The War of the Ring

Nature

Volume 8 of The History of Middle-earth, the third of the four volumes on the making of The Lord of the Rings. It covers the later books from the Hornburg and Isengard through the great battles of the Third Age war: the ride of the Rohirrim, the siege war, and the march against Sauron — with the “Tale of the Years” of the Third Age standing at the end as the volume’s chronicle of the conflict.

Contents

• The Battle of the Hornburg — the drafting of Helm’s Deep
• The Ruin of Isengard — the drowning of Saruman’s stronghold by the Ents
• The ride of the Rohirrim, and the muster of Rohan
• The siege of Gondor and the Battle of the Pelennor Fields
• The coming of Aragorn in the fleet — the winning of the South
• The march of the host to the Black Gate, and the approach of the Ring to its denouement
• The “Tale of the Years” of the Third Age, with the battle-notes and written “outlines” in which Sauron’s assault was ordered

Composition

Written largely 1942-1944, at the height of the author’s war-time service, the drafts show the war itself pressing on the war of the tale — the raising and timing of armies, the distances and days of the march — and Christopher Tolkien’s commentary documents how Tolkien re-fought the battles on paper, renumbering the days of the march to the Gates.

Related

• The Return of the Shadow
• The Treason of Isengard
• Sauron Defeated
• Saruman
• Ents
• Minas Tirith
• Sauron