The Lord of the Rings primarily focused on the exploits of heroes like Frodo Baggins and Aragorn, but the War of the Ring was a collaborative effort. Both J. R. R. Tolkien’s novel and Peter Jackson’s trilogy of film adaptations highlighted the various armies that clashed to decide the fate of Middle-earth, ranging from the brave knights of Gondor to the bloodthirsty Orcs of Mordor.
The most powerful armies of Tolkien’s legendarium, such as the Great Armament of Númenor and the Host of the Valar, only appeared in texts like The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales of Middle-earth. However, The Lord of the Rings itself also included several mighty armies, so which was the strongest fighting force in the trilogy?
Saruman the White Raised an Army To Rival Sauron’s
Uruk-hai fighting at Amon Hen in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the RingImage via New Line Cinema / Courtesy the Everett Collection
After falling to evil, Saruman the White set about amassing an army of loyal minions to carry out his bidding. Though he initially employed regular Orcs, he later bred and trained the Uruk-hai, elite warriors who were physically stronger and less averse to sunlight than their brethren. His army also included the Dunlendings, who shared in Saruman’s hatred of Rohan, as well as hybrid Half-orcs and Goblin-men.
CBR Exclusive · Quiz WHICH LORD OF THE RINGS CHARACTER ARE YOU? One Quiz to Find Them All From the rolling hills of the Shire to the fires of Mount Doom, every soul in Middle-earth carries a destiny. Twenty questions stand between you and the truth. Answer honestly. The shadow does not lie.
Frodo
Samwise
Aragorn
Gandalf
Gollum
01
You are asked to carry a terrible burden that no one else can bear. What do you do? The first step into darkness reveals everything.
02
Your closest companion is walking into grave danger. You: Loyalty is forged in the fires of the hardest moments.
03
You possess knowledge that could change the fate of many. You: What we do with knowledge shapes the world.
04
How do you make important decisions? A character’s choices reveal their deepest nature.
05
You are offered something you deeply desire — at a moral cost. You: Temptation is the test every soul must face alone.
06
How do you see yourself in the world? Self-knowledge is the beginning of all true power.
07
When darkness closes in, your instinct is to: Crisis strips away pretense and reveals the true self.
08
Your greatest personal flaw is: Even the wisest are not without shadow.
09
Others look to you for guidance in a desperate moment. You: How we lead in darkness defines us entirely.
10
What drives you more than anything else? The heart’s true desire is the root of all journeys.
11
You have reached your lowest point. The road ahead seems impossible. You: The darkest hour is the truest test of character.
12
You discover a great power that could be used for good — in the right hands. You: The wise know that the road to ruin is paved with good intentions.
13
What do you fear most? Our deepest fears map the shape of our souls.
14
Those who meet you for the first time would say: First impressions in Middle-earth carry great weight.
15
Where do you feel most yourself? A soul’s true home reveals its deepest nature.
16
What do you believe about hope? In the darkest ages, hope is the most radical act.
17
When your journey is over, what do you want to leave behind? The end of a tale gives meaning to all that came before.
18
You must give up something precious to save others. You: Sacrifice is the truest measure of what we value.
19
What does friendship mean to you? In Middle-earth, the bonds between souls are the greatest magic of all.
20
At the end of all things, when everything is on the line, you: This is the question that decides everything.
THE SHADOW KNOWS YOUR HEART YOUR MIDDLE-EARTH SOUL
Your scores are shown below. The character with the highest number is your match. Read their description to discover which soul of Middle-earth the darkness chose for you.
Frodo
Samwise
Aragorn
Gandalf
Gollum
You carry more than anyone knows, and you carry it quietly. You did not choose your burden — but you accepted it when no one else would, and you bore it further than anyone thought possible. Your courage is not the loud kind. It is the kind that keeps moving when every step costs something. Gentle, introspective, and tested to the very edge of yourself.
Steadfast, warm, and quietly extraordinary. You are not driven by glory or destiny — you are driven by love, plain and simple. Your loyalty is absolute, your heart is vast, and your courage runs deeper than anyone who underestimates you will ever expect. You show up for the people you love without being asked, without keeping score, without ever wavering. The world needs more of you.
You have long walked in the shadows of a destiny you were not sure you deserved. Duty-bound, weathered by experience, and deeply principled — you lead not because you sought it, but because others needed you to. You carry old burdens with quiet dignity, and when the moment finally demands everything from you, you do not flinch. The crown was always yours. You simply had to be ready for it.
Ancient, perceptive, and capable of both great warmth and terrible wrath. You see the shape of things others cannot, and you guide more than you command — nudging, trusting, occasionally arriving precisely when you mean to. You have known grief and persisted through it. Your wisdom is hard-won and your faith in others, even when they falter, is your greatest strength and your most defining quality.
You are a soul divided — pulled between who you once were and what you have become. You have been shaped by loss, obsession, and a wound that never healed. What others see as your weakness was once your innocence. There is tragedy in you, and perhaps still a flicker of something salvageable. You are a reminder that the road to darkness is walked one small compromise at a time.
According to the chapter “Flotsam and Jetsam” from The Two Towers, the horde that Saruman sent to besiege Helm’s Deep numbered “ten thousand at the very least,” which Jackson accurately portrayed in his film. These Uruk-hai were outfitted with crude yet thick metal armor, and they wielded blasting-fire, a type of explosive devised by Saruman. If not for the timely arrival of Gandalf’s reinforcements, Saruman’s army would have soundly won the Battle of the Hornburg.
The Host of the West Included The Lord of the Rings’ Greatest Fighters
The Host of the West was the name given to the troops that Aragorn led in an assault on the Black Gate at the end of The Lord of the Rings. In Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, it consisted solely of Gondorians and Rohirrim, but in the novel, the Rangers of the North and Elrond’s sons joined the effort. Both versions were also aided by Gandalf the White, Legolas, Gimli, and eventually the Great Eagles.
The Host of the West numbered 6,000, which was relatively small by the War of the Ring’s standards, but size is not the only measure of strength. In the chapter “The Last Debate” from The Return of the King, Gandalf declared, “There are names among us worth more than a thousand mail-clad knights apiece.” Heroes like Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, and Éomer were legendary warriors, making the Host of the West one of the greatest armies in Middle-earth.
The Army of the Dead Struck Fear Into Middle-earth’s Fiercest Warriors
The King of the Dead in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the KingImage via New Line Cinema
The cursed Dead Men of Dunharrow, also known as the Oathbreakers, are difficult to judge as a fighting force, because Tolkien and Jackson utilized them very differently. In The Return of the King film, the spectral warriors followed Aragorn to Minas Tirith, where they turned the tide of the Battle of the Pelennor Fields by tearing through the Dark Lord Sauron’s forces. They were invincible, superhumanly fast, and able to phase through the walls of Minas Tirith.
In the novel, however, the Dead Men of Dunharrow never actually engaged in combat. Their terrifying presence was enough to drive the Corsairs of Umbar away from their ships, and once they had done so, Aragorn released the ghosts from his service. Fear was a powerful tool in War of the Ring, so even without stepping on the battlefield, Tolkien’s version of the undead army could be considered one of the strongest forces in Middle-earth.
Sauron’s Army Was the Largest and Strongest of the Third Age
Gothmog and other Orcs in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the KingImage via New Line Cinema
Sauron was an immensely powerful individual, but it was his army that truly made him such a threat to Middle-earth. In addition to throngs of monsters like Orcs and trolls, Sauron commanded the human forces of Rhûn and Harad. According to the chapter “The Black Gate Opens” from The Return of the King, the army stationed at the Black Gate was “more than ten times” larger than the Host of the West, meaning it numbered over 60,000.
That was only a small portion of Sauron’s full army, because he had previously sent away many of his troops to attack Dale, the Woodland Realm, and Lothlórien. This was also after Sauron lost most of the force that he had sent to Gondor, which Tolkien described in the chapter “The Stairs of Cirith Ungol” from The Two Towers as the largest that had “issued from [the Morgul Vale] since the days of Isildur’s might.”
In addition to its sheer size, Sauron’s army benefited from variety. His ground troops were supplemented by the aerial superiority of the Nazgûl’s flying fell beasts and the naval might of the Corsairs of Umbar. The Free Peoples of Middle-earth had no hope of overcoming Sauron in traditional warfare, which made Frodo’s mission to destroy the One Ring all the more vital.
The Last Alliance Overpowered Sauron Before The War of the Ring
Elrond and other Elves during the War of the Last Alliance in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the RingImage via New Line Cinema / Courtesy the Everett Collection
The Last Alliance of Elves and Men formed near the end of the Second Age, thousands of years before the main events of The Lord of the Rings, but it was shown in the prologue of Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring and described by Elrond in the chapter “The Council of Elrond” from the corresponding novel. In response to Sauron attacking Osgiliath, Isildur called upon all of his allies, amassing the forces of Gondor, Arnor, and several Elven realms, as well as a few Dwarves.
Though Tolkien provided no exact numbers, the Last Alliance was one of the largest armies in Middle-earth’s history, and most of its members were Elves or Dúnedain, both of whom were stronger than ordinary Men. The Last Alliance pushed the Dark Lord’s forces back to Mordor and eventually destroyed Sauron’s physical form. In the Third Age, Middle-earth’s civilizations diminished, so by the time of the War of the Ring, no army could possibly compare to the Last Alliance.
Video Game(s)
LEGO Lord of the Rings, The Lord of the Rings Online, The Lord Of The Rings: Gollum, The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, The Lord of the Rings: War in the North, The Lord Of The Rings: Battle For Middle-Earth, The Lord of The Rings: Battle For Middle-Earth 2, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
First Film
The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring
Cast
Elijah Wood, Viggo Mortensen, Orlando Bloom, Sean Astin, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Sean Bean, Ian McKellen, Andy Serkis, Hugo Weaving, Liv Tyler, Miranda Otto, Cate Blanchett, John Rhys-Davies, Martin Freeman, Morfydd Clark, Ismael Cruz Cordova, Charlie Vickers, Richard Armitage
