[Rumil]

Well, hmmmm,

Is nobody into the Battle of Five Armies! Oh well, I really wanted to hear some opinions of what wolves could do on a battlefield, anyway...

Moving on to the raids in Ithilien, much has been discussed on this matter above. Just a few dates etc. to sort out, then hopefully I'll pique your interest with a bit of discussion.

The 'Watchful Peace' ended in 2460. The attacks on Gondor from Minas Morgul were renewed, with Osgiliath taken and the bridge destroyed in 2475. By 2885 there were frequent Haradrim attacks on Southern Ithilien culminating in the defeat of the Southrons by Gondor and Rohan at the Fords of the Poros.

By 2901 the attacks of Uruks from Mordor forced all but the hardiest inhabitants out of Ithilien. Turin II was Steward of Gondor, he responded by creating secret bases such as Henneth Annun and fortifying Cair Andros. During Turgon's stewardship, Sauron returned to Mordor (2942), then just after Ecthelion II's accession Mount Doom resumed its eruptions (2954) and the last inhabitants fled from Ithilien. There was still a force of arms held in Ithilien, and its possible that Aragorn (as Thorongil) led or organised the Rangers of Ithilien during the 2960s and 70s. During the last years of Denethor II's stewardship the Rangers were led by Faramir (and perhaps Boromir at times).

In my opinion, it seems plain that this was generally a low-intensity border-war, with frequent skirmishes over a period of more than 500 years. Ithilien was used as a buffer zone, to keep Sauron's forces well away from poulated Gondor and provide warnings of major invasions.

During the early 2900s there were still 'civilians' in Ithilien. I wonder if they lived in protected secluded villages such as their ancestors used in Brethil? Presumably the orcs would wish to raid and destroy these communities, while the Gondorian soldiery tried to protect them.

With the evacuation of civilians in 2954, Ithilien became a solely military zone. I'd like to think that the Rangers were organised by Aragorn, who could certainly have passed on the tracking techniques etc. of the Rangers of Arnor, also there's a possibility that men of other countries joined this unit. Ecthelion recruited widely and Faramir mentions a Ranger from Rohan.

It's said that a number of secret strongholds were built but only Henneth Annun survived to the War of the Ring. There must have been frequent searches for, and assaults on, the other strongholds during the late 2900s.

The Rangers, as we encounter them under Faramir, dressed in green hooded cloaks to aid concealment in the woods and carried spears or longbows. Their number was probably not very great, a few companies,so 200 to 500 men perhaps. Their enemies were the orcs of Mordor, occasionally Haradrim and possibly Easterlings.

The Rangers performed a useful intelligence-gathering task, kept the enemy at arms length from Gondor, allowed the soldiery to gain combat experience and kept up the morale of Gondor with their small victories. In the end, though, they could not even hope to dent the Sauron's great army, but sensibly pulled back to defend Minas Tirith.