Battle of the Morannon

In J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, the Battle of the Morannon or Battle of the Black Gate is a fictional event that took place at the end of the War of the Ring. It is depicted in The Return of the King, the third volume of his epic fantasy book The Lord of the Rings.

Prelude

This was the final major battle against Sauron in the War of the Ring, fought at the Black Gate of Mordor. The Army of the West, led by Aragorn, marched on the gate as a diversionary feint to distract Sauron's attention from Frodo and Sam, who were carrying the One Ring through Mordor. It was hoped that Sauron would think Aragorn had the Ring and was now trying to use it to overthrow Mordor. As the journey progressed, Aragorn was credited openly as "the King Elessar" by their heralds to challenge Sauron, though he was not yet formally crowned.

Aragorn and the other captains had around 7,000 soldiers of Gondor and Rohan available to fight; they left some in Minas Tirith to defend against assault, and sent 3,000 Rohirrim under Elfhelm to rout another army holding the west road to Anórien (which soon returned to Minas Tirith). Thus they marched with about 6,000 foot and 1,000 horse.