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“ | You ride to war but not to victory. Sauron's armies march on Minas Tirith, as you know, but in secret he sends another force that will attack from the river. A fleet of Corsair ships sails from the south. They will be in the city in two days. You are outnumbered, Aragorn. You need more men. | „ |
~ Elrond describing the Corsairs of Umbar to Aragorn. |
The Corsairs of Umbar were a group of pirates aligned with Sauron who serve as minor antagonists in both J.R.R. Tolkien's epic fantasy novel, The Lord of the Rings and the Peter Jackson film adaptation The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.
Biography[]
Past[]
The Consairs of Umbar were a group of men descended from the bulk of Gondor's once proud navy, which had aided a usurper in attempting to seize power. Once the rebellion was put down, the bulk of the navy (having sided with him) fled in shame and disgrace. Setting themselves up on the island region of Umbar, they intermingled with Southern peoples living nearby and from this came a new group of people; one that had lost none of their progenitor's nautical abilities, but who were a culture of pirates and slavers. Their ships depended on slave crews to row them, but with a high mortality rate for said slaves, they always needed more slaves if they wanted to keep up their pirating lifestyle, a vicious cycle that terrorized the people of Gondor. Further hurting Gondor was how the Corsairs would take women on their raids to "bolster their numbers."
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King[]
During the final days of the War of the Ring, Sauron recruits them to aid in the sacking of Minas Tirith; their black ships to serve as reinforcements in exchange for a nice cut of the spoils. However, after being warned of the plot by Elrond, Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli intercept the Corsairs with the Army of the Dead (who had just then joined forces with Aragorn), and presumably kills them all. They then take the ships to the Pelennor Fields and annihilate the terrified armies of Mordor, robbing both them and the Corsairs of their victory.
Military[]
Becost the Consairs of Umbar, benig pirates they didn't have a army but an Armada known as the Black Fleet that was large.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Several members of the production crew made cameos as members of a Corsair ship's crew. The film's director Peter Jackson is the pirate who Gimli accidentally makes Legolas shoot with an arrow, the director of photography Andrew Lesnie can be seen during Elrond's description when Jackson's character reports to the captain, the co-producer Rick Porras can be seen among the men on the ship, and both the film's prosthetic director Gino Acevedo and the creative director Richard Taylor are shown screaming when the Army of the Dead attack.
- However, they only cameo in the extended edition of the film since they were entirely excised from the theatrical cut and were only mentioned by Elrond.