A History of the Last Alliance of Elves and Men, Part 3 - Page 7
© Michael Martinez
Glorfindel is more probably a participant in the war. According to Christopher Tolkien, his father "came to the conclusion that Glorfindel of Gondolin, who fell to his death in combat with a Balrog after the sack of the city (II.192-4, IV.145), and Glorfindel of Rivendell were one and the same; he was released from Mandos and returned to Middle-earth in the Second Age" (The Return Of The Shadow, pp. 214-5). The profound implication of this conclusion is that Glorfindel played some role in the War of the Last Alliance, though perhaps not one so great as is hereafter postulated.
The Silmarillion, p. 293. "...Therefore they made that League which is called the Last Alliance, and they marched east into Middle-earth gathering a great host of Elves and Men...."
The Fellowship Of The Ring, p. 197. "'...It is told that Elendil stood [upon the tower of Amon Sul] watching for the coming of Gil-galad out of the West, in the days of the Last Alliance.'"
The Return Of The King, p. 353. "The Tale Of Years" only indicates the length of the stay in Imladris. There is really no text which tells how Gil-galad persuaded Oropher and Amdir to join the Alliance.
Sauron indeed sent troops north, for the Orcs who ambushed Isildur several years later were one such group. However, the army postulated here is assumed to be whatever force was driven south and engaged in the Battle of Dagorlad.
At some point during the war Isildur sent his sons Aratan and Ciryon to hold Minas Ithil against Sauron's flight: "All three [of Isildur's sons] had fought in the War of the Alliance, but Aratan and Ciryon had not been in the invasion of Mordor and the siege of Barad-dur, for Isildur had sent them to man his fortress of Minas Ithil, lest Sauron escape Gil-galad and Elendil and seek to force a way through Cirith Duath..." (Unfinished Tales, pp. 279-80).
The Letters Of J.R.R. Tolkien, p. 179. "I think that the Entwives had disappeared for good, being destroyed with their gardens in the War of the Last Alliance...when Sauron pursued a scorched earth policy and burned their land against the advance of the Allies down the Anduin...."
The Dunedain appear not to have used cavalry at this time. Unfinished Tales (pp. 278-9, Cf. note 7) says that most of the horses used by the Dunedain in the war were killed, but whether the animals were used for couriers or to move lighter archers, the Dunedain probably did not have an effective cavalry force.
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