Gondor's sea power / Middle Earth economics

[CAB]

I have wondered for a while now about the role of sea power in the ancient world. Obviously, boats from long past couldn't project power on land as modern ships do (via guns, missiles, etc.), so what made them so important?

A little while ago, I finally (I am one lazy bum )did some reading about the rise of sea power in the Mediterranean, and got my answer. Military ships existed, first and foremost, to protect or prey upon other ships. Their importance was tied, to a very large degree, to the importance of sea-going trade. Considering that some cities (I think Athens and Rome are good examples) became dependent on food delivered by ship to feed their populations, the potential power of navies becomes very apparent.

So, to my questions. Doesn't Gondor's, along with it's southern neighbors', possession of navies essentially prove that those neighbors, and likely Gondor itself, depended on sea-going trade? Since there are few other potential coastal trading partners, doesn't it suggest that Gondor itself probably engaged in significant trade with these other countries?

[Gordis]

A very interesting thread, CAB!

Military ships existed, first and foremost, to protect or prey upon other ships. Their importance was tied, to a very large degree, to the importance of sea-going trade. Considering that some cities (I think Athens and Rome are good examples) became dependent on food delivered by ship to feed their populations, the potential power of navies becomes very apparent.

I am not sure about Mediterranean basin, but I am a bit more familiar with the Carribean Sea situation in 1600-1700. There were pirates who had land bases and prowled on Spanish, British, French and Dutch colonies and their trade ships. However, really huge prizes the pirates got not by attacking the shipping, but attacking enemy sea ports: pillaging them and also getting ransom money. Maracaibo was pillaged several times ( by l'Olonnais, Morgan and also some others, I believe). The list is long: Morgan pillaged Panama, Puerto Principe etc; Drake also made a fortune pillaging on land. Sure, some good money he made attacking Spanish Silver Train ships, but still all told land pillage was more lucrative, I believe.

Now, if we return to ME, we have Umbar and Black Numenorean harbors (situated to the south of it) versus Gondor. The Wave of the Downfall washed away most of Pelargir and I guess all the significant shipping was destroyed. The same happened with Lond Daer Ened. The same likely happened with the southern ports, but not with Umbar. Umbar was a great natural harbor, protected from the sea by high cliffs. So, after the Downfall we see the situation when the Black Numenoreans likely got more ships than the Faithful, who maybe had only 5 warships brought by Isildur and Anarion from Numenor.

There are no accounts of naval battles during the Last Alliance. Likely, after Isildur's ships had decayed from age, Gondor didn't build new ones. For about 900 years Gondor seemed uninterested in navy. Did they have merchant fleet? Unlikely, at least not on a large scale - because the merchant ships would be attacked from Umbar and Gondor would feel the need to build navy much sooner. Likely at the time all the trade along the coasts was carried out by Umbarians. It doesn't seem that the relationships between Gondor and Umbar were too bad during the most part of the first millennium of the Third Age. Tarannon even married a lady from Umbar, Beruthiel.

Yet the "divorce" with Beruthiel likely led to complete quarrel with Umbar. And here the Umbarian navy and trade ships (acting as privateers) likely started assaulting and pillaging costal towns in Gondor. Then the Kings dropped all other matters and started to build the navy, becoming Sea-Kings. After the capture of Umbar by Gondor around TA 1000, most of the sea trade was likely done by Gondoreans. All was well till the Kin-Strife, when Castamir's sons not only deserted to Umbar but also likely took with them most of the Gondor fleet. And again, the situation returned to that before Tarannon.

[Valandil]

I think the main function of Gondor's navies initially (that is, starting with the line of Ship Kings), was to ferry armies along the coast, and thereby expand Gondor's power and influence. In and of itself, this made a military force MUCH more mobile. This is even demonstrated long after the Ship Kings - when Earnil sends an army of Gondor under Earnur by sea to Lindon.

Eventually there may have been ship-to-ship battles (but is there any direct evidence of them - esp in the age of the Ship Kings?). This would not have arisen when Gondor had no rival at sea (or else - when Gondor was no rival to another sea power). It could be that Umbar itself had lost the need for naval power in the early years of the Third Age. Or - it could be that Gondor's Ship Kings set out to challenge the sea power that Umbar represented, ca 800 Third Age.

I think Gondor could have had a good deal of trade by sea along its own coasts - and also north and west to its sister kingdom of Arnor. There were certainly times when the trade winds also blew south - but mostly when the lands to the south were at peace with Gondor, or when Umbar was under Gondor's influence. Otherwise, trading ships would have been in danger - from both navies.

[Gordis]

Originally Posted by Valandil

I think the main function of Gondor's navies initially (that is, starting with the line of Ship Kings), was to ferry armies along the coast, and thereby expand Gondor's power and influence. In and of itself, this made a military force MUCH more mobile. This is even demonstrated long after the Ship Kings - when Earnil sends an army of Gondor under Earnur by sea to Lindon.

Sorry, but it is rather an example of a military force made less mobile, and very slow to gather.

King Araphant continued with dwindling strength to hold off the assaults of Angmar, and Arvedui when he succeeded did likewise; but at last in the autumn of 1973 messages came to Gondor that Arthedain was in great straits, and that the Witch-king was preparing a last stroke against it. Then Eärnil sent his son Eärnur north with a fleet, as swiftly as he could, and with as great strength as he could spare. Too late. Before Eärnur reached the havens of Lindon, the Witch-king had conquered Arthedain and Arvedui had perished.-App A

Sure,two years for the fleet to gather is rather swift. Numenor needed 5 years back in SA 1695. What in Arda was the purpose of sending the army to Arnor by sea? There was a very nice road through the Gap of Calenardhon, via Tharbad to Bree to Fornost. The army could have arrived in two month, instead of two years.

[Willow Oran]

Wouldn't the land route have taken them through disputed territory? In doing so they would have exposed not just their soldiers but their supply trains to Angmar's forces. Gondor's forces might have suffered much heavier losses and still been too late to save Arthedain.

In going by sea they ensured that all movements of their forces took place far from the actual war, meaning they gave Angmar the opportunity to believe they wouldn't come, giving them a slight advantage of surprise when they did come and allowing them to drive Angmar out of Arthedain. Gondor would likely have seen Arvedui as a lost cause at that point, saving him wasn't their concern, and the land wasn't going anywhere, they could re-take that if it was conquered. Knowing that, it makes sense that they opted for the strategically safer sea-route.

In Medditerenean history sea-routes have almost always been preferred to land routes. It's very difficult to move large quantities of people and goods over land and the difficulty increases in mountainous terrain, which, if I remember the map correctly, a significant portion of Middle Earth is. Even with the possibilities of storms and pirates, going by sea would have been the easier method of traveling.

[Count Comfect]

The key advantage of sea power (before the early modern era, when transoceanic shipping became a major part of sea power) has always been logistical and strategic, as Willow implies. Your supply lines are much easier to cut when the enemy can simply ride down from the mountains/out of the forest and burn a baggage train than when you have heavily armed ships moving goods and men. It is much less likely that you will run into a hostile force by accident on the sea, or that your men will be harried by guerrillas. And the sea provides a neutral access point; violating neutral land territory is strategically dangerous in ways that sailing through even coastal waters is not. You can anger your allies, or neutral nations. Also, going across land tends to result in accidental pillage and strife even without the intervention of an opposing force.

Additionally, Willow is quite correct about mountains - they make efficient land travel very difficult for an army, and supply even more so. The sea may sometimes be slower if you must gather the ships, but it is much more secure.

[Valandil]

Originally Posted by Gordis

Sorry, but it is rather an example of a military force made less mobile, and very slow to gather.


Sure,two years for the fleet to gather is rather swift. Numenor needed 5 years back in SA 1695. What in Arda was the purpose of sending the army to Arnor by sea? There was a very nice road through the Gap of Calenardhon, via Tharbad to Bree to Fornost. The army could have arrived in two month, instead of two years.

I don't think Gondor's slowness had to do with their means of travel.

I think they either underestimated the threat to Arthedain, or else were not particularly desirous of saving it (although defeating Angmar was still seen as a positive).

[Alcuin]

Originally Posted by Valandil

I don't think Gondor's slowness had to do with their means of travel.

I think they either underestimated the threat to Arthedain, or else were not particularly desirous of saving it (although defeating Angmar was still seen as a positive).

I don’t think Eärnil was prepared to respond in III 1973, nor did the folk of Gondor realize what danger the fall of Arnor meant for them.

From RotK, “Appendix A�, “Gondor and the Heirs of Anárion�

...Arvedui heir of Araphant wedded FÃ*riel daughter of Ondoher [in III 1940]. But neither kingdom was able to send help to the other; for Angmar renewed its attack upon Arthedain at the same time as the Wainriders reappeared in great force.

Ondohir of Gondor and both his sons were killed by the Wainriders, and Arvedui claimed the throne through FÃ*riel, but after a one-year interregnum, the Council of Gondor gave the scepter to the victorious general Eärnil II.

[Eärnil] sent messages to Arvedui announcing that he received the crown of Gondor, …. “but I do not forget the loyalty of Arnor, nor deny our kinship, nor wish that the realms of Elendil should be estranged. I will send to your aid when you have need, so far as I am able.�

It was, however, long before Eärnil felt himself sufficiently secure to do as he promised. …Araphant [Arvedui’s father, who lived until III 1964] continued with dwindling strength to hold off the assaults of Angmar, and Arvedui … did likewise; … in the autumn of 1973 messages came to Gondor that Arthedain was in great straits, and that the Witch-king was preparing a last stroke against it. Then Eärnil sent his son Eärnur north with a fleet, as swiftly as he could, and with as great strength as he could spare. Too late. Before Eärnur reached the havens of Lindon, the Witch-king had conquered Arthedain and Arvedui had perished.

…when Eärnur came …there was joy and great wonder among both Elves and Men. So great in draught and so many were his ships that they could scarcely find harborage, though … Harlond and … Forlond … were filled; and from them descended an army of power… Or so it seemed to the people of the North, though this was but a small sending-force of the whole might of Gondor.

Much of the munitions (such as arrows, bolts, swords, spears. and artillery and machines, such as catapults, crossbows, known to both the ancient Chinese and the ancient Romans, who called them scorpio); had to be repaired, rebuilt, or requisitioned. Food, provender, water, beer, and wine (water was little used in the ancient world without wine because of the risk of parasitic and other infections) all had to be packed for transport. This was not a direct threat to Gondor, and Tolkien says that, “to most men in Gondor, the realm in Arthedain seemed a small thing�, so the people required for the expedition – perhaps a few thousand, from the tone of the material – had to be convinced to go. Most no doubt required pay and allowances: after all, this was an expensive undertaking for the common citizen, and besides preparation, he would likely miss one or two seasons of planting and harvest (or fishing or forestry), and his family had to be cared for in his absence. This outlay was a further burden, because Gondor had expended an enormous sum in fighting off the Wainriders just 30 years earlier.

The idea that it took one-and-a-half years to raise, equip, provender and transport an expeditionary force is not unreasonable. Arvedui called for military assistance in the autumn of III 1973. Fornost fell sometime in 1974, and Arvedui, isolated in the North Downs and separated from the survivors of his people on the other side of the Lhûn, fled north to the Icebay of Forochel. Arvedui died with CÃ*rdan’s Elven sailors in March of 1975, which could have been either late winter or earliest spring. The text seems to me to indicate that Eärnur arrived in Lindon shortly thereafter.

The earliest possible time the call for assistance could have been sent was September 21, III 1973, but possibly as late as mid-December. Arvedui’s ship sank 15-18 months later. It probably took the ships of Gondor several weeks to sail up the coast (over 1700 miles, according to my ruler, about 2 weeks in the very best conditions, sailing full crew day and night at 5-8 knots, which would have been unlikely with a large force that might become separated; or about 4-6 weeks under normal conditions). They would not have sailed in the dead of winter because of storms, so we can assume that the earliest that the force of Gondor could have arrived was probably early spring 1975.

Like Valandil, I think Eärnil’s greatest problem was probably convincing his countrymen to go to the aid of Arthedain.

[CAB]

Regarding the use of oars, didn't ancient (before the use of cannons, I suppose) military ships have to possess oars to be able to deal, both offensively and defensively, with other military ships. I would think that, in almost every case, an unoared ship would be at a huge disadvantage when facing an oared opponent.

[Coffeehouse]

Definitely.

If we imagine a scenario where one military vessel, large and well-equipped encounters another similarly-sized vessel. Both ships are in headwind, and the currents are strong, and some miles ahead lies a protuding peninsula with omnious-looking rocks. Now if one of the vessels for one reason or another do not want to engage in close-quarter battle, and make a daring escape ahead, the skill at which they can row away from the other vessel is the difference between life and death.

I think this does not have to stretch back to ancient history even. Until the advent of the truly powerful canon-ships in the mid 16th century, and the galleon, it's not unreasonable to assume that many ships did possess oars.

Admiral Zheng He's fleet would have another reason to employ oars. On their journey from off the Chinese coastline all the way to the waters of current-day Somalia they would encounter shallow waters, days with strong headwinds, unfavourable currents and windstill nights out on the open ocean. In those circumstances the availability of oars would be nothing but crucial.

It's probable that those very same conditions at sea confronted a Númenórean fleet heading to Lindon or elsewhere I'd say.

[Alcuin]

In the tale of “Tal-Elmar” in Peoples of Middle-earth, the Númenórean vessels had black sails on them. I can’t find my text, but I do recall that the implication was that there was more than one sail on at least the principal ship in the story. So the Númenórean vessels in the middle of the Second Age were sailing ships with more than one sail, and probably more than one mast. The Dúnadan captain told Tal-Elmar, who feared the black sails of his ship meant that it was in the service of Sauron, that his black sails represented the night, which the Faithful Dúnedain honored because of the stars.

In Return of the King, the vessels of the Corsairs of Umbar that were seized by Aragorn had both sails and oars. And these also had black sails, only theirs were probably to strike fear into the folk of Gondor. The folk of Umbar were of Númenórean or mixed Númenórean descent, and their sailing technology was probably similar to that of the folk of Gondor and descended from their Dúnedain ancestors, as well as from innovations brought from Gondor by the followers of the sons of Castamir the Usurper after the Kin-strife of Gondor.

Not all oarsmen were slaves. The kidnapped folk of Gondor were enslaved by the Corsairs; after Aragorn and the Grey Company freed them at Pelargir, they rowed as freemen. The Vikings were certainly not slaves: they were freemen. The Greek sailors of the Argonaut and from the journeys of Odysseus were not slaves either. In the great naval battles of Artemisium and Salamis during the Second Persian Invasion of Greece in 480 BC, the Greeks gave part of the credit for their victory to the rowers, who unlike the Persian rowers, were all free men.

The Spanish occasionally rowed the galleons of their treasure fleet in the sixteenth century. If galleons were becalmed, the vessels were equipped with oars so that the crew could row for a while until their ship reached wind again.

The famous Pauline Baynes map of Middle-earth that appeared in the 1974 Tolkien Calendar has one, two, and three-masted ships on it. The map was drawn during Tolkien’s lifetime and with his approval. The ships Baynes depicted look like longships, cogs, caravels, or carracks. Baynes prepared maps for both Tolkien and CS Lewis, as well as other artwork for Narnia for Lewis, and for Tolkien, Farmer Giles of Ham, Adventures of Tom Bombadil, Smith of Wootton Major, Tree and Leaf, and Bilbo's Last Song. In Smith of Wootton Major, the elves visiting England who sailed from Tol Eressëa are depicted disembarking from a single-masted ship much akin to a Viking longboat. This picture was also drawn during Tolkien’s lifetime.

[Coffeehouse]

Interesting map! I actually haven't seen it before. Did Tolkien really approve of the map?

From the look of it there are ships of a great variety indeed. From what I can spot there are similarities to Phoenican, Venetian, Norse, Portuguese, Spanish vessels and the galleys of the Barbary coast pirates.

None of the ships depicted are especially large ships, though one of them could be a smaller carrack (less than 1000 ton is my guess, though I could be wrong). Yet it does not exclude the likelihood of larger ships. Fleets bred for the purpose of war and the transport of self-supplied armies would be rare (despite piracy raids) and so large ships would be the exception not the rule, with most vessels sailing under the flag of Gondor being the size of carracks, caravels and lesser, for purposes of commerce.

Interesting that the ships of Gondor sailed under black sails. Indeed the colour of the sails on the map are blackish-greenish with an emblem the shape of a star(?)

[Alcuin]

Originally Posted by Coffeehouse

Did Tolkien really approve of the map?

My understanding is that, Yes, he did. All of the other pictures in the 1974 Tolkien Calendar were drawn by Tolkien himself. It would be out of character for the family, which oversees the production of the Calendars, to publish something of which they knew their father would disapprove, particularly right after his death in August 1973.

I don’t believe we can pin down exactly what kinds of ships the Dúnedain sailed. We can get a good idea from Tolkien’s own descriptions and from the illustrations he and other people drew, as long as he approved of them. (He worked with Pauline Baynes for nearly 25 years.) I can’t locate my copy of Tolkien Artist and Illustrator either (my office is a real mess), but I do recall that there is a color drawing in it of a longship-type vessel with a large swan-prow (reminiscent of the description of Galadriel’s barge or the ships of the Teleri at Alqualondë), oars, and one mast with a square sail. I think I recall it was an Elven-ship.

[Varnafindë]

Originally Posted by Coffeehouse

Interesting map! I actually haven't seen it before. Did Tolkien really approve of the map?

Hey, I hadn't seen this thread! I've seen the map, though - a friend of mine has got a copy of it on her wall.

Yes, Tolkien approved of it. Brian Sibley tells in his blogspot obituary of Pauline Baynes in August last year that she told him of taking her artwork for the Middle-earth map to show Tolkien, and that Tolkien was pleased with the map, apart from one mis-spelled name that had to be corrected.

Brian Sibley's blogspot obituary of Pauline Baynes

My Norwegian translation, posted with Sibley's permission

[The Dread Pirate Roberts]

Not silly at all. I think most of us learn something in every thread here (in the top half of the Moot, at least).

[Coffeehouse]

Thrilled to be of some slight enlightenment CAB. The pleasure of reading Alcuin, Attalus, CAB, DPR and Gordis (these past weeks) is mutual I can assure you all