8/12/2023 0 Comments Lotr siege of vienna“The Nazgûl screeched and swept away, for their Captain was not yet come to challenge the white fire of his foe.” Is it risky for Denethor to try to control military movements from such a distance, rather than from one of the towers in the first wall?ĭuring the sortie Gandalf uses his hand-held white beam power, good for 30 anti-flying-Nazgul points. Should new orders be needed, a messenger from Denethor in the citadel would take many minutes to race down to the first level.ĭ. The citadel, and that one trumpet, is 600 feet higher than the Gate, set perhaps a quarter mile back, and separated by a circuitous maze of staggered gateways. Why do the Men of Gondor not turn and form line or square when the enemy warriors and horsemen threaten to catch them up during the retreat?Ī trumpet from the citadel gives the prearranged “charge!” signal for the cavalry sortie, while the soldiers on the walls cheer. We may think here of the phalanxes of Alexander, the hoplites of Athens, the legions of Rome, the Byzantine tagmata: all used rigorous training and discipline to present invincible shield-walls or pike arrays that stopped cold their more numerous but unorganized enemies from the barbarian East.Ĭ. (And if it doesn’t, how the heck has it survived lately?) So assume Faramir is commanding field troops. Since it seems like the garrison troops have been kept within the City, one guesses that the “out-companies” constitute Gondor’s “field army” as much as it has one. They could be “garrison troops” fit only to defend a fixed fortress or walls, or light field troops like a militia with minimal training and arms, or heavily armed “combat troops” trained to fight in close order on an open field. It is not clear what kind of combat Faramir’s troops at the front have been trained for. Why are the evil forces faster on foot than the good ones? But the forces of Evil have come all the way from Morgul in two or three days and should be more exhausted than the Gondor men, who are making a short march from the Forts back to the City.ī. Gondor’s soldiers break and flee in panic, and only the sortie saves them. Does this remind us of how Glaurung crept upon the land of Brethil in the Tale of Turin?Īs Faramir’s troop marches to the city in retreat, the pursuing enemy (Orcs and Southrons) overtake them. They proudly march through the Gate in good order, to the cheers of the populace yet the surviving force from the Forts has been reduced by a third, and Faramir is missing.įrom the City it appears that fires are flickering and creeping across the plain, igniting farms and woods, heading for the main road.Ī. Yet Denethor, knowing they would soon be outnumbered by the forces coming in from the east, calls them back. Even Faramir’s men turn and rejoin the battle. The Nazgul again retreat before the wizard’s white beams of light, while the knights slaughter the unprepared Morgul-host. The knights of Dol Amroth ride to the rescue, led by their Prince and by Gandalf on Shadowfax. Even as the soldiers panic and run, Denethor releases his cavalry, who sortie from the City. The Nazgul appear, like birds of prey diving to the kill. In the dimming light of evening the final companies of Gondor’s forces are close to the Gate, when the enemy columns close in on the rear guard of Faramir’s horsemen. Time: Afternoon to early evening.Īt the end of the day, those on the walls can see the approach of the retreating army of Faramir behind them come the enemy, bearing torches and burning the farmsteads of the Pelennor. Again, the headings are mine, not Tolkien’s, added to help clarify our reading.ĭate: Day 5, March 13. The narrative gives an overview of things or focuses on one short episode, and then skips ahead several hours to the next episode. So now at last the City was besieged, enclosed in a ring of foes.Īs with yesterday’s reading, we are following the progress of the siege through several story-days of action.
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