Minor Battles in The Lord of The Rings - Ambush in Ithilien

Ambush in Ithilien

Combatants: Gondor vs. Harad

The Two Towers contains a skirmish or ambush which was part of the smaller battles in the War of the Ring, recounted in the chapter "Of Herbs and Stewed Rabbit".

It was fought by Men against Men: Rangers of Ithilien, led by Faramir of Gondor, against Southrons of Harad, Men allied with the evil Sauron. Most of the fighting is actually not seen, but heard by the hobbits Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee.

Frodo and Sam had come across the Rangers prior to the fighting; their guide Gollum had sneaked off. While Faramir left two of his men, Mablung and Damrod, to guard them, the Rangers ambushed the Haradrim, who were soundly beaten. As the battle ended, Sam had a flash of empathy for a dead warrior of Harad who had fallen at his feet; he wondered if he was truly evil at heart, or merely deceived or enslaved by Sauron. Immediately afterward, he saw a raging, out-of-control Oliphaunt, a great beast of war he knew only from folklore (which the author describes as a larger ancestor of the modern elephant), and was both elated and terrified.

There were ~ 200-300 Rangers of Ithilien left following the battle, and the Southron regiment was defeated and most were slain.

After Faramir questioned Frodo for a while, the Rangers withdrew to their hidden stronghold, Henneth Annûn, taking the hobbits with them.