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Gondorian Military Organisation and Government: some thoughts

by Tanaqui

Chapter One: Military Organisation in Gondor

We know very little for certain about how Gondor’s troops are organised before the War of the Ring. Boromir is given the titles “High Warden of the White Tower and Our Captain-General” by Faramir in Book 4, Ch 4 Of Herbs and Stewed Rabbit TTT, while in TTT, the Rangers seem to refer to Faramir simply as the Captain.

There seem to be some regular troops, such as the Guard of the Citadel, the Rangers of Ithilien and the Men of Arms and Knights of Dol Amroth. Evidence that there may be a standing army which plays an expeditionary role (or has done so recently enough for notions about it to survive in “folk memory”) comes from Beregond’s comment to Pippin in Book V Ch1 Minas Tirith RoTK: “‘An old campaigner, I see,’ he said. ‘They say that men who go warring afield look ever to the next hope of food and of drink; though I am not a travelled man myself.’”

However, a great deal of the infantry and cavalry which fight at the Siege of Gondor and later at the Black Gate appears to consist of civilian militias brought by the various Lords of Gondor from their territories. The difference in experience between the regular troops and the militias is made apparent in the way Aragorn arranges his troops at the battle at the Black Gate: “But in the front towards Mordor where the first bitter assault would come there stood the sons of Elrond on the left with the Dúnedain about them, and on the right the Prince Imrahil with the men of Dol Amroth tall and fair, and picked men of the Tower of Guard.” (Ch 10 The Black Gate Opens RoTK).

The inexperience of the militias is made plain earlier in this chapter when, on the march to the Black Gate, “some of the host were unmanned, and they could neither walk nor ride further north.” (Ch 10 The Black Gate Opens RoTK). These troops are clearly not regulars as they are described as “young men from Rohan, from Westfold far away, or husbandmen from Lossarnach, and to them Mordor had been from childhood a name of evil, and yet unreal, a legend that had no part in their simple life”. (Ch 10 The Black Gate Opens RoTK). The difficulty faced by the militia troops in dealing with the horrors on the approach to Mordor explains Gandalf’s request that the troops taken to Mordor “must be hardy men that go willingly, knowing their peril.” (Ch 9 The Last Debate RoTK).

The troops brought by the various Lords to Minas Tirith are as follows (unless otherwise stated, all these figures come from Book V Ch1 Minas Tirith RoTK):

Angbor of Lamedon does not come to the siege with the other captains, as most of his people are defending Southern Gondor from attack by the Corsairs, but he sends “a few grim hillmen without a captain”. (Book V Ch1 Minas Tirith RoTK)

Forlong “the Fat”, the Lord of Lossarnach, does come to the siege but brings with him 200 men out of a possible 2000 he could have, with the rest sent to counter the threat from the Corsairs.

In Book V, Ch IX The Last Debate RoTK, Aragorn is expected to gather 2000 troops from amongst those who were either fighting the Corsairs or who were freed from slavery in the Corsair ships, while Imrahil is expected to find 3,500 men, presumably from amongst the troops brought by himself and the other Lords, the “regular” army and the men of the Minas Tirith.

Dervorin, son of the Lord of Ringló Vale brings 300 footsoldiers and travels on foot himself.

Duinhir of Morthond brings his sons, Duilin and Derufin and 500 bowmen.

Golasgil of the Anfalas brings “a long line of men of many sorts, hunters and herdsmen and men of little villages, scantily equipped save for the household of their lord” (Book V Ch1 Minas Tirith RoTK).

Hirluin “the Fair” of the Pinnath Gelin brings “three hundreds of gallant green-clad men”.

Imrahil, Prince of Dol Amroth brings 700 men-at-arms and “a company of knights” (Book V Ch1 Minas Tirith RoTK).

Also arriving for the siege but without a Lord (possibly they are under the Lordship of Lebennin?) are “Fisher-folk of the Ethir, some hundred or more spared from the ships.” (Book V Ch1 Minas Tirith RoTK)

Gondor also has a navy, referenced on several occasions in Appendix A I, iv, Gondor and the Heirs of Anarion:

* "With Tarannon, the twelfth king, began the line of the Ship-kings, who built navies and extended the sway of Gondor along the coasts west and south of the Mouths of Anduin."
* "Eärnil I, his nephew, who succeeded him, repaired the ancient haven of Pelargir, and built a great navy."
* "…Umbar was invested, but could not be taken because of the sea-power of Gondor."Gondor’s navy was considerably diminished at one point when much of it defected with the sons of the usurper Castamir when Castamir was killed by Eldacar. "Castamir's sons escaped, and with others of their kin and many people of the fleets they held out long at Pelargir. When they had gathered there all the force that they could (for Eldacar had no ships to beset them by sea) they sailed away, and established themselves at Umbar." (Appendix A I, iv, Gondor and the Heirs of Anarion)

However, the navy seemed to have recovered in strength by the time “Eärnil sent his son Eärnur north with a fleet" to the Grey Havens to aid Arnor in its battle against the Witch King of Angmar: “So great in draught and so many were his ships that they could scarcely find harbourage, though both the Harlond and the Forlond also were filled; and from them descended an army of power, with munition and provision for a war of great kings. Or so it seemed to the people of the North, though this was but a small sending-force of the whole might of Gondor.” (Appendix A I, iv, Gondor and the Heirs of Anarion)

Some form of navy still existed in Ecthelion’s time: “At last he [Thorongil] got leave of the Steward and gathered a small fleet, and he came to Umbar unlooked-for by night, and there burned a great part of the ships of the Corsairs. He himself overthrew the Captain of the Haven in battle upon the quays, and then he withdrew his fleet with small loss.” (Appendix A I, iv, Gondor and the Heirs of Anarion) However, the phrase “gathered a small fleet” could be interpreted in two ways. Thorongil may simply have selected a small number of ships out of a sizeable fleet (presumably ones whose captains were particularly friendly towards him). Alternatively, it could be interpreted as Thorongil having to make some effort to put a fleet together from a much reduced standing naval force or from merchant vessels.

The Rangers of Ithilien are described in Book 4, Ch 4 Of Herbs and Stewed Rabbit TTT as “descended from folk who lived in Ithilien at one time, before it was overrun.” Given the “conventional” troops and the Rangers spend most of their time on opposite sides of the Anduin – and given the usual rivalries that exist between different branches of the armed services - I see very little interaction and few personal friendships between troops from the two forces.

The total number of the Rangers of Ithilien never seems to be given but in Book 4, Ch 5 The Window on the West TTT, Faramir is described as having 200 to 300 troops with him after the ambush. Presumably this is only part of his force in Ithilien – other troops would be needed to continue some regular scouting and to protect Henneth Annûn and other refuges – although it’s likely it’s a substantial part, given the ambush is a referred to as a special “errand” in Book V Ch4 The Siege of Gondor RoTK. Recognising that the figure is so vague (the difference between 200 or 300 is half as much again!), I feel that it is reasonable to extrapolate a total strength for the Rangers under normal circumstances of around 400 men.

Support for refuges other than Henneth Annûn is given in (Appendix A I, iv, Gondor and the Heirs of Anarion) where it is explained that "It was Túrin that built secret refuges for his soldiers in Ithilien, of which Henneth Annûn was the longest guarded and manned." It is possible that the other refuges still exist but are only used intermittently. However, with Ithilien being so large, I see it being managed as two territories, with Faramir having Lieutenants in the North and South and another permanent secret refuge similar to Henneth Annûn somewhere in Southern Ithilien, most likely somewhere on the southern side of the hills of Emyn Arnen.

An article by Janet Brennan Croft, “The Dull Backwaters of the Art of Killing": Training, Signalling, Intelligence, and Maps in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Fiction, looks at the influence on of Tolkien’s own experiences in the First World War of signalling, map-making and the use of intelligence on the scenarios in LoTR and other works. In particular, the article considers information from the books on:

* the use of various signalling technologies such as beacons, horns and drums
* the use of maps (and their lack of use in planning battles)
* Tolkien’s apparent views on the “proper” role and place of a military leaderGiven the extremely scanty evidence about how things are organised in peacetime, my personal extrapolation from canon as to how Gondor is organised militarily before the War is that:

* Denethor is supreme commander in chief but, once he becomes Ruling Steward, does not actively participate in the field himself. This is likely given note 53 to the essay on Cirion and Eorl and the Friendship of Gondor and Rohan in UT which notes that when the office of Steward was established by Rómendacil, a condition of service was that “he was not permitted to go to war or to leave the realm”. The condition may have been varied once the line of Kings in Gondor ended, but it seems unlikely given the chaos that might result from a Ruling Steward being killed in battle. In addition, Denethor clearly believes himself capable of still taking an active part in battle but chooses not to: speaking to Pippin in Book V Ch4 The Siege of Gondor RoTK, he says “He [Sauron] uses others as his weapons. So do all great lords, if they are wise, Master Halfling. Or why should I sit here in my tower and think, and watch, and wait, spending even my sons? For I can still wield a brand.'”
* Boromir is in charge of the Guard of the Citadel and the “conventional” cavalry and infantry forces. His brief is the defence of the line of the river Anduin, covering Osgiliath (including the eastern bank when Gondor holds it) and all the fiefdoms and Lordships West of the river. I also see him having joint responsibility with Imrahil for coastal defences, since sea and land forces must work together to provide effective coastal defence. (As a side note, from the phrasing in Book V Ch1 Minas Tirith RoTK, I see the cavalry and men-at-arms brought by Imrahil to the siege of Minas Tirith as being normally for the defence of his own fiefdom of Dol Amroth – that is, as his private army – rather than as part of the standing army of Gondor. Of course, Belfalas will be expected to contribute men and resources – drawn from this private army – to support the standing army in the same way as any other territory.)
* Faramir is in charge of the Rangers and his brief is to scout Ithilien to understand the Enemy’s actions and to try and disrupt enemy activity there as far as possible.
* Although I have no evidence for assigning this role, I have chosen in my stories to place Imrahil in charge of Gondor’s navy (as well as the defence of his own fiefdom of Belfalas) and to work with Boromir on the coastal defences. I have done this merely on the basis that it seems not unreasonable that the leading noble who lives by the coast would have charge of the navy.

However, it should be noted that it is said in (Appendix A I, iv, Gondor and the Heirs of Anarion): "'When Denethor became Steward (2984) he proved a masterful lord, holding the rule of all things in his own hand." It is therefore possible that Denethor would have chosen to place the navy in the charge of someone who was more directly subordinate to him. This desire to dominate his commanders may also be part of the reason for him placing his sons in the positions of Captain-General and Captain of Rangers, and, perhaps, promoting them into these positions at a relatively young age. However, it seems reasonable to assume that the sons of the steward would be expected to assume some form of military leadership role in a country in a state of perpetual border warfare.

Furthermore, I view Faramir’s command in Ithilien, while much smaller than Boromir’s command west of the river, as probably much tougher: constant fighting, constantly being on edge, and regular deaths. After Boromir leaves on the errand to Rivendell, Denethor appears to assume at least some of the responsibility for Boromir’s command – in Book V Ch4 The Siege of Gondor RoTK, he dictates the strategy of holding the Causeway Forts – although Boromir’s Lieutenants would undoubtedly handle day-to-day matters.

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