The Battle of Morannon

The Army of the West marched along the Causeway to Osgiliath and on for 5 miles to their first camp. The next day Gandalf and Aragorn rode as far as the bridge leading to Minas Morgul, which they destroyed. That night they camped close to the Crossroads. (The Black Gate Opens; Bk 3.)

They marched north and towards the end of the second day's march from the Crossroads they reached the cutting where Frodo and Sam had turned off the road and where the Battle with the Oliphaunt took place, and there fought off an ambush. On the fifth day after the Crossroads they made their last camp, after turning away from the road to approach Morannon from the north-west.

They drew up the army – now only 6000 strong – on two hills before the Black Gate. On one hill was Gandalf with the men of Minas Tirith, on the other the men of Rohan and those from the south. In the van were Aragorn and the Dúnedain, Prince Imrahil and the pick of the Tower Guard. (The Black Gate Opens; Bk 3.)

This map also shows the Field of Cormallen which was within earshot of the Falls at Henneth Annûn, and the route down to Cair Andros where the victors took ship and sailed down river to Osgiliath and so back to Minas Tirith. (The Field of Cormallen; Bk 3.)

 

Gorgoroth and Mount Doom

The Hobbits scrambled down into the trough (see also Map 38) and soon found the Orc path which wound down from Cirith Ungol. (See also Map 38.) The trough was probably a bit higher than the plain, say some 750 feet above sea level. At the point where the Hobbits climbed to the top of the Morgai and looked east, they were 1500 feet above the plain (i.e. some 2000 feet above sea level, I reckon.) They were then 40 miles from Orodruin and immediately above one of the Orc camps. The distance from the bridge to the junction of the road past the Orc camp and the road to Durthang was about 60 miles, and from that junction to Orodruin it was also 60 miles.

At Isenmouthe, which was some 20 miles east of there, the Hobbits slipped off the road and passed along the trench and earthwall which joined the spurs of Ephel Dúath and Ered Lithui, about a furlong south of the road. From here the mountain appeared to be about 50 miles away.

Three roads met there, the western road to Durthang, along which the Hobbits had come, the centre road which led south to join the road running up the eastern side of the Morgai, and the eastern road which wound south-east to Barad-dûr. (The Land of Shadow; Mount Doom; Bk 3.)

The Hobbits followed this eastern road for four days until the mountain was almost due south of them, and, as I reckon, about 15 miles away. By this time they were not doing more than about 10 miles a day, and on the final stretch, going south, they were moving even more slowly and it took them two days to reach the foot of the Mountain. (Mount Doom; Bk 3.)

 

Orodruin

On the last day they struggled up the steep slopes. The base of the cone that topped the Mountain was some 3000 ft above the plain and the cone another 1500 ft up – as I make it, about 5000 ft above sea level in all. It was lower (though not necessarily much lower) than the Pass through the Ephel Dúath through which they had come. (Mount Doom; Bk 3.)

Judging by the Tolkien sketch of the Mountain the diameter of the base was about the same as the height above the plain, i.e. about a mile.

It is not stated exactly how far Orodruin was from Barad-dûr, though the pinnacles and iron crown of the fortress were visible from the gate of the Sammath Naur. It was a league between the western end of the bridge leading from the fortress to the point where the causeway started running up to the eastern side of the Mountain. It is unlikely that the whole distance was more than 10 miles.

The Hobbits climbed up the north-western side of the Mountain until they hit on the road which circled it. This led up to the Sammath Naur one way, and down to the Barad-dûr causeway the other, with a road branching off it to the south-west leading to the Orc camps in the south. They entered the dark cave of the Sammath Naur, reached the chasm and finally found their way down again to the point where they were rescued by Gandalf and the eagles. (Mount Doom; The Field of Cormallen; Bk 3.)

 

The Journey Home

The slow return from Minas Tirith to Edoras with Théoden’s bier took 15 days. Thence they went to Helm’s Deep and on to Isengard, where they said farewell to Treebeard and parted from Legolas and Gimli. After this they passed through the Gap of Rohan and made their way north on the west side of the Misty Mountains. After passing Dunland they came upon Saruman and at last came to the place where the road branched off to the Redhorn Pass and Moria Gate. Here they camped for a week before saying farewell to Celeborn and Galadriel.

They went on north again to Rivendell and finally turned west to Bree and The Prancing Pony, on to the point where they had left Tom Bombadil on the outward journey, where Gandalf left them, and so to Brandywine Bridge and the Shire. (Many Partings; Bk 3.)

There is conflicting evidence on the overall distance involved. In Unfinished Tales (The Disaster of the Gladden Fields, Note 6) it says that from Osgiliath to Bree, via Tharbad, was 392 leagues (1176 miles) and from Bree to Rivendell 116 leagues (348 miles). The latter distance presents no problem, but it seems to me that the distance from Osgiliath to Bree is improbably long. If it is about 20 miles from Osgiliath to Minas Tirith and some 440 miles from Minas Tirith to the Fords of Isen (see Note to Map 33) that would make it over 700 miles from Isen to Bree, and I cannot reconcile this with the many other measurements provided.

Incidentally Boromir claimed to have travelled 1200 miles from Minas Tirith to Rivendell (Farewell to Lórien; Bk 1) but it is not at all clear which route he took. He must have gone through Tharbad as he lost his horse there, so it is possible that he took the road the whole way. He may, however, have gone up the Hoarwell to the Last Bridge, though without a horse he would have found it difficult to carry enough food, while if he had gone up the Bruinen he would have had to cross the wild fenlands of Swanfleet and the river Glanduin. (History of Galadriel and Celeborn; Appendix D, Unfinished Tales.)