The Great Plague, or Dark Plague, was a disastrous pestilence in Middle-earth in the mid-Third Age.
History[]
Beginning[]
The Great Plague began in the east beyond Mordor, reaching Osgiliath in TA 1636 just two years after King Minardil of Gondor had been killed at Pelargir by the Corsairs of Umbar, and two centuries after the Kin-strife of Gondor. The new king, Telemnar died along with his children, as well as many others of the Dúnedain. These losses served to greatly weaken the people of Gondor.[1]
Movement of the plague[]
The Plague had first hit Rhûn and Rhovanion, and after the plague had passed, more than half the people had been killed. From Osgiliath, the plague spread west and then north. Minhiriath and Cardolan were especially hard hit and the remaining population in those regions mostly wiped out. The last prince of Cardolan died at the Barrow-downs, and evil spirits from Angmar entered the tombs there.
Thankfully, the Plague weakened as it passed north and Arthedain was scarcely affected, although the Shire was hit harder, with the Hobbits suffering great losses.[1]
In Gondor, the cities of Osgiliath and Minas Ithil were hit especially hard, suffering the highest casualties outside of Rhovanion. Many fled both cities and re-located to Ithilien and Anórien, and Minas Anor became the King's seat as Osgiliath was so depopulated it began to fall into ruin.[1] After this time, the province of Calenardhon, never densely populated, was mostly empty.
Aftermath[]
The casualties were so high that the fortresses guarding Mordor were abandoned along with the garrisons in Enedwaith, as the surviving troops were recalled. For the next two centuries, Gondor, as well as its enemies, did little but try to regain strength. Gondor had begun to recover by the 19th century of the Third Age, but was then hit by the Wars of the Wainriders.
In adaptations[]
The Great Plague appears in The Battle for Middle-earth II: The Rise of the Witch-king, in which the plague is planned by the Witch-king to weaken the Dunedain kingdoms even further. The plague is created by Angmar's sorcerers by corrupting the Barrow-downs of Cardolan, creating many Barrow-wights, including Karsh. Afterwards, the plague ravages Arnor, then spreads across the Misty Mountains, affecting Osgiliath, Rhovanion, and Rhûn, presumably in the same way as in the books.
In The Lord of the Rings Online, the Great Plague is revealed to be an evil of Sauron, created by his chief poisoner Lhaereth the Stained. Various versions of it were tested in Rhûn before a suitable variant was unleashed onto the lands in the west. However, despite the devastation it brought, the Plague was deemed a failure by Sauron for not being deadly enough, and Lhaereth fell out of his favor for many years hence. It is revealed that the Rangers of the North could heal those affected by the Plague with kingsfoil. After the downfall of Sauron, the player works with two Rangers to stop Lhaereth from unleashing a new, improved version of the Great Plague.
Translations[]
| Foreign Language | Translated name |
| Afrikaans | Groot Pes |
| Albanian | murtajë e Madhe |
| Amharic | ታላቅ ቸነፈር |
| Arabic | العظيم طاعون |
| Armenian | Մեծ ժանտախտը |
| Azerbaijani | Böyük vəbası |
| Basque | Izurri handia |
| Belarusian Cyrillic | Вялікая Чума |
| Bengali | মহান প্লেগ |
| Bosnian | Velika kuga |
| Bulgarian Cyrillic | Голямата чума |
| Burmese | ဂရိတ်ဘေးကပ်ရောဂါ |
| Cambodian | ជំងឺប៉េស្តដ៏អស្ចារ្យ |
| Catalan | Gran plaga |
| Cebuano | Dakong katalagman |
| Chinese | 大大瘟疫 |
| Croatian | Velika kuga |
| Corsican | Grande Peste |
| Czech | Velký mor |
| Danish | Den Store Pest |
| Dutch | Grote Plaag |
| Esperanto | Granda pesto |
| Estonian | Suur katk |
| Filipino | Mahusay na Peste |
| Finnish | Suuri rutto |
| French | Grande Peste |
| Frisian | Grutte pest |
| Galician | Gran peste |
| Georgian | დიდი ჭირი |
| German | Große Pest |
| Greek | Μεγάλη πληγή |
| Gujarati | મહાન પ્લેગ |
| Hausa | Babban annoba |
| Hebrew | הגדול המגפה |
| Hindi | महान प्लेग |
| Hungarian | Nagy pestis |
| Icelandic | Mikill plága |
| Indonesian | Wabah Besar |
| Irish Gaelic | An Phlá Mór |
| Italian | Grande Epidemia |
| Japanese | グレートペスト |
| Kannada | ದೊಡ್ಡ ಪ್ಲೇಗ್ |
| Kazakh | Үлкен оба (Cyrillic) Ülken oba (Latin) |
| Konkani | व्हड प्लेग |
| Korean | 그레이트 역병 |
| Kyrgyz Cyrillic | Улуу Чума |
| Laotian | ໄພພິບັດທີ່ຍິ່ງໃຫຍ່ |
| Latvian | Liela nelaime |
| Lithuanian | Didysis maras |
| Luxembourgish | Grouss Pescht |
| Macedonian Cyrillic | Голема чума |
| Maithili | महान प्लेग |
| Malagasy | Pesta lehibe |
| Malaysian | Wabak besar |
| Malayalam | വലിയ പ്ലേഗ് |
| Maltese | Pesta Kbira |
| Marathi | ग्रेट प्लेग |
| Mongolian Cyrillic | Агуу тахал |
| Nepalese | ठूलो प्लेग |
| Norwegian | Stor Pesten |
| Pashto | لوی طاعون |
| Persian | طاعون بزرگ |
| Polish | Wielki Mór |
| Portuguese | Grande Praga |
| Punjabi | ਮਹਾਨ ਪਲੇਗ |
| Romanian | Ciuma mare |
| Russian | Великая Чума |
| Sanskrit | महान् व्याधिः |
| Serbian | Велика куга (Cyrillic) Velika kuga (Latin) |
| Sindhi | وڏي وبا |
| Sinhalese | මහා වසංගතය |
| Slovak | Veľký mor |
| Slovenian | Velika kuga |
| Spanish | Gran Plaga |
| Sundanese | Wabah Agung |
| Swahili | Tauni Kubwa |
| Swedish | Stor Pest |
| Tajik Cyrillic | Бемории калон |
| Tamil | பெரிய பிளேக் |
| Tatar | Зур Чума |
| Telugu | గొప్ప ప్లేగు |
| Thai | โรคระบาดครั้งใหญ่ |
| Turkish | Büyük Veba |
| Turkmen | Uly Gyrgyn |
| Ukrainian Cyrillic | Велика чума |
| Urdu | عظیم طاعون |
| Uzbek | Катта чума (Cyrillic) Katta chuma (Latin) |
| Vietnamese | Đại dịch hạch |
| Welsh | Pla mawr |
| Xhosa | Kakhulu Isibetho |
| Yiddish | גרויס פּלאָגן |
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 The Lord of the Rings, Appendix B: The Tale of Years (Chronology of the Westlands), "The Third Age"