Siege of Minas Ithil?

[BillyBobBaggins]

In the appendices, it states Minas Ithil was besieged by the nazgul in TA 2000, but this was the time when there was still a king in Gondor. It seems like at this time Gondor would still have had enough power to do something about the siege, wouldn't it? Is anything else known about this battle?

Which brings me to another question, did tolkien ever make a sketch of the city?

 

[Bard the Bowman]

Remember, Gondor had come through the three greatest woes in its history. The Kin-strife, the Plague, and just recently the Wainriders. They had regained some of their strength since the recent invasion of the Wainriders. Indeed, Earnil even felt secure enough to aid Arnor. But think about the location of Minas Ithil. It is sundered from Gondor, separated by the river, right in the Ash Mountains.

They probably gave it up for the same reason they abandoned the Towers of the Teeth, Carchost and Narchost, and also Cirith Ungol. It is just not worth it to live in the Shadow, and for what? Maybe they figured it was inevitable Minas Ithil would fall, being that close to Mordor, and why waste men and resources trying to keep it.

 

[BillyBobBaggins]

But Minas Ithil was still an important city was it not? It also contained the palantir that Sauron would often use later.

 

[Withywindle]

It always struck me as an odd place to establish a city in the first place - Sauron had only recently vacated Mordor and, although Isildur wasn't to know that he would soon return, the place must have been crawling with his servants still and have had an evil ambience. And then after the defeat of Sauron it still would have been unpleasant - one thing was to establish and maintain towers and castles of guard and another thing was to set up home and bring you kids up on Mordor's doorstep.

Anyway, in freference to the siege, I can't recall much information, but it does seem odd that, however decadent Gondor had become, she should abandon her citizens to their deaths without putting up a fight. Unless of course Minas Ithil had already been abandoned as a city and was only garrisoned by soldiers - any info on this?

 

[Odin]

It always struck me as an odd place to establish a city in the first place - Sauron had only recently vacated Mordor and, although Isildur wasn't to know that he would soon return, the place must have been crawling with his servants still and have had an evil ambience. And then after the defeat of Sauron it still would have been unpleasant - one thing was to establish and maintain towers and castles of guard and another thing was to set up home and bring you kids up on Mordor's doorstep.

Anyway, in freference to the siege, I can't recall much information, but it does seem odd that, however decadent Gondor had become, she should abandon her citizens to their deaths without putting up a fight. Unless of course Minas Ithil had already been abandoned as a city and was only garrisoned by soldiers - any info on this?

Even if it was abandoned, there was no way Gondor would have ever given up Minas Ithil while it contained one of the precious Palantiri. The fact that the siege lasted for two full years indicates that it must have been a great struggle and that the Nazgul must have been commanding a great host that could counter Gondor's armies.

 

[Alcuin]

Yes, Minas Ithil was still important in Third Age 2002 when it fell. It was strategically placed to control the only east-west pass into Mordor. It was more or less due east of Osgiliath, the original capital of Gondor, and with Minas Anor helped defend the capital from attack.

The siege apparently lasted about two years. If the Nazgûl had Orcs block the entrance to the valley, as I suspect they did (that’s how historical sieges were conducted), then neither relief armies from Minas Anor nor supplies could reach the defenders; and of course, they could not expect any help from east over the pass.

Though they did abandon the Towers of the Teeth, the Dúnedain of Gondor did not give up Cirith Ungol. Briefly deserted following the Great Plague of 1636, the Dúnedain reoccupied it. It was taken by treachery (RotK, “Tower of Cirith Ungol”) by the Witch-king. We are not given any details, but it’s likely that was the opening move of the siege of Minas Ithil, since Cirith Ungol was its outpost. It’s likely that a warning beacon atop its uppermost tower could be seen in Minas Ithil, just as Frodo and Sam could see the dim light the Orcs kept. (The Dúnedain also kept warning towers along the north and south side of the White Mountains: Gandalf and Pippin saw the northern beacons being lit as they rode to Minas Tirith.) We should suppose that its fall forestalled any warning of the impeding attack upon Minas Ithil.

Minas Ithil also controlled the north-south road the Númenóreans built in Ithilien. The fall of the fortress basically cut Ithilien in half. Besides leaving the residents of that beautiful strip of land open to attack by Orcs and worse things, it eventually gave Mordor control of the road, and ultimately access to the bridge over Anduin, over which the Nazgûl crossed in 3018 to begin the Hunt for the Ring.

 

[Odin]

I agree with everything said. The Nazgul must have needed a great host to block Gondor from lifting the Siege of Minas Ithil. However just 25 years prior to the assault on the Tower of the Rising Moon, Gondor crushed the armies of Angmar in the North with a host that was "but a fraction of the strength of Gondor". With so much military strength at their disposal, it seems odd that the Gondorian Army couldn't overwhelm the Orc blockade and charge into Imlad Ithil to relive the beleaguered city.

 

[Mike]

Which brings me to another question, did tolkien ever make a sketch of the city?

Well, it's several years later, but I think there is a sketch or at least a rough map of the area around Minas Morgul in one of the History of Middle Earth books. I could be misremembering.

 

[Alcuin]

Well, it's several years later, but I think there is a sketch or at least a rough map of the area around Minas Morgul in one of the History of Middle Earth books. I could be misremembering.

Your memory is sound, Mike. It’s on page 181 of the American (Houghton-Mifflin) soft-cover edition of War of the Ring.

 

[Halasían]

The location of Minas Ithil was strategic in the fact it guarded the pass that led into and out of Mordor. But the supply route was a single road, so if the road was lost, so too would be the city. The fact they held out for two years was likely due to provision stored inside its walls. I suppose the route out was lost and so made it impossible to move the Palantir out and west to safety.

 

[Hisoka Morrow]

The Nazguls command center of the siege had been indicated was Cirith-Ungol, indicated by JRRT's appendix in ROTK. In addition, before the grand campaign begun, JRRT had also implied multiple skirmishes must have taken places in the ROTK appendix as it's said multiple "fallen creatures" begun to infiltrate Ithilein province. It's not indicated but implied, the battle of Minas-Ithil was a full-frontal meat grinder composed of numerous campaign and skirmishes, thus I thought JRRT was too hard to manage the battle progress in details.