Middle Earth Military Force Organisation Charts

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Elwindil
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Middle Earth Military Force Organisation Charts

Post by Elwindil »

Is there any such thing, or am I coming up with something that's unnecessary for us?
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Elleth
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Re: Middle Earth Military Force Organisation Charts

Post by Elleth »

I'm not sure how much information there is to go on, sadly - but it's an interesting project!

For the rangers there's I think little or nothing: the conversation between Halbarad and Aragorn sounds more familial than regimented to me, which implies at least to me a fairly primitive organizational structure. I'd expect it would sit somewhere between feudal obligations and "everybody Joe down at the riverbend can muster in ten hours." Loose organization needn't necessarily mean poor discipline of course - but I get a far more "obligations of honor" vibe from the Dunedain than "meticulously written chain of command."

For the Rohirrim, Eomer is referred to as a Marshal of the Riddermark, which implies a fairly organized structure at the top levels: I still expect something similar to Anglo-Saxon fyrds, but with more horses.

Gondor as a city under seige with a standing guard does have a much more militaristic feel, and I suspect some diligent combing of the text - especially RotK - would yield at least a partial org chart with a pretty decent idea of what might fill in whatever gaps are left in the text. I also suspect there's more material in notes and letters to fill in those gaps, but it's never been a subject I've looked into.

The strangest thing I came across on my last re-reading was the orcs: all that "I'll put you on report" and "what's your number?!" - it had a very mid-century Stalinist feel. Some I'd attribute to the "filter" of Tolkien writing in his own period, but that the orcs have the strictest "org chart" of MIddle earth is I think hard to deny. Recall when Sam returns to the Shire and finds hobbits talking of reporting this or that, he says they're "talking like orcs."
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Udwin
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Re: Middle Earth Military Force Organisation Charts

Post by Udwin »

There really aren't any, since Tolkien wasn't concerned with such minutiae of his world. Same way he didn't include what 'level' Gandalf or Sauron's powers were--it's too 'gamey' and totally outside his purposes for writing.
For us, at this point there aren't enough Middle-earth reenactors of any one culture to necessitate such an organizational chart!
But Rohan has probably the best-represented military structure, suggested in the main text but much more fully fleshed out in Appendix i to The Battles of the Fords of Isen (Unfinished Tales). It's over a thousand words long, so I won't repost it here, but highly encourage folks to look it up.
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Elwindil
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Re: Middle Earth Military Force Organisation Charts

Post by Elwindil »

Indeed, I do recall that about the orcs, and what sam said. It's been quite some time since I've read the books, I'm going to have to go back through and do so again soon. it's a good thing I've got some hard copies though, as I'm not really a fan of digital books. And I do get the feel that the Rangers are more a loosely organized force, more like guerrilla fighters than a proper military force.
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Harper
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Re: Middle Earth Military Force Organisation Charts

Post by Harper »

To support Elleth with respect to the Rangers, Aragorn and his 15 predecessors took the title "Chieftain." This communicates a tribal or at least clannish organization to me. There seems to be some sense of feudal obigation implied. But there doesn't seem to be enough population left to call it a feudal "society" proper. I'm not sure that a more formal organizational hierarchy was necessary--or even desireable.

With respect to the orcs, the report/number scene makes sense to me. In order for that kind of chaotic soldiery to have any semblance of unit cohesion, I suspect that they had to be ruled through sheer terror. They were probably more afraid of their own commanders than the enemy--the enemy would only kill them.
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