Chapter One: The Enemy’s Plans
I begin this work in a way that many will deem controversial. I nevertheless see it as entirely necessary, for given that Sauron initiated the War of the Ring, it is impossible to truly understand it as a whole without guessing as to his intentions at its outset. Based on his actions in the Second Age, it seems safe to assume that the Dark Lord wished reduce all the peoples of Middle earth to his subjects or clients, and be avenged upon the Eldar and Dúnedain for his past humiliations and defeats. Following the departure of so many Elves at the beginning of the Third Age and the subsequent rise of the Dúnedain kingdoms, he naturally saw the latter as his strongest enemy and developed his strategy accordingly. In the early years of the second millennium since his downfall he went to Amon Lanc, the old capital of the Silvan Elves, and built upon it the fortress of Dol Guldur. Establishing himself here he began to coordinate attack upon Arnor and Gondor. The North Kingdom was finally destroyed in 1975 but Gondor endured the attacks, though it was weakened substantially. Sauron, while remaining at Dol Guldur for a time, slowly built up his forces in Mordor, partly because that land is a natural stronghold but also because it serves as an excellent position from which to launch an attack on Gondor. It would be foolish however to see the War of the Ring as primarily an attack on Minas Tirith, because although the defeat of Gondor was the Enemy’s first priority it was certainly not his only objective. The fact that large scale attacks were launched against the Elven realm of Lórien and the Dwarven city of Erebor suggests that Sauron wished to crush all centres of resistance west of the Misty Mountains immediately, the subsequent conquest of Eriador being little more than a formality. Indeed, what separates the War of the Ring from all other conflicts before or since is that it was not limited to any geographical area. Sauron committed all his vassals and allies to an attack on any who did not accept his rule. Rather than having limited strategic objectives, Sauron aimed for the complete conquest of Middle Earth in one final conflict. So while the main targets of his forces may have been the strongholds of Minas Tirith, Caras Galadhon and Erebor, they still launched attacks on areas such as the Anduin Vale, even if there the inhabitants of such lands were unlikely to come to the aid of the Dark Lord’s greatest foes. The result was a conflict that, despite its short length, caused devastation all over Middle Earth.
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Chapter 1: The Enemy's Plans
Submitted by Hithenair on November 9th, 2015
