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 Post subject: Rohirrim & Gondorian Casualtiies ~ Pelennor Fields
PostPosted: February 13th, 2018, 5:17 am 
Dunedain Ranger of Arnor
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This is an interesting analysis/conjecture of the casualties the Rohirrim suffered in battle. Give it a read, and say what you think.

How many Rohirrim riders and Gondorian soldiers died fighting during the battle of the Pelennor Fields?
By Shawn Lu, Maiar, keeper of archives for Aule.

(Original posting of this work)

Here we go. I brought out my copy of the third book for this.

So, Tolkien did not give a specific death toll immediately after he wrote about the battle. But he did name casualties. Theoden, Harding, Guthlaf, Dunhere, Derowine, Grimbold, Herefera, Herubrand, Horn, Fastred, were Rohirrim casulaties. Hirluin, Forlong, Derufin, Duilin were named casualties for Gondor. Of the Rangers present, Halbarad was killed.

The chapter, the Last Debate, gives far more detail. The Rohirrim rode with around 6000 men. This was established previously. A quote from Eomer actually says that he could barely lead 2000 men out and leave the same number for defence of Minas Tirith. The makes the Rohirrim’s casualties close to 2000 soldiers, though given the fact that the Rohirrim are usually mounted, the horses might have been taken into account here.

Now, here’s the interesting part. Aragorn actually does a total count. He says that his strength could be mustered to 7000 attackers, having already sent 4000 soldiers out through Lossarnach, and still leave the city in better shape that it used to be. Used to be must be around 1500 soldiers from Osgiliath, plus probably 2000 at Gondor itself, and 3000 more. Actually, the LOTR wiki gives the defensive strength of Gondor at 18300 in the battle, though I’m not sure if that includes the forces Aragorn brought.

In any case there’s our number. 2000 casualties from Rohan. The total remaining force must number 15000 or more, because 7000 were led by Aragorn to the Black Gate, more than 4000 were left in Minas Tirith, and 4000 were led through Lossarnach. For Gondor, I will have to extrapolate. Since the number of reinforcements from Gondor’s surrounding regions was about 3000, but that they needed significant forces to actually defend each region, I’m going to assume that the strength of Gondor’s remaining reserves was probably close to 20,000 men. Of that, Aragorn likely led 10,000, though probably not much more, because he came by ship, and Gondor’s navy was limited. So 10,000 troops from Aragorn, 4000 Gondor defenders, and 6000 Rohirrim fought in the battle, along with 1500 men from Osgiliath. Casualties seem to be around 10500, because the 4000 through Lossarnach did not actually participate in the battle.

So in short, before the battle, 1000 soldiers were at Minas Tirith. 1000 or so had fled from Osgiliath, having 500 men lost. 3000 men reinforced Minas Tirith, bringing the total probably up to 5000 inside the city when the gate broke. 6000 showed up in the morning from Rohan. When the Haradrim rallied and Rohan’s momentum was lost, Aragorn showed up with probably 10,000 soldiers on ships. Then, after the battle, Aragorn had at least 11,000 soldiers on hand, with 4000 more soldiers running around Lossarnach, with 6000 men in reserve around Gondor. Rohan lost 2000 of its 6000 men, but lost a bunch more horses. Probably 4000. Gondor then lost a full 8000 soldiers, bearing the brunt of that assault. Given the sheer number of commanders who died, this is actually not too surprising.

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Last edited by Hanasian on February 13th, 2018, 8:31 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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 Post subject: Re: How many Rohirrim riders and Gondorian soldiers died fig
PostPosted: February 13th, 2018, 7:59 pm 
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Ah...very handy indeed. Now I understand the rationale for this (I didn't last night when we were discussing this).

Seems to jibe with my own rough assessment of Rohan's strength in Gondor post Pelennor. What I wonder about is Rohan's strength overall. By that, I mean the defensive strength of Rohan in total (versus those about to muster) before Pelennor.

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 Post subject: Re: Rohirrim & Gondorian Casualtiies ~ Pelennor Fields
PostPosted: February 14th, 2018, 6:28 pm 
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Nice detail, Hanasían. I can hardly wait until Gando sees your post.

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 Post subject: Re: Rohirrim & Gondorian Casualtiies ~ Pelennor Fields
PostPosted: February 14th, 2018, 9:26 pm 
Dunedain Ranger of Arnor
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Evil.Shieldmaiden wrote:
Nice detail, Hanasían. I can hardly wait until Gando sees your post.


Ah yes, a paragraph of pontifications! :lol:

I'd be more interested in what Elthir had to say on it.
;-)


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 Post subject: Re: Rohirrim & Gondorian Casualtiies ~ Pelennor Fields
PostPosted: February 15th, 2018, 3:26 pm 
Istari
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Evil.Shieldmaiden wrote:
Nice detail, Hanasían. I can hardly wait until Gando sees your post.

I "heard" that!!! :annoyed: :lol:

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 Post subject: Re: Rohirrim & Gondorian Casualtiies ~ Pelennor Fields
PostPosted: June 10th, 2023, 8:02 am 
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