Attack on Dol Guldur

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Attack on Dol Guldur
Angus McBride - Dol Guldur.jpg
Date: T.A. 2941
Place: Dol Guldur
Outcome: Victory for the White Council
Combatants

The White Council

Forces of Sauron

Commanders
Strength

The White Council

Orcs from Dol Guldur[source?]

The Attack on Dol Guldur was an expedition launched by the White Council in T.A. 2941 against the fortress of Dol Guldur in southern Mirkwood.

Prelude

When Sauron re-emerged, he established Dol Guldur on Amon Lanc after T.A. 1000. His corrupting shadow was only known as the "Necromancer", and as a result Thranduil led his people away. The Council of the Wise long feared the Necromancer might indeed be Sauron; Gandalf himself had entered Dol Guldur a couple of times, finally confirming that Sauron was its master. At first Saruman opposed the idea of an attack as he was searching for the One Ring in the area by then, but later, fearing that Sauron was also looking of the Ring, he finally agreed to an attack in 2941.[1]

The Battle

Gandalf carefully planned the attack to occur at the same time as the Quest of Erebor, knowing that Sauron and Smaug could not assist each other.[source?] After leaving Thorin and Company at the outskirts of Mirkwood,[2] he joined the White Council and they marched against the great fortress.

Of the actual battle not much can be said (if this was simply a duel between great powers, or if it involved the use of armies of any kind). Thanks to the devices of Saruman, the Wise drove him out from Dol Guldur,[source?] and Sauron, having already made his plans, fled to his ancient realm of Mordor.[1]

Aftermath

With victory theirs, Gandalf immediately left for Erebor, where he would take part in the Battle of Five Armies.[3] After these events, Gandalf and Elrond dicussed their victories and agreed that it would be better if the Necromancer were banished from the world altogether.[4]

However Dol Guldur was not destroyed; it remained standing, staffed by the lieutenant of Barad-dûr, and later Khamûl.[5] It was not before the War of the Ring when the fortress was finally destroyed.

Portrayal in adaptations

2014: The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies:

The Attack on Dol Guldur appears in The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies as a secondary plot thread. Gandalf, who has been imprisoned by the Necromancer at the end of the second film, is rescued by Galadriel, Elrond and Saruman. The three of them defeat the Nazgûl but Galadriel uses her phial to challenge Sauron: he flees to the east.

References