Poll
48%
24%
3%
7%
17%
0%
Only LoTR or whole Middleearth?
If LoTR - Last Alliance... because... uhm... Sauron is fighting in it?
And all Middleearth - the Nirnaeth Arnoediad, Unnumbered Tears, because it's tragic, it's huge, it's important and loads of cool people die, and most of all - it wasnt even started by Morgoth
~ and the Kinslaying of Alqualonde, for the same reasons and because from now on everything leads to the Noldor's most bitter end
And of course the Dagor Dagrath 😎 < because I'd love to see the end of the World ✅
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and of course there be the battles of the Númenóreans ^^ ... just for their Númenórean-ness
i would say either
last alliance- i fight and am defeated but i take the elven king of whom the harpers sadly sing and elendil down with me
i would say battle of unnumbered tears for the same reason exa did
i would say the five armies because the main character is knocked out by a rock and thorin dies.
but i must say my favourite middle earth battle of all time would have to be...
Just battles or can we also include some fights between two people only?
For battles:
Most exciting battle, for me, would have to be The Fall of Gondolin from The Book of Lost Tales II. Great build up to the battle as the troops marshal themselves to fight the Balrogs, dragons, and the waves of orcs. Lovely individual fight scenes - Ecthelion vs. the Balrog, e.g. The descriptions of this battle in the Book of Lost Tales II was better than that in The Silmarillion, IMO.
Because of the huge scope, many heroic deeds, and tragic events and final stands, I would also go with Nirnaeth Arnoediad. It seemed to be a great victory, but turned out to be the greatest and the final loss of the Noldor. And it shows greatly the deeds of Hurin Thalion and his brother Huor and the Men of Dor-lomin. It was so well crafted, with tragedy, valor, bravery, friendship and horror mixing perfectly in their limited descriptions in The Silmarillion.
The War of the Last Alliance. Man, that battle rocked! Wasn't the host of Men and Elves the most magnificent since the host of Nirnaeth Arnoediad? The coolest thing-they won. Nirnaeth Arnoediad was lost, Dagor Bragollach was lost, but this was the battle that shaped the future of Middle-earth til its end-and it was won, and decisively. True, Sauron did regain much of his former strength, but lost it in the blink of an eye once Gollum fell into the Crack of Doom.
The Dagor Dagrath (LOL..I'll join with Exa, you'll never get wrong 😛 ) I'm always having some goosebumps whenever I read the Prophecy of the Last Battle. And of course, The End of the World is always awesome. 😖hifty:
As for the most thoroughly crafted battle, I would have to say it is the Battle of the Pelennor Fields. It's not because it was the biggest or the scariest or anything like that, it's just because of the major events that happened within. There are so many different angles (the Ride of the Rohirrim, Faramir retreating from Osgiliath, the coming of Aragorn, the battle of Merry and Eowyn against the Witch King, Gandalf's various deeds, etc.), all brought together by an overwhelming sense of grim resolve and dire hopelessness. I was compelled with Gandalf saying that the whole battle was just a destruction, and the real battle was with two Hobbits, out there alone.
For just the fights:
I liked the fight between Sauron and Felagund. Not so much the actual fight, but the idea. A song-fight? I might actually win! 😄
Gandalf vs The Balrog was immense! It went on and on until Gandalf finally struck down his foe. Full of tension, I'm hyperventilating again!
The fight between Fingolfin and Morgoth. 'Nuff said.
But the best fight would be...the one fight we never really get to see...the one that went on in Frodo's mind against the Ring. 😉