows has not been edited since mid-1996. I am indebted to Rick
House for reviewing the article at that time and offering suggestions and corrections.
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Follow Xenite.Org at @xenite_org The legend of Gil-galad and Elendil’s war against Sauron at the end of the Second Age of Middle-earth has been the
subject of much research and speculation among Tolkien’s fans. As with all aspects of his mythology, the few mentions of
FACEBOOK this great struggle imply a depth which draws the imagination toward a fuller account which surely must have existed in the
author’s mind, if not in any of his extant writings. Most of us are familiar with the outline of the war, and many can sketch
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out the events in a general progression from the first assault on Minas Ithil to the final combat on Orodruin.
@writer.Michael.Martinez
Yet so many questions remain that one must wonder if Tolkien himself did not ask them of himself. Who were the great
RSS Feed princes and captains the memory of whose banners made Elrond pause and sigh at his council an Age later? Where did
these armies come from, and what were their reasons for joining the Alliance? If we do not know their numbers, do we
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know anything at all of their battle order and progressions?

OTHER ARTICLES Perhaps.

Read articles Michael has written for other Some of what follows is necessarily speculative. It cannot be otherwise for there are gaps in the record. Yet Tolkien
Websites Elsewhere on the Web sprinkled here and there pieces of information concerning this great war in which “all living things were divided…save the
Elves only” (The Silmarillion, p. 294).

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earth? approaching the Elves in an effort to seduce them1. Galadriel did not trust him, claiming to have known no such Maia in
Valinor2, and Gil-galad mistrusted him, having long sensed that some evil power had arisen in Middle-earth3. In fact, most
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SUBMIT A QUESTION Celebrimbor did not live to see the fruition of the seeds he helped Sauron plant and nurture in the Rings of Power.
Although he came to understand his folly before the War of the Elves and Sauron, Celebrimbor perished when Sauron
Have a question you would like to see featured took Ost-in-Edhil4. Like Feanor before him, Celebrimbor led the Noldor down a path the end of which he never saw, and
here? Use this form to contact Michael Martinez. If their tragic history was both enriched and diminished because of the choices he made.
you think you see an error in an article and the
comments are closed, you’re welcome to use the
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Because they aided Gil-galad during the War of the Elves and Sauron, the Dunedain became irrevocably enmeshed in the
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affairs of Middle-earth, earning Sauron’s undying enmity. Within 100 years of the war the Dunedain began making
Enter email address... permanent havens in Middle-earth: Lond Daer Ened, Pelargir, Umbar, and others now forgotten5. From these havens
came at least three of the Nazgul, the Ringwraiths who by the year 2251 revealed themselves for the first time, leading
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The conflicts between the Dunedain and Sauron eventually dwarfed the ongoing struggle between Sauron and the Elves.
While many of the Eldar fled Middle-earth, more and more Dunedain settled there, coming from both factions in Numenor:
the King’s Men and the Faithful. The Dunedain pursued conquests of their own, clashing with Sauron’s lieutenants and
earning his greater hatred7. Sauron’s rivalry with the Dunedain led to his voluntary imprisonment in Numenor where he
seduced the greater part of the Dunedain to his cause. Their fortresses in Middle-earth southward of Pelargir thus
extended Sauron’s true power, where before they had contested it.

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Surviving the destruction of Numenor, Sauron returned to a Middle-earth much changed. Gil-galad had recovered his
ancient power and extended his sway to new lands8. All the Elves were now apparently united in purpose and
strengthened by the long peaceful respite his absence had given them. The Dunedain who survived the Downfall of
Numenor were still divided into two groups, but the Faithful now established two kingdoms which though nurtured by Gil-
galad’s power provided Lindon with a stronger buffer against invasion than either Eregion or Imladris ever had.

Elendil’s realm in Arnor was greater in size and strength than his sons’ kingdom of Gondor. The Dunedain and the peoples
they settled amongst dwelt between the Lhun and the Gwathlo rivers9. Elendil’s people dwelt mostly between the Lhun
and the Baranduin rivers, and between the Hills of Evendim and the North Downs10. Some also settled in Tyrn Gorthad
and the South Downs. Tharbad, an ancient Dunadan outpost and port on the river Gwathlo, became a link between the
two kingdoms with a fortress on either side of Gwathlo and a bridge spanning the river11.

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Other Men lived in Eriador besides the Dunedain. The Men of Bree, most northerly representatives of their race, were akin
to most of the peoples of Minhiriath and Enedwaith as well as to the wild tribes of Ered Nimrais and Calenardhon who lived
on Gondor’s western frontier12. The hill-tribes who lived between Bruinen and Mithieithel may have been friendly to the
Elves, but appear not to have acknowledged Elendil’s authority. Nor did the tribes living in the north, members of the
Forodwaith who later gave rise to the Lossoth and perhaps the Men of Carn Dum13. However, Elendil’s people probably
also included descendants of clans related to the Folk of Bor and Ulfang in the First Age14.

Gondor’s people came mostly from the Dunedain and their kin living in and near Pelargir, as well as along the coast of
Belfalas. They built the new cities of Osgiliath, Minas Anor, and Minas Ithil, thinking that Sauron was no longer a threat15.
Elendil’s sons extended their sway northward into Calenardhon as well.

But the choice of location for their new cities implies the Black Numenoreans of the south were a cause for concern16. And
though the ancient Elvish haven of Edhellond lay west of Gondor’s heart, the dales of Ered Nimrais from Lamedon to the
sources of the rivers Lefnui and Adorn were home to a race of men who had served Sauron in previous centuries17. When
it became evident that Sauron had survived the Downfall of Numenor, Isildur concluded an alliance with at least one group
of these men, but their king feared Sauron too much to fulfill his oath.

There were other men in Enedwaith, akin to the mountain-folk of Ered Nimrais and the Men of Bree, who had long
opposed Numenorean incursions. Their antipathy forced Gondor to construct the twin fortresses of Angrenost and
Aglarond, which guarded the pass of Calenardhon against the west, rather than the east18. Thus the need for a strong
garrison at Tharbad was underscored by the need for a strong guard over Enedwaith itself.

Although Sauron was a Maia of great power and wisdom, he seems to have underestimated the resolve and skill of his
foes. Gil-galad, born in Beleriand in the First Age19, was a native son of Middle-earth, ruling his people in the last remnant
of Beleriand itself, now called Lindon. He may have seemed weak to Sauron, having taken no action against Morgoth in
the First Age, and unable or unwilling to defeat Sauron’s own armies in Eriador without the aid the Dunedain. But the
strategy the Eldar had used in their war with Sauron was Gil-galad’s, who led the victorious army of Lindon and Numenor
in sweeping Sauron’s forces from the north. As High King of the Elves of the West, he sent Elrond against Sauron in the
early years of the War of the Elves and Sauron20.

Beside Gil-galad stood Cirdan, most ancient of the Elven lords and wise with the bitter lessons learned in the long war
against Morgoth. Cirdan had been the only Sindarin lord to ally himself with the Noldor against Morgoth in the War of the
Jewels21. Since Gil-galad had dwelt with Cirdan from an early age, the Noldorin king must have been greatly influenced by
Cirdan, who was as brave and valiant as any Elven king. In the Second Age he befriended the Dunedain, teaching them
how to build and sail ships, and how to manage the harbors they made in Middle-earth22. Cirdan, too, saw deep into the
hearts of others, and he never refrained from the necessity of opposing either Morgoth or Sauron. Cirdan must have
seemed a formidable opponent to Sauron.

Elrond, being half-Elven, did not forget his ties to the Dunedain. He had marched with their fathers against Thangorodrim
in the War of Wrath23, and he was in Lindon when Veantur first sailed to Middle-earth. He would have known Aldarion in
his youth, the great mariner King of Numenor. Although he failed to break through Sauron’s forces to relieve Eregion,
Elrond had preserved many Elves and Men from death or capture in the War of the Elves and Sauron, and he withstood a
lengthy siege. Descended of a powerful Maia and of both Sindarin and Noldorin kings, Elrond had been fostered by a son
of Feanor, had stood with the Host of Valinor at the breaking of Thangorodrim, and had been enhanced by Eonwe in
wisdom and skill upon choosing to be of Elven-kind. As he was Gil-galad’s vice-regent in Eriador24, so Elrond may have
represented the High King of the Elves of the West in his dealings with other Elven lords.

Oropher was probably the greatest of the other Elven lords. Proud and independent, a survivor of Doriath, his realm
dominated southern Greenwood the Great beyond Anduin. Although unfriendly to both the Noldor and the Dwarves25, he
may have revered Elrond’s Sindarin ancestry, and clearly saw the need for joining in the alliance against Sauron. Oropher
was strong-willed and proud, however, and he refused to march under Gil-galad’s banner, but held himself an equal26.

Amdir, known also as Malgalad27, was probably the least powerful of the Elven kings of the Second Age. He ruled fewer
people than Oropher yet was friendly toward the Noldor, taking many refugees from Eregion into his kingdom. He must
also have been on friendly terms with the Dwarves of Khazad-dum, his neighbors and perhaps sometimes allies28.

Isildur was the most rash of the Dunadan kings. He was proud and brave, renowned for his rescue of a sapling of Nimloth,
the White Tree of Numenor, despite Sauron’s precautions against such an attempt29. He boldly planted himself (and the
sapling) in the Ephel Duath on Sauron’s border. But Isildur may have been less a captain in war than his father and
brother, and perhaps was not the leader of Men that Elendil was. Yet it was Isildur’s city which Sauron singled out for the
first assault, perhaps seeking revenge against the Dunadan lord for his deeds in Numenor.

Elendil the Tall was a mighty sea-captain, a master of lore, and as High King of the Dunedain-in-Exile assembled a great
host of Men in Arnor. He seems to have had no disputes with subject peoples and allies, unlike Isildur, though the distance
between Sauron and the peoples of Eriador surely made his influence there quite weak. Elendil was deeply affected by the
destruction of Numenor, and by the loss of his father, Amandil.

After Isildur departed for Arnor, Anarion ruled Gondor alone, defending it against Sauron’s forces30. Anarion seems to
have commanded the entire southern campaign for the Alliance. He not only drove Sauron’s armies back into Mordor, he
eventually passed over the mountains himself.

Durin IV of Khazad-dum joined the Alliance as well31. Since his realm lay so close to Lorinand he must have mustered his
army close to Amdir’s. And yet, Oropher’s reputed dislike for Dwarves may have forced Durin to march beside Gil-galad’s
army, perhaps even to stand as a fourth equal among the leaders of the full alliance: Gil-galad as lord of the Elves of the
West, Elendil as lord of the Men of the West, Oropher as lord of the Elves of the East, and Durin as lord of the Dwarves of
Khazad-dum (encompassing two or three Dwarven kindreds). Because the Dwarves of Nogrod and Belegost had long
before swelled Khazad-dum’s numbers, Durin’s army may have been the largest Dwarf-host assembled to that time or any
time since.

To be continued in Part 2…

This article was originally published on May 19, 2001.

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