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War of the Last Alliance
Conflict from Tolkien's Legendarium
Location Dagorlad, Mordor Date Years 3430-3441, Second Age Result Alliance victory; Sauron lost the One Ring and bodily form Participants Gil-galad†, Elrond, Círdan, Amdír†, Oropher†, Thranduil, Durin IV, Elendil†, Anárion†, Isildur; Sauron, Nazgûl Books Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age, Unfinished Tales
Combatants
The Last Alliance: Lindon, Gondor, Arnor, Khazad-dûm, Lórinand, Greenwood and allies	Mordor, Black Númenóreans and allies

The Last Alliance of Elves and Men is an episode in J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional universe of Middle-earth. It was formed in the year 3430 of the Second Age in response to the threat of conquest by the Dark Lord Sauron.

The conflict at the end of the Second Age is often known as the War of the Last Alliance. It includes the Battle of Dagorlad and the Siege of Barad-dûr.

In The Lord of the Rings, Elrond describes the Last Alliance to Frodo Baggins, comparing it to the Host of Valinor that overthrew the Great Enemy Morgoth in the War of Wrath at the end of the First Age:

"I remember well the splendour of their banners ... It recalled to me the glory of the Elder Days and the hosts of Beleriand, so many great princes and captains were assembled. And yet not so many, nor so fair, as when Thangorodrim was broken, and the Elves deemed that evil was ended for ever, and it was not so." ^[1]

Contents 1 Literature 1.1 Mustering of the Last Alliance 1.2 Battle of Dagorlad 1.3 Siege of Barad-dûr 1.4 Aftermath 2 Adaptations 3 References 4 See also

Sauron had contended with the Elves and the Men of Númenor for mastery of Middle-earth and the Rings of Power in the War of the Elves and Sauron. He was defeated and driven out of Eriador in the year 1701 of the Second Age. During this war the Elves suffered great losses. Over the next 1500 years, Sauron extended his power eastward and the kingdom of Númenor on the island of Andor flourished, even receiving the submission of Sauron. It was eventually destroyed at the height of its military power due to the machinations of Sauron in the year 3319. The Dúnedain, survivors of the catastrophe, formed realms in exile in Middle-earth.

Sauron feared the kingdoms in exile, Arnor and Gondor and he attacked Gondor in 3429. Sauron took Minas Ithil in a sudden assault while Anárion managed to hold Osgiliath and halt Sauron's advance. In response, Elendil, High King of the Dúnedain and Isildur and Anárion's father, formed an alliance with Gil-galad, the last High King of the Noldor, and they raised a great host to contest Sauron.

The Elves of Lindon, lead by Gil-galad, and the Men of Arnor, lead by Elendil, built in the north the fortress and the watchtower of Amon Sûl, Weathertop, over two years while gathering their armies. Their great host then marched to Rivendell, and there made preparations and armaments for nearly three years.^[2] In the year 3434 they went over the Misty Mountains at the High Pass and the Redhorn Pass, and were joined by the army of the Dwarves of Moria.^[3] The Alliance host then crossed the bridge^[4] over the river Anduin, meeting the armies of the Silvan Elves of Lórinand and Greenwood the Great in the hosts of Amdír and Oropher,^[5] and marched south down the east bank until they met Sauron's forces before Mordor.^[6]

While Isildur's elder son and heir, Elendur, accompanied his father throughout the entire conflict except the last challenge upon Orodruin, his younger brothers Aratan and Ciryon were not involved in the main assault. They were sent by Isildur to man the recaptured city of Minas Ithil, as a reserve in case Sauron tried to escape through the passes of the mountains.^[7]

"It was a great battle. Tall Men with long swords, and terrible Elves, and Orcses shrieking. They fought on the plains for days and months at the Black Gates." - Gollum.^[8]

In 3434, the Alliance engaged and defeated Sauron's hosts in the Battle of Dagorlad, having fought over several months on the great plain of Dagorlad. However, the Silvan Elves would not place their armies under the supreme command of Gil-galad. Amdír's forces were cut and driven into the Dead Marshes, while Oropher led a reckless assault on Mordor in which he was slain. Rule of the Silvan Elves and field command of their remaining forces, barely a third of their original strength, passed to Oropher's son Thranduil. Alliance forces breached the Black Gate of Mordor, and besieged the Dark Lord's fortress of Barad-dûr.

The shapes of the fallen remained in the water of the Dead Marshes into the later Ages.

The Siege of Barad-dûr lasted for seven years. The Alliance suffered heavy losses from missiles and fire cast from the tower, and Sauron also sent many sorties against the attackers. Anárion was killed by a stone cast from the tower, and his helm, a forerunner of the crown of Minas Anor, was destroyed.^[9]

Eventually Sauron emerged from the tower and engaged the Alliance forces personally near Orodruin, battling the commanders Gil-galad and Elendil, with only Elrond, Círdan, and Isildur standing by them. Gil-galad and Elendil were slain, with the latter's sword Narsil breaking beneath him as he fell. However, Sauron was overthrown and physically "killed", and Elendil's son Isildur used the hilt-shard of Narsil to cut the One Ring from Sauron's hand.

Bereft of the power of the One Ring, Sauron's physical form was unbound and his dissipated spirit would not take form again in Middle-earth for two and a half thousand years. After the victory over Sauron, the death of Gil-galad and Elendil, and irreplaceable casualties to the Elves, the Last Alliance dissolved.

Many of the Eldar mourned the victory as bittersweet for the One Ring was kept by Isildur, who later perished and lost it in the Gladden Fields. Thus, despite the sacrifice of the Elves and Men, the Ring was not destroyed and the opportunity to defeat Sauron once and for all was missed. The war resulted in the first weakening of Lindon and Arnor. The Second Age ended with the war's conclusion and the Third Age of the World began.

In Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, the details of the war are not included and only the final "Battle of Mount Doom", as it is sometimes called, is shown.

Notable differences from the book are: Elrond, who calls himself a herald in the book, is shown giving orders; unidentified Gil-galad is briefly glimpsed, but his death is not shown; Dwarves are not mentioned or shown during the battle; Sauron kills Elendil, also unnamed, with his mace; Narsil is broken under Sauron's foot into many pieces, instead of two; Isildur cuts off most of Sauron's fingers on his outstretched hand, instead of just one; Sauron eventually explodes; Anárion is omitted overall.

• Middle-earth warfare