Confusing

[Yodaman]

I was looking through the ROTK appendicies the other day when I found something confusing in Appendix B on page 1069...

"When news came of the great victories of the south, then Sauron's northern army was filled with dismay: and the besieged came forth and routed them, and the remnant fled into the east and troubled Dale no more."

What does that all mean? I'm really confused

[gollum9630]

not sure exactly, but i think it has to do with the fact taht Sauron had a siege on dale and the lonely mountain, and when news came of his defeat his soldiers were filled with fear and fled, just as it says.

[azalea]

That's right, the war was happening on other fronts, one being Dale. When Sauron was defeated, his armies there got word, via messenger, of his downfall, and they fled.

[entss89]

so pravticully all they are saying is word of the victory and sauron's troops chickened out....mostly....just dumbing it down for me...

[jerseydevil]

Originally posted by Yodaman
"When news came of the great victories of the south, then Sauron's northern army was filled with dismay: and the besieged came forth and routed them, and the remnant fled into the east and troubled Dale no more."

What does that all mean? I'm really confused

I'll break this up and explain the english of it...

As was stated - when Saurons armies were defeated - his armies in the north received word. They were shocked and troubled. They obviously never thought that Sauron could be defeated and they lost all their moral.

The defenders, the men of Dale, came forward and attacked Sauron's army. Hence the hunter became the hunted. The men of Dale defeated them, killing most of his army.

The surviving members of Sauron's armies fled and never attacked Dale again.

I thought this might help some non-English speakers to fully understand that sentence.

[Thorin II]

I'm not sure they would've needed to get word "via messenger" to know Sauron was defeated. I remember reading something about orcs and trolls being constantly driven by the spirit of Sauron. The line mentions how after Sauron fell, many orcs and trolls wandered off. I take that to mean that Sauron's presence drove his minions to fight with a sense of purpose. That being the case, the orcs at Dale would've known the instant Sauron was defeated.

[Earniel]

Hm, I'm not so sure of that. Sauron drove his armies, yes, but did the orcs and other creatures know in that extent? Would they have been conciously aware of the grip Sauron's will had on their minds? The orcs could suddenly have felt their courage sinking without immediatly knowing that it was caused by Sauron's defeat. The message would have confirmed it and destroyed the last will to fight that might have been present. To think your lord is defeated is quite another thing than to hear messengers report that your lord is defeated.