Army sizes and losses in Nirnaeth Arnoediad
Something I made years ago. Most of it are guesses, of course.
NB! I know there were a lot of elves, who weren’t pure Sindar or Noldor, especially in Gondolin, so “Sindar” and “Noldor” also means “closer to Sindar/Noldor” respectively.
Nirnaeth Arnoediad (cavalry in parantheses):
Army sizes and losses in whole Nirnaeth Arnoediad:
Gondolin: Noldor – 4,000, Sindar – 6,000
Losses: Noldor – 3,000, Sindar – 4,500
Hithlum: Noldor – 6,000 (600), Sindar – 5,000 (250), Humans (People of Hador) – 3,300 (330)
Losses: All (one taken prisoner)
Nargothrond: Noldor – 300 (30), Sindar – 200 (10)
Losses: All (one taken prisoner)
Falas: Sindar – 10,000 (500)
Losses: 7,500
People of Haleth: Humans – 2,000 (100)
Losses: 1,990
Doriath: Sindar – 2
Losses: 0
Total size of Fingon’s army: 10,300 N. + 21,202 S. + 5,300 H. = 36,802
Sons of Fëanor: Noldor – 5,000 (500)
Losses: 3,000
Belegost: Dwarves – 10,000
Losses: 7,150
Nogrod: Dwarves – 10,000
Losses: 4,300
People of Bor: Humans – 1,000 (100)
Losses: 1,000
Easterlings with low morale: Humans – 1,500 (150)
Losses: 250
Total size of Maedhros’ army: 5,000 N. + 20,000 Dw. + 2,500 H. = 27,500
Angband: Orcs – 263,700, werewolves – 1,000, wolves – 5,000, Balrogs – 7, dragons – 20
Losses: Orcs – 196,851, werewolves – 30, wolves – 1,500
People of Ulfang: Humans – 3,500 (350)
Losses: 1,200
Army sizes and losses in each “part” of the Nirnaeth Arnoediad:
Battle between the army of Fingon and the provoking force:
Angband: 62,050 (620) O.
Losses: All
Fingon: See above
Losses: 1,800 (210) N. (one taken prisoner), 3,200 (190) S., 920 (60) H.
Battle between the army of Maedhros and the Angband army sent to the east:
Maedhros: See above
Losses: 1,865 (200) N., 6,100 Dw., 700 (70) H.
Angband: 75,650 (356) O.
Losses: All
Battle between the army of Fingon and the main host:
Fingon: 8,500 (420) N., 18,002 (570) S., 4,380 (370) H.
Losses: 4,500 (250) N., 8,502 (290) S., 2,980 (280) H.
Angband: 76,000 (4,000) O.
Losses: 37,263 (2,000) O.
Last battle between Maedhros’ army and second army of Angband against him + traitors:
Angband: 50,000 (8,000) O., 1,000 Ww., 5,000 W., 20 Dr., 7 B., 3,500 (350) H.
Losses: 3,500 (700) O., 30 Ww., 1,500 W., 1,200 (110) H.
Maedhros: 3,135 (300) N., 13,900 Dw., 1800 (180) H.
Losses: 1,135 (150) N., 5,350 Dw., 550 (55) H.
Last battle between the army of Fingon and Angband:
Fingon: 4,000 (170) N., 9,500 (280) S., 1,400 (90) H.
Losses: 3,000 (170) N., 5,498 (221) S., 1,390 (90) H. (one taken prisoner)
Angband: 44,700 (7,963) O., 7 B.
Losses: 18,388 (2,450) O.
Explanation for choice of numbers:
We get that Turgon came with 10,000 warriors. It is said, that there were more Sindar than Noldor in Nevrast, so I have decided, that 4,000 of those were Noldor, and 6,000 were Sindar. I believe that those 10,000 being half the army of Gondolin is a fair guess, so there are 8,000 Noldorin warriors in Gondolin (and 12,000 Sindar, for that matter). I believe they had doubled since they left Nevrast, where they were described as 1/3 of Fingolfin’s host. So I have given Hithlum 4,000 Noldorin warriors back then (the rest went to Nargothrond and Dorthonion). A doubling would have given 8,000, but since many died in the Dagor Bragollach, and the attack 7 years after Dagor Bragollach, they get 6,000. I thought 5,000 Sindarin warriors would be fair, since there were a lot of Sindar in Hithlum, but not as much as in Nevrast, and some left for Falas or Doriath after Dagor Bragollach, and maybe not all Sindarin warriors went to war. The number of men of the People of Hador is calculated from this information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_Wrath#cite_note-33. Since there were 6,000 adult males back when they came to Beleriand, I have taken the whole population to have been 18,000 back then. I believe 1/10 of total population is a fair guess for a full mobilization, so that gives 1,800 warriors then. They would have more than doubled if it wasn’t for the Dagor Bragollach and the attack 7 years after, so I have taken 3,300 as a fair guess.
Nargothrond didn’t officially participate in the Fifth Battle, but Gwindor went to war with a company of volunteers. I have estimated the size of that company as 500, with more Noldor than Sindar, because I believe that the Noldor would be a bit more willing to go to war with Gwindor.
Falas was the most important Sindarin realm after Doriath, so they get 10,000 (I guess the total number of Sindarin warriors in Falas would be close to 20,000, after all the total number of Sindarin warriors in Hithlum + Gondolin is at least 17,000). The People of Haleth get 2,000 warriors, even though their population was three times smaller than the population of the People of Hador, when they came to Beleriand. The reason for that is that the People of Haleth also had women in their army, and I don’t think they suffered as much from the Dagor Bragollach, as the People of Hador did.
The two from Doriath are of course Mablung and Beleg.
The losses for Hithlum, Nargothrond, and Doriath are pretty sure, since it is said, that no one returned to Hithlum (except for Húrin, who is the one taken prisoner), and it is also said, that all of those, who came from Nargothrond were slain, except for Gwindor, who was taken prisoner.
We also know that both Beleg and Mablung survived. The numbers for Gondolin and Falas are guesses, while the losses for the People of Haleth are based on the Children of Húrin, where it is said, that only 3 returned to Brethil. The reason that the number of survivors is 10, is that they took the way through Taur-nu-Fuin, and I think a lot of them died there.
It seems the Noldor rode more often than the Sindar, so therefore the Noldor get 10 % of their warriors as cavalry, while the Sindar get 5 %, except for the warriors from Gondolin, who I don’t think really had a cavalry force. I also think, that the forest dwelling People of Haleth didn’t have as large a proportion of cavalry in their army than e.g. the People of Hador, so they also get 5 %.
The Fëanorians not only had a smaller host than Fingolfin, but also had the Dagor-Nuin-Giliath, and though Fingolfin’s host also lost a lot in crossing the Helcaraxë and maybe had the Battle of the Lammoth, it seems the Fëanorians were harder hit by the Dagor Bragollach. Moreover some of them followed Celegorm and Curufin to Nargothrond after the Dagor Bragollach, and stayed there when Curufin and Celegorm were exiled. Therefore they get 5,000 Noldor, and thus less than Fingon’s 6,000 Noldor. I don’t think that there were any Sindar there, and those who were there probably left, since the Fëanorians probably were the most racist Noldor and especially after hearing about the Kinslaying at Alqualondë, of which the Fëanorians had the main guilt.
Even though there were only 13 Dwarves in the beginning, they probably woke up just after the Elves, so almost 5000 years had already gone by, and I think that the Dwarves had a higher growth rate in the beginning than later on, and I think especially Belegost and Nogrod, which had the possibility to import a lot of food from trade with the Elves, had a relative large population of 100,000 (or almost 100,000) each. Since the Dwarves seems to be more resistant to e.g. diseases than Men but less than Elves, they get a maximum army of (almost) 20,000 each, but I think many stayed at home for defensive reasons (just like Gondolin and Falas), therefore they get 10,000 each for the Fifth Battle. I don’t think the number of the Easterlings, who came to Beleriand, was much larger than the number of the Edain, and I think that the People of Bor was the smallest of those three “groups” of Easterlings in the Nirnaeth Arnoediad, so they get 1,000. The “Easterlings with low morale” are those, who “turned and fled, their hearts being filled with lies and fear”, and I think they were a bit more than the People of Bor, so they get 1,500.
We know that the Fëanorians committed two more kinslayings a short time later, and especially the second one must have taken a lot of troops. They were also completely routed, so they had to flee even though they lost relatively less than the “groups” in the army of Fingon. We also know that the Dwarves of Nogrod fought a war against Doriath a short time later, and they too were routed.
The Dwarves of Belegost were lauded for their valiance, and they clearly weren’t routed, so they get a larger loss. I am pretty sure that all of the People of Bor were killed, while those with low morale fled before the others and probably weren’t much in the forefront of the battle.
The size of the army of Angband and its losses, except for Balrogs and dragons, was estimated in the “Army sizes and losses in each “part” of the Nirnaeth Arnoediad”. They are all based on guesses, though the number of Balrogs is based on Tolkien writing in a note that “…at most 7 ever existed.” I have used “werewolves” for the stronger (and more intelligent) ones and “wolves” for the less strong ones (even though the “normal” wolves also are large and strong here).
Those 5,000 wolves are wolves without riders. I don’t think there were that many dragons, and maybe not all dragons were sent out, so I have guessed on 20 dragons. I also think that 1,000 werewolves is a fair guess.
I am pretty sure that Morgoth had more Orcs than 263,700, so if anything that description about Morgoth emptying Angband was probably written by a proud Elf, who participated in the Nirnaeth Arnoediad. Of course, Morgoth could have those troops elsewhere, but I still think the garrison at Angband was bigger, especially since he knew that his enemies were preparing a big offensive.
I think the People of Ulfang was the biggest Easterling group, so they get 3,500 troops.
Even though their attack was a surprise, they were also attacking a part that was relatively “intact”, so therefore I think they lost relative many troops (1,200).
The “Army sizes and losses in each “part” of the Nirnaeth Arnoediad” (and thus the whole description) is based more on the Children of Húrin than the published Silmarillion.
In the Children of Húrin, Morgoth sends out an army against Maedhros’ around the same time, as he sends an army to provoke Fingon’s.
It might be, that in the Children of Húrin the army of Maedhros gets defeated by that first army sent east, but it doesn’t tell much about that part, so it is possible, that Maedhros’ army defeats that first army of Morgoth sent against it, and then gets defeated by another army of Morgoth, which I have done here. Also in the CoH the battle is already lost even before the routing of Maedhros’ army, and it doesn’t say that Morgoth emptied Angband, so all-in-all, I regard it as more realistic (it was also written after the account in the published Silmarillion).
The provoking force is described as stretching from “the walls of the fortress of Eithel Sirion to the inflowing of Rivil at the Fen of Serech” It seems the distance is around 40 miles, which is 64.37376 km. There can easily be 20,000 troops in one such line, but I don’t think, that the provoking force was in just one long line, so I think that 62,050 is a fair guess. I don’t think they had much cavalry with them; indeed their role wasn’t to defeat Fingon’s army, it was only to hold it long enough for reinforcements to arrive. The “power relations” are 4 dead Orcs per dead Noldo, and 1 dead Orc per dead Man, Sinda, or Dwarf. The Sindar (and maybe Dwarves too) might be a bit stronger than Men, but I have decided that they approximately all are around the same level as the Orcs.
The reason for the strength of Orcs is based on this quote from “The Annals of Aman” in “Morgoth’s Ring”: “The Glamhoth, host of tumult, the Noldor called them. (Orcs we may name them; for in days of old they were strong and fell as demons. Yet they were not of demon kind, but children of earth corrupted by Morgoth, and they could be slain or destroyed by the valiant with weapons of war.” I therefore believe that First Age Orcs were basically all on Azog’s level. The strength of Men is based on this quote from the published Silmarillion: “In those days Elves and Men were of like stature and strength of body” (and yes I do know, that the Elves were better in skill than Men, and skill is also needed for fighting, but I still think the point is that they Men were almost as strong as the Moriquendi Elves at that time).
The “cavalry multiplier” is, as I see it, normally 10, but if Morgoth’s forces also have a large cavalry (or many spearmen) it can be mitigated. Since cavalry usually creates confusing in the opposing army, it also creates a multiplier for the infantry a half of the one for cavalry (i.e. normally 5).
In the battle between the army of Fingon and the provoking force the normal cavalry multiplier factor is used. That the provoking force lost all its troops is from the book(s). The losses for the different parts of Fingon’s army are based on guesses.
The army of Angband sent to the east is described as being larger than the provoking force, so I have given it a number of 75,650. It too doesn’t have that much cavalry, so the cavalry multiplier is also normal here. As I have written above, my decision is that this army also gets destroyed.
The losses for the different parts of Maedhros’ army are based on guesses.
The main host sounds like it is the largest one, so I have made it so, even though it is only a bit larger than the first army sent against Maedhros. It is actually larger (by around 10,000, I think), but that “extra part” is to be used against Maedhros’ army, when it arrives, so the main host is here given a number of 76,000 troops.
It is a lot stronger than the two armies before, because it has a lot more cavalry. Therefore the cavalry multiplier is here only 2.4. The losses for both parts are based on guesses.
As one might see, Fingon was already losing, and that is also what happens in the CoH, where the arrival of Turgon and his army (and here at least also the arrival of Maedhros and his army) only helped Fingon to retreat without being routed.
The second army against Maedhros’ army is described as having Balrogs, dragons, wolves, and wolfriders. I think the other armies of Morgoth also had some wolfriders (or maybe their cavalry rode on horses), but this one has a lot. Because of the large cavalry of Morgoth, and the Balrogs, dragons, and werewolves, the cavalry multiplier is more than neutralized. 1 Noldo is now “equal” to only 2 Orcs (or Men of Ulfang), while 1 Dwarf or 1 Man is now only equal to 0.5 Orcs (or Men of Ulfang). 1 Orc is equal to 5 wolves, while 1 werewolf is equal to 8 Orcs.
The losses for both parts are based on guesses, though the losses for Maedhros’ army and the People of Ulfang were decided before.
As one might see, Maedhros would have lost even without the treachery of the People of Ulfang and the desertion of the Easterlings with low morale, but that might have prevented Morgoth from destroying the army of Fingon as hard as he did.
For the last battle between the army of Fingon and Angband we get the information from the Silmarillion that “Fingon and Turgon were assailed by a tide of foes thrice greater than all the force that was left to them.” thus Angband gets 44,700 troops here. The cavalry multiplier is neutralized here. As one might see the reinforcements from the force, that routed the army of Maedhros, is 5,963 and is entirely cavalry. That makes sense, since Fingon had managed to retreat a bit, while Maedhros held the other army off, and therefore the force sent against Fingon’s army would consist of the faster forces, and the dragons and werewolves had retreated when Glaurung was wounded. So I imagine that the Balrogs had run with the wolfriders and thus drove a wedge between Fingon and Turgon. The losses for Fingon’s army are based on guesses already made, while the losses for Angband are based on the power relations.
