What Was the Course of Ar-Pharazôn’s Last Campaign Against Sauron?

Q: What Was the Course of Ar-Pharazôn’s Last Campaign Against Sauron?

ANSWER: This question has nothing to do with the Amazon production. A blog reader sent the following to me in February 2020:

I would love it if you would be willing to speculate on some of the actions of Ar-Pharazon……

I have often wondered about the Numenorean force that challenged Sauron in the late Second Age.
We know that Pharazon landed at Umbar, but where and by what route did you think he lead his troops? Did that army advance up the coast or did it penetrate inland? How far did Numenor’s King bring his powerful army? Did he go as far as the borders of Mordor, perhaps to Ithilien and the passes in the Ephel Duath? Also, do you think there was any military engagement at all? It seems from the text that there was not. Nevertheless, it seems unlikely that Sauron’s forces would not surrender unless a significant threat was close to Mordor itself. Also , I wonder if the Witch King (being one of the King’s men in his origin) had anything to do with the negotiations that would result in Sauron’s personal surrender?

Thoughts?

Let me begin by saying that the questions most likely to go longest without an answer from me are requests for my speculations. Much as I appreciate these requests, they put me in a bad position. I’ve been falsely accused many times over the past 25 years of substituting my own speculations for J.R.R. Tolkien’s ideas. If I leave a comment somewhere to the effect of “J.R.R. Tolkien wrote [some obscure fact no one else has heard of]”, people immediately assume I’m making stuff up. I don’t always have time to quote the books – and even when I do quote the books, if someone doesn’t like what Tolkien wrote they’ll attempt to shoot it down by claiming I made it up.

So, consider me burned enough that I prefer not to speculate too much about Tolkien’s Middle-earth. On the other hand, I feel bad when people take the time to ask me these questions and I don’t say anything. So I keep them in the queue and eventually I try to come up with a reasonable answer.

What Tolkien Wrote about Ar-Pharazôn’s Invasion

J.R.R. Tolkien wrote several versions of the story, all brief, of how Ar-Pharazôn invaded Middle-earth with the intention of humbling Sauron. In at least one text JRRT writes that Ar-Pharazôn had fought wars in Middle-earth when he was young – he was a great captain. So he must have had a fearsome reputation as a great Númenórean war leader.

This is what Christopher Tolkien included in “Akallabêth” in The Silmarillion:

The mightiest and proudest was Ar-Pharazôn the Golden of all those that had wielded the Sceptre of the Sea-Kings since the foundation of Númenór; and three and twenty Kings and Queens had ruled the Númenóreans before, and slept now in their deep tombs under the mount of Meneltarma, lying upon beds of gold.

And sitting upon his carven throne in the city of Armenelos in the glory of his power, he brooded darkly, thinking of war. For he had learned in Middle-earth of the strength of the realm of Sauron, and of his hatred of Westernesse. And now there came to him the masters of ships and captains returning out of the East, and they reported that Sauron was putting forth his might, since Ar-Pharazôn had gone back from Middle-earth, and he was pressing down upon the cities by the coasts; and he had taken now the title of King of Men, and declared his purpose to drive the Númenóreans into the sea, and destroy even Númenór, if that might be.

Great was the anger of Ar-Pharazôn at these tidings, and as he pondered long in secret, his heart was filled with the desire of power unbounded and the sole dominion of his will. And he determined without counsel of the Valar, or the aid of any wisdom but his own, that the title of King of Men he would himself claim, and would compel Sauron to become his vassal and his servant; for in his pride he deemed that no king should ever arise so mighty as to vie with the Heir of Eärendil. Therefore he began in that time to smithy great hoard of weapons, and many ships of war he built and stored them with his arms; and when all was made ready he himself set sail with his host into the East.

And men saw his sails coming up out of the sunset, dyed as with scarlet and gleaming with red and gold, and fear fell upon the dwellers by the coasts, and they fled far away. But the fleet came at last to that place that was called Umbar, where was the mighty haven of the Númenóreans that no hand had wrought. Empty and silent were all the lands about when the King of the Sea marched upon Middle-earth. For seven days he journeyed with banner and trumpet, and he came to a hill, and he went up, and he set there his pavilion and his throne; and he sat him down in the midst of the land, and the tents of his host were ranged all about him, blue, golden, and white, as a field of tall flowers. Then he sent forth heralds, and he commanded Sauron to come before him and swear to him fealty.

And Sauron came. Even from his mighty tower of Barad-dûr he came, and made no offer of battle. For he perceived that the power and majesty of the Kings of the Sea surpassed all rumour of them, so that he could not trust even the greatest of his servants to withstand them; and he saw not his time yet to work his will with the Dúnedain. And he was crafty, well skilled to gain what he would by subtlety when force might not avail. Therefore he humbled himself before Ar-Pharazôn and smoothed his tongue; and men wondered, for all that he said seemed fair and wise.

But Ar-Pharazôn was not yet deceived, and it came into his mind that, for the better keeping of Sauron and of his oaths of fealty, he should be brought to Númenór, there to dwell as a hostage for himself and all his servants in Middle-earth. To this Sauron assented as one constrained, yet in his secret thought he received it gladly, for it chimed indeed with his desire. And Sauron passed over the sea and looked upon the land of Númenór, and on the city of Armenelos in the days of its glory, and he was astounded; but his heart within was filled the more with envy and hate.

There is another text I want to quote. This is from The Peoples of Middle-earth, where Christopher Tolkien discusses the history of the brief summary that appeared in the LoTR appendices. There is much more detail in the PoME texts because J.R.R. Tolkien was forced to cut out a lot of material to save on paper when the book was published.

…I cite here two passages from the first version of the text.

Proudest of all the Kings was Ar-Pharazon the Golden, and no less than the kingship of all the world was his desire. But still he retained enough wisdom to fear the Lords of the West, and turned therefore his thoughts to Middle-earth. Now Sauron knowing of the dissension in Numenor thought how he might use it to achieve his revenge. He began therefore to assail the havens and forts of the Numenoreans, and invaded the coastlands under their dominion. As he foresaw this aroused the great wrath of the King, who resolved to challenge Sauron the Great for the lordship of Middle-earth. For five years Ar-Pharazon prepared, and at last he himself set sail with a great navy and armament, the greatest that had yet appeared in the world.

If Sauron had thought thus to decoy the King to Middle-earth and there destroy him, his hope deceived him. And Ar-Pharazon landed at Umbar, and so great was the splendour and might of the Numenoreans at the noon of their glory that at the rumour of them alone all men flocked to their summons and did obeisance; and Sauron’s own servants fled away. The land of Mordor he had indeed fortified and made so strong that he need fear no assault upon it; but he was in doubt now, and even the Barad-dur seemed no longer secure.

Sauron therefore changed his design, and had recourse to guile. He humbled himself, and came himself on foot before Ar-Pharazon, and did him homage and craved pardon for his offences. And Ar-Pharazon spared his life; but took from him all his titles, and made him prisoner, and carried him at length back to Numenor to be hostage for the submission and faith of all who had before owed him allegiance.

What Real History Suggests for Tolkien’s Possible Inspirations

So, first of all, let me talk about the ships. We know they had 5 masts. Historically, 5-masted schooners were the largest pre-steam sailing ships ever built prior to the 20th century. The next-to-last one built, the Preussen, was built in 1902 and it had a steel hull.

These ships were huge and according to Ships and Things fandom wiki, only 75 such ships have ever been built. That list doesn’t include the modern 5-masted schooner, Royal Clipper, which is apparently huge even by 5-masted schooner standards. It’s a cruise vessel that can carry over 220 guests. (And, yes, I know there was one 7-masted schooner, the Thomas W. Lawson, but Tolkien didn’t mention any 7-masted Númenórean ships.)

I don’t know how many sailors and soldiers Tolkien would have imagined the Númenórean ships holding, but I’ve seen people (with some nautical knowledge) estimate each ship could have carried between 500 and 1,000 personnel. That’s based on the assumption that the Númenóreans didn’t care much for comfort on warships.

The Bay of Umbar measures about 150 miles across from west to east, using my finger against one of Tolkien’s maps. It could easily accommodate hundreds if not thousands of 5-masted ships. Without pinning myself down to any specific number, and assuming the bay was not filled to capacity, I would estimate Ar-Pharazôn’s force to number in excess of 100,000 men and probably somewhere around 200,000 to 250,000.

For contrast, look at the June 1944 D-Day invasion. The Allies assembled nearly 7,000 ships and landing craft (including over 1200 warships). The ships were manned by just over 195,000 crew. The invasion force included more than 150,000 British and American troops (2/3 British for those who are curious). If Tolkien had any historical amphibious landings in mind when he wrote about Ar-Pharazôn’s landing, maybe he was thinking about the disastrous Gallipolli campaign in the First World War. The Allies sent nearly 500,000 troops to invade the Ottoman Empire. The Allies suffered 60% losses to mortality, capture, illness, missing, and wounded. In rewriting the story, he gave Ar-Pharazôn an advantage the Allies lacked in both those major invasions: a haven at which to land.

A Realistic View of Ar-Pharazôn’s Journey

Ar-Pharazôn marched for 7 days. I don’t know how fast a force of 100,000 to 200,000 men can march across the countryside. Presumably the lands between Umbar and Mordor were hospitable enough to allow that. But Ar-Pharazôn would have needed a massive supply line. The ancient Romans used mules to carries supplies, as well as ox-drawn wagons. So the army could not have marched too fast or they’d get too far ahead of their supplies.

That did happen at times during ancient wars. Caesar’s Gallic Commentaries mention how the Gauls attacked his baggage trains, forcing the Roman armies to turn around and protect their supplies. Having military training and experience, Tolkien would have known that Ar-Pharazôn needed to leave behind part of his force at Umbar. These would be reserves but they’d also protect his main supply base. Hence, we can assume that Ar-Pharazôn didn’t take the entire force he sailed with on the 7-day journey.

The text says that people fled from the coasts when they saw the Númenórean fleet. It would have taken many days for the ships to sail to Umbar, unload, and then for the expeditionary force to assemble and get underway. That would provide plenty of time for the hostile tribes near Umbar to flee inland and spread the rumor of the invasion.

These would not have been mobs running across the landscape. They’d die quickly without food, water, and rest. So I’m sure Tolkien meant for them to have time to walk at least dozens of miles across Middle-earth in long columns as refugees.

Presumably, the average refugee column can move about 30-40 miles per day (Note: Probably only a fraction of that). They would have to take their children, their elderly, their sick, and whatever goods they could carry. They’d need to stop to rest frequently, seek food and water, and would grow miserable and weak as they traveled further with fewer supplies.

Ar-Pharazôn’s Númenóreans were tall, well-fed, and disciplined. They could probably travel twice the distance as a typical column of refugees. But how far is that? Maybe 50-60 miles per day?

Using my finger again, I’d estimate that Ar-Pharazôn would have been able to cross the Harnen (the long river running from Mordor’s southern mountains westward to the sea). So he probably set up camp within 100 miles of Mordor’s southern border.

*=> See Adam’s comment below regarding how far an army can march in a day.

I don’t think Tolkien meant to imply there were any battles. The bulk of Sauron’s forces were stationed in Mordor. And I suspect that is where the Nazgûl were, unless some of them were positioned elsewhere in Middle-earth in command of lesser realms.

Because Sauron had time to assess the strength of the Númenórean force and reconsider his strategy, I’d say he didn’t arrange any battles. That is, he wasn’t caught by surprise in the field. He was only caught by surprise in his strategy. He kicked a sleeping giant and woke it, and once he saw what he was up against, he decided not to risk another full-on confrontation with the enemies who had thoroughly routed him at the end of the War of the Elves and Sauron (middle of the Second Age). Ar-Pharazôn had a much larger force this time.

By the time Sauron humbled himself before his enemy, he already had a fully formed plan in mind. He didn’t need to lose any battles to ensure he’d be taken prisoner. He only needed to leave some doubt in Ar-Pharazôn’s mind about whether he could be trusted to keep his word.

My Concluding Thoughts

I’ve often wondered what Tolkien had in mind for this campaign. In re-reading these texts (and a few others), I think he wanted something different from a classic invasion. He had already written about a couple of successful invasions.

Tolkien may have drawn inspiration from the Biblical story of how terrifying Goliath was, and all the soldiers of Israel fled away from him in fear. But there are other instances where armies have stopped in their tracks and even run away. During the American Civil War, a Confederate general marched his troops behind a barrier all night long; the opposing Union Troops thought the Confederates were being heavily reinforced and decided not to attack. From ancient China there comes a story of a general (Cao Cao, I think) who sent most of his troops to gather wheat, unaware his enemies were approaching. When his remaining men told him of the approaching army, he ordered them to open the city gate. He sat outside playing a musical instrument. The enemy commander concluded he was being lured into a trap and retreated.

Regardless of what inspired the story of Ar-Pharazôn’s bloodless invasion, it was just a pretext for getting Sauron into Númenór, where he could bring about its final downfall. I don’t think one need assume there were unmentioned battles. Ar-Pharazôn seems more arrogant without having to fight a major battle before Sauron surrenders. He literally walked right into Sauron’s trap.

See Also

Do We Know the Size of the Armies of Númenór?

How Could the Númenóreans Defeat Sauron in the Second Age?

Have Island, Will Rebel

What is the Meaning of Umbar (the City Name)?

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