Posted: April 11, 2000 at 21:33:41: by Mornhun
Ok, through out all of the LOTR Tolkien describes how important and great Gondor was. Was this true? The answer is NO. In the 2nd age Gondor was great but that was because of the Numenor influence. During the 3rd age Gondor's power was waning if not completely gone. Gondor did not have anywhere near a big enough army to be a match for a 1/4 of the strength of Mordor. Tolkien says how Gondor was the only place holding back Sauron but after preparing for years for war, it was beseiged for less than 10 days and it's army was in dissarray. Tolkien states that except for a valiant few the "mighty" Gonodrians were cowering in the shadows.(Tolkien doesn't say exactly that) Except for the fighting at Osgiliath the Gondorians did nothing to fight back the hosts of Mordor. The great gate of Minas Tirith was knocked down after 2 blows from a battering ram. Sauron was a fool if he felt any great threat from Gondor. Except for Farimir the gondorians had to have an Outsider captain them. If Rohan hadn't shown up and saved the day then Gondor would have been toast. Speaking of Rohan I think that they were the great ones. With around 5,000 men total and with no real fortress they withstood at least 15,000 orcs, men, wolves, etc. and destroyed them all. This saved Gondor from attack from behind. Then less than 4 days after this feat they muster the men and make the greatest ride to save Gondor's butt(for the second time) since Eorl The Young. Theoden himself wipes out about a company of Southrons. Eowyn and Merry kill The Captain of the Nazgul. While the Gondorians cowered in fear of The Nazgul. Rohan always is saving Gondor. Did Gondor ever come to the aid of Rohan? Not really. Instead Gondor gave Orthnac to Saruman and stopped watching Mordor and the Anduin. The point I'm trying to make is that Gondor wasn't that great and had Sauron issued a bigger host then Gondor would have been destroyed. Rohan on the other hand is played down as not being that great yet they continually save the day and fight on two fronts hundreds of leauges apart. So you decide: Was Gondor really that much of a power in Middle-Earth?-Mornhun
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